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Eating manure
Weird thing today. This was the second time in a month that one of my teenage horses passed manure when I was hacking home and turned around and sniffed and ate some of it. 😳 He always wants to sniffs strange manure on trail rides but only sniffs. He usually poops at least once and often twice when I ride him and I’ve never seen him sniff his own poop in turnout or under saddle except these two times. The first of these two times he tasted it but today he clearly ate it and swallowed. Besides being grossed out…what should I do for him? My vet said sometimes horses will do this when lacking vitamins/nutrients, or when bored with no turnout. He’s on 24/7 turnout and has been on the no-grain diet 3-1/2 years. He gets steamed alfalfa flakes and SBM twice a day and always has access to pasture, water, and Himalayan salt.
I can add access to Redmond’s but in the past he’s preferred Himalayan. He otherwise looks and acts great and nothing was missing when we ran blood tests two years into this diet (for peace of mind).
There are companies (ABC, Dynamite) that offer free choice loose minerals but I wouldn’t know where to start.
Where do I begin addressing this?
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1 Reply
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Coprophagy! The eating of one’s own manure! One of the 5 smells people working in the mouth of horses know well! We come across this every once in a while and it is usually a surprise to the owner.
I have never known coprophagy to be a mineral deficiency. I have never seen any studies to support this. I believe, however, that it is a way for horses to alter their gut microbiome. There are 2 thinbgs that come to my mind.
1) This is usually not a problem and is temporary in adults.
2) It may be seasonal with the coming of new growth with a higher sugar content. Think of this as an attempt to adjust the microbiome; however, it would be more effective if he ate a stable mate’s poop.
I really have no more on this. Foals are often seen performing coprophagy and is looked on as somewhat normal as long as it isn’t ALL they eat. I remember a Lipizanner stallion who did this constantly. His stall never had a pile. He often had colic and the owner ended up tying him up as if he was in a standing stall. He was also fed grain and probably had various gut ulcers and inflammation. This was back in the late 1990’s when I was still an idiot about feeding horses.
If he was mine I would make careful dated observations to determine if this is associated with changing feed, transport or any other stress that may have changed the gut microbiome. If he were a she I would also look at their cycle. I would also pick out the stall as frequently as possible to limit any temptation. Hopefully his coprophagy will subside soon. I know this is a shallow explanation but honestly I don’t have much more.
I know he has had ulcers in the past before the no-grain + SBM diet. He did have something go awry recently (he was kicking out) but this passed. He is sensitive. Maybe a Succeed Fecal Blood Test by your vet? Maybe soak the hay for one hour to reduce sugar for the next 2 to 3 days. If it is the sugar you will see an immediate improvement. In any case, this is certainly interesting and I will look excitedly for your updates as you post them. And as always, thank you for your help and support here – Doc T
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