Why Are My Horses Eating Thier Poop?
Posted by Zolly | Under Nutrition Tuesday Dec 1, 2009I have 3 horses, 5 year old, 16 year old and a 6 year old pony. All 3 have been eating their poop, they will go and turn around and eat it, its sooo nasty when i have to put a bit in thier mouth cause they always have poop in their mouth and on thier lips, they eat the bark off trees and eat the wood in thier stalls so i thought well maybe its lack of something in their feed ive changed their feed givin them supplements and everything, my 16year old eats the trees and stall and poop but my 5 year old will eat trees and poop but not the stall and my 6year old is the same as 5 year old, i thought maybe it was bordem so i started getting round bales and more nutrition filled grains and hay, but my horses will stand out all day and eat the round bale, poop and turn around and eat it and then go back to the hay, this is gross and not healthy they are hard to keep weight on because they get worms and then we worm them and then the just end up re eating the worms, please any suggestions
Usually, if a horse eats poop, it means that he is trying to replace lost microbes in the gut. But it sounds like everything you are feeding your horse is well balanced. And if the vet can’t find anything wrong and it is just habits that have now formed here are two products I would use.
1. This is for the eating of poo. It’s called For-Bid you feed it to them and it will make their poo taste bad and then they stop eating it. (and it really does work!!)http://www.entirelypets.com/forbid.html?…
2. For the wood chewing at the two show barns I work at we feed Quitt by Farnam. It is amazing, and we don’t have any wood chewers or cribbers!!!http://www.farnamhorse.com/product.php?m…
GOOD LUCK!!!
The same thing happened to me a couple of years ago. I did everything you did. My horses are fed well, supplemented, healthy… but one horse in particular was eating his poop. It was nasty! He also has a huge love of molasses. Once I stopped feeding the herd molasses, he stopped eating the poop!
So if you’re feeding feed with molasses, or watering down the feed with molasses, stop and see if the habit stops.
Unfortunately the only thing I can think of (other than all your horses having the same mental psychosis) is that they are deficient in something. That’s the only thing that causes coprophagy (feces eating) in horses (unless they’re foals, because they do it sometimes).
Also, the eating of the tree bark and wood of the stall signals a possible deficiency, as they’re eating things they wouldn’t normally do.
I think it’s a vicious cycle with the worms, really. Perhaps the worms made them deficient, and they started coprophagizing, getting more worms, then dewormed but still feeling deficient, then get relapse worms due to eating of the feces. The only thing I can recommend is keeping them on a dewormer regularly until they stop eating their feces, but definitely consult before doing that.
K posted what I would have told you because it is multi-fold.
However, there is a product out there for this problem.
Regular worming (I think you should be on a strict regimen -if not daily) with all three of them doing it is imperative.
I will scan some catalogs and get back to you with an edit if I find it.
Edit: Valley Vet has a product called Forbid. “powder is virtually tasteless when mixed with food, but after digestion, imparts a forbidding taste to stool.” You’d need a 12 pack according to the directions. $13.80.
YOU SPELT THEIR WRONG
Your horse may be suffering from dietary imbalances, boredom and/or lack of exercise.
I read once that some dogs eat it because they don’t want it in their territory. Dogs and horses are very different creatures, though. Not sure if a horse would do that.
it could be a lot of things but here is a small list,lack of protein,lack of hay,lack of salt and or mineral supplements,habit,lack of excercise,boredom.it is most common in first month foals but if it occurs in adult horses it is associated with the problems listed above.
if you are feeding a balanced diet and using plenty of boredom stopping tools I cant help much on the first part of your question.
I know that wood chewing can be a dangerous habit if its continuous This is what we use
1 bottle Louisiana hot sauce
1 jar crushed red pepper flakes
3 cups of water
—mix these ingredient together an allow them to stand over night in a glass bowl, next add 1/2 cup liquid dish soap
— brush this mixture on any this that your horses may chew
-this mixture cannot hurt your horses, and they will not chew there again
–make sure this mixture is in a glass bowl!!!!
—make sure your horses have access to fresh water when you use this mixture!!!
There are many good suggestions here, just one thing I can think of is, I started feeding my 2 horses garlic recently, and one of them started eating faecies, I though maybe he liked the garlic taste, he doesn’t do it anymore just stopped of his own accord after a few days.
A mineral supplement may be good from your local feed store, A really cheap way to give them some minerals is to feed them 1/2 cup of Apple Cider Vinegar each day, and also some seaweed meal, as actual mineral supplements are expensive and you have to watch what other supplements are in the feed you are feeding.
Good Luck
im not sure why but when i bought my horse he used to do the same ,i just changed his diet and he just stopped
You have done all the things I would have thought of. It is normal for foals in their first year to eat their mothers poop, I am told there are nutrients they need,..but obviously that is not the case. Have you thought of their teeth? If they have not had their teeth floated in the past two years they may not be chewing their grain thoroughly and therefor eat their poop to get the undigested grain. Just a thought….
I have never in my life heard of anything like that! i know dogs do it but usually horses won’t eat where they do their business. You can try keeping a muzzle on them??? i don’t have any idea!! I can’t hurt to try meat tenderizer…They say kelp works for dogs as well.
because they like the taste of it…