Winter faecal water syndrome

Just an update, he’s not been as bad in the last few days. No change to diet or routine though…

Also a tip for anyone that’s having to wash back ends/tail regularly in the colder months. Buy some no-rinse shampoo, it’s an absolute game changer! Nettex do a citronella and a lavender one and Thelwell have a lavender one. Boil a kettle and squirt some of the shampoo in a bucket. Add some cold water and sponge the back end, then dunk the tail in the remaining water. Much more enjoyable for my guy. I think the Thelwell one that I used may have had a little bit of oil in it too, the tail definitely looks like it’s staying cleaner longer.
 
I've remembered the name of the supplement I seen advertised for those with FWS, it's called Aviform? Has anyone tried that? It could be a marketing gimmick, I've not looked closely at it.
 
I'm not sure whether the feed is properly researched, or just packed with psillium and other absorbent stuff. Because FWS appears to be gut related, I would be wary of trying it. I'm slowly increasing the amount of forage given daily, in preparation for him coming in at night. So far, so good, but he is still grazing 24/7. Coming off grass seems to be a trigger.
 
I had tried numerous supplements over the 3 years I have had my cob, none of which cleared his FWS up totally.

However, I am now using the Aviform Pro-Choice FWS supplement whenever he has a flare up and it clears it up totally in a couple of days. Absolute game changer for us.
 
My little coblet has FWS all year round, along with all his other problems 🙈 Nothing we have tried works, although I give Protexin whenever we change fields which settles the sloppy poo down quickly. So its keep an eye on his bum to make sure he's not sore, and keep on washing through tail when it gets too disgusting. He's a happy little soul, and in a lot better shape than when he arrived - think riddled with lice, mites, bleeding mallenders and sallenders, moderate CPL etc. I guess a dirty tail is nothing compared to that lot☺️ - and none of the youngsters in the herd fancy nibbling his tail🤣
 
My pony is doing well at the moment, she had a brief upset when I moved her into a different paddock which had long fibrous grass in it and then had to give her some hay as there was really no grass. It has shown me that long fibre is the problem though. Luckily the cows have now come in and I have been able to open up their paddock into the adjoining cow field until the end of January - it's old pasture and pretty well eaten down but has more than enough for the ponies without being too rich and I can cut their food and chaff right down and just give a token to keep them coming in. I have also managed to get hold of an old small bale chopper - it has a small petrol engine, you drop a small bale of hay or straw into it and it chops it - they are traditionally used for bedding down cow cubicles as it is on wheels. The engine, which is just like a lawnmower engine, needs some TLC but it does work and I am just waiting to get it serviced and then think it will really help.

Screenshot 2025-12-09 072925.png
 
I tried to reduce the amount of different feed I was mixing together. The FW started again. Offered the original mix and it stopped, and he has stayed dry. The big bale haylage I am sharing appears to be a mix of short meadow grass and timothy. The timothy is on the floor under his nets every morning, but he is putting away two nets per night plus half a trug of soaked feed mix. Condition wise, he isn't looking bad. New issue now is a swollen sheath, which makes me wonder whether there is some protein leakage going on.
 
holeymoley said:
Just a little update on mine, his gut went a bit awry after a dose of NSAIDS. I bought the Aviform and it's fantastic, it's really dried him up. It's mainly bentonite clay but it's really worked.
Click to expand...
So this only lasted 2 days… back to squirts. I’ve upped it so we’ll see if that helps.

I wonder if others suffering from this wear a grazing muzzle/have ems/underlying conditions. I’m beginning to think he’s not got enough going through the stomach and gut throughout the day. If he’s kept in, I think he’s slightly firmer.
 
That was one of my observations, but related to having ten teeth missing, and reduced chewing ability. Once a good supply of chopped forage was introduced, things quickly improved. It's a roller coaster though. The slightest change in diet and I'm back to bottom washing. He's just been wormed, and we had a messy couple of days.
 
New Forests Rock said:
Bought coblet Aviform - the little b*gger just looked at me as if I was trying to poison him 🙈 :eek: "You expect me to eat this?" Bute, yes, Marigold & Cleavers, yes, not the one thing that might have dried him up🤣🤣
Click to expand...
Mine had a good sniff and turned his nose up the first time. I just mixed it in really well after that, if you stir it for a while it disintegrates in to whatever else you feed.

Mine has just moved fields, still muzzled but eating away when I go to catch him instead of standing at the gate. I’m really interested to see if things change now at all, that would maybe coincide with my thinking that he needs more going through his system.
 
