Yuck! I caught her eating poop!

[scrbear11]

I caught little mare chomping down on her pasture mate’s manure on Saturday morning.

Why would she be eating poop? She’s also a dirt eater. Always has been. But the poop is a new thing.

She’s a 4 year old. She’s in a stall during the day (6:30am to 5:30pm), out at night with one buddy. Her pasture has grass in it. Some places are eaten down, but she isn’t on a dry lot by any means. She has free choice beautiful orchard grass during the day. She has a hay net that stays full. She probably eats about 3 flakes while in during the day. Her hay net is NEVER empty, so she is never without hay. She is on a complete feed (Legends Performance Carbcare) with beet pulp and alfalfa cubes. (She’s a TB- far from being an air fern.)

She’s on quiescence, SmartCombo pellets (joint supplement, hoof supplement, pro and pre-biotics, omega for coat), and TractGard (calcium carb and electrolyte supplement). She has a mineral block and an Himalayan salt block in her stall.

Could she still be missing something (a mineral)? Any thoughts?

[Real_Rush]

She might simply be bored. Or, despite all the good quality feed, hay and supps she’s on, there may be one item she’s deficient in and is trying to compensate by eating dirt and poop. Try adding an Equi-Min block (made by Southern States/ Triple Crown). If the strange eating habits continue, there is a product you can use to at least halt the poop eating. I think it’s called Forbid. Good luck!

[newhorsemommy]

My mare taught my gelding to do it. Or once I moved them in together they decided to eat each other’s poop. It’s gross, but I’m certain it’s boredom. I’m in California and they are in a 1/4 acre dry lot together (which is considered spacious in my area). It gets worse as the summer goes on and I think it’s due to the lack of grazing (there’s a small amount of grass in the spring). But even if irrigated pasture were available, my mare is a super easy keeper and doesn’t need grass and my gelding has Cushing’s and my vet doesn’t want him on pasture.

They both get very nice orchard hay for breakfast and dinner and a lunch of alfalfa pellets with a ration balancer. I sincerely doubt there’s any kind of deficiency. I think it’s their way of pretending they are grazing.

You could switch out the SmartCombo for a vitamin/mineral supplement or ration balancer with a prebiotic/probiotic since a 4 year old probably doesn’t need a joint supplement. Although one would think the complete feed would be covering all the needed vitamins and minerals if you are feeding it at the recommended amount.