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Why do my horses eat there poop Am I doing something wrong with there care2007-11-24 21:23:19

The main reason horses seem to eat manure is boredom. Many horses will take up wood chewing for the same reason. Horses were created to graze 24/7 and even if they are well fed and healthy, they still desire the chance to eat, eat, eat. Horses on constant pasture turn-out seldom chew wood or eat manure, so if there is a way you can keep your horse grazing or eating hay all day long this will probably dramatically decrease their manure eating.

Lastly, I know that horses will chew wood if they have a gastric ulcer - when they chew they produce more saliva which has the benefit of lowering the acid in their stomach, almost as though they ate a Tums. I wonder if eating manure would do the same thing? This might be a question for your vet if the problem continues even after some life-style changes for your horses. Consider that up to 50% of horses in active training have ulcers, and you can see how this is worth thinking about.

Manure eating is gross but not dangerous for your horse. But you are probably going to want to make certain they are wormed appropriately to avoid them constantly passing parasites from one to the other!

Take care and good luck with your boys!

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yes, horses do this. sometimes its from boredom. and sometimes from lack of certain minerals in the diets. It is very unlikely to hurt your horses, but if you're still worried, talk to your vet.

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The most common cause of this is a protein deficiency, especially in young/growing horses. Since all your horses are doing this, it sounds to me like there is a deficiency.

If they are getting proper nutrition, it's probably just an icky behavioral problem. Some horses just do this.

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A lot of horses eat their own manure because of a nutrition defficiency. He also need more hay and you can try finding a feed with more nutritional values.

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This is a rather unpleasant habit among horses known as "dung eating". It can be the result of poor nutrition, boredom, insufficient food, and also, if you are adding sweet things to your horses food such as molasses, or honey, or something along those lines, they may be eating the dung because it tastes sweet.