Marnie said:
My pony is doing well at the moment, she had a brief upset when I moved her into a different paddock which had long fibrous grass in it and then had to give her some hay as there was really no grass. It has shown me that long fibre is the problem though. Luckily the cows have now come in and I have been able to open up their paddock into the adjoining cow field until the end of January - it's old pasture and pretty well eaten down but has more than enough for the ponies without being too rich and I can cut their food and chaff right down and just give a token to keep them coming in. I have also managed to get hold of an old small bale chopper - it has a small petrol engine, you drop a small bale of hay or straw into it and it chops it - they are traditionally used for bedding down cow cubicles as it is on wheels. The engine, which is just like a lawnmower engine, needs some TLC but it does work and I am just waiting to get it serviced and then think it will really help.

View attachment 169966
Click to expand...

I got this going today and it works really well, even if a bit loud - video below. It takes a couple of minutes to chop a small bale and once we got going, I just blew it into an empty stable.


It chops pretty fine - picture below with a very dirty glove to show. Fingers crossed it is enough to stop any problems.

20251229_132956.jpg
 
My lad’s been struggling with this, though not so much winter as summer FWS, as I think his was caused by the spring grass. It’s not been bad just grumbling on.

I eventually bit the bullet and got an Equibiome analysis, though since then he’s had a course of antibiotics which predictably resulted in cow pats. So as yet it remains to be seen whether the course of herbs from Equibiome will fix it. (Or if winter hay will do the trick).
 
Maybe too much of a coincidence to be a coincidence, but our two who suffered with FWS in previous winters haven't had it last year or this, since I started adding oily herbs (rosemary, oregano and thyme) to their feeds, no other changes. I'm amazed this year, as they've had to chop and change various different types of hay due to supply issues. Poos have been consistently normal throughout, and no messy butts, hind legs or tails.
 
Mine has been fine for the last fortnight or so. It could be as we have moved to a smaller field and I’ve removed his muzzle in the last week- coincides with my thoughts on the cause being the restriction of food entering the gut, or it could be the Aviform. I think perhaps a bit of both, I wonder if the Aviform has settled the gut a little.
 
I’ve screwed up! After a really clear long spell my pony has had to come in 24/7 for a while as he has raised pulses and is looking footy.
I have a very different bale of hay and thought it may add a bit of interest having two different type so gave him some 🤦‍♀️ big mistake.
We are back to this…
IMG_6143.jpeg

Made especially annoying by the fact I don’t want to take him off his soft shavings at this point wash him properly. Obviously will cut the second type hay out straight away but am a bit worried I’ve set it all off again. Poo as per usual looking totally normal.
Gutting :(
 
At least you have found a trigger, and it cleared up quickly. I have purchased a garden shredder from fleabay, the sort that is used on the You Tube videos for chopping hay. Gamechanger! The old boy is now eating his normal amount of forage, shredded to a chaff, plus his soaked rations. There have been two episodes of FWS from November, both cleared up within a couple of days. The dentist has just been, and Old Dobbin actually had hooks on his remaining teeth for the first time in twelve months. Fingers crossed he plods on!
 
Yeah I knew what his trigger was, it’s always been the same. I think he’d just been clear for a good while and I stupidly didn’t think.
Also this hay isn’t classically what’s see him off in the past. It’s not stalky which I’d usually avoid.
I really hope it will clear up again but it often takes ages after an attack.
A garden shredder! That’s a great idea. Glad that’s working for you! Most chaff sets mine off so I don’t think it would work for mine, it’s more the specific hay and he had good teeth but I’d love to find one to borrow and try.
 
So I thought I’d cracked it. Tried acid ease and we’ve been dry for about 3 weeks 🤩. Concerned that grass is coming so popped muzzle on. Last two days we’ve had a messy back end. So deflated with this. He’s in today so we’ll see if more through the gut settles it.
 
With my cob, it appears to be forage related. This year's haylage has been very dry and hay like - no coughing and very minimal FWS. Now his teeth are beginning to fall out, he has no choice but to trickle feed, and adding sugar back into his diet and increasing protein appeared to fine tune things.
I also wonder if encysted redworm plays a part in all this. Old Dobbin has always had a winter dose, but our yard over the last ten years or so has been a magnet for young girls and scrawny 'rescue' ponies, with uncertain worming history, if any. Our farmer owner has finally closed the yard and said that as horses move or die, no one else is to move on as he's had enough. So now we can finally clean up the pasture and get our worming tests and doses worked out.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top