manure colors

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love my minis

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dublin VA
ok I hope I am a member but if I am not please delete and I will apply. This is the third mini I have owned, never had any issues with the other two. This little guy is 34 inches and I did get him from an auction. He appears fat and sassy- loves everyone and appears healthy. When he got here his manure was green and runny. We kept him off the grass and gave him hay in addition to cutting the grass down very low. His poop then turned to brown and typical for a horse. I wanted to worm him but wonder if I should wait until we see if the black stools cease. Please anyone with info please answer. As I know black can signal ulcers or unhealthy diet. We have been giving him a handful of horse feed - in pellets.
 
Green is normally grass or fresh cut hay. Brown is normal. Black mostly hind gut ulcers (blood).
Runny can be stress, too fast feed change, ulcers, sick, worms, old age, etc.....lots of reasons.
I don't think worming is ever bad. If they are very young or you think very wormy I use pyrantel pamoate, it's very gentle. I always repeat after 2 weeks if I don't know their background.
 
I should clarify a couple things about worming. I never worm within a week of shots and not if they are sick.
 
My horses have very dark brown manure when they are on fresh grass. Normally, it is light brown and fairly crumbly when dry. The mare I got last year had explosive diarrhea so I started her on Aloe Vera juice (got it in the Walmart pharmacy area). Within two days, she was giving me normal manure. Once in a while it is rather green, but it is still firm. My 24 year old gelding has always done little balls. I top dress his feed with salt (per vet suggestion), thinking he wasn't drinking enough, but he has always done this and it's normal for him. I don't see much change after worming.
 
If the manure is really dark with a little slime coating on the outside and the balls of manure are very dry on the inside, it could (according to my vet) also indicate inadequate hydration which can be common in the winter if they don't like cold water. One of mine get's like this, I reported it to the vet and she said it was probably because the manure was passing too slow through the gut from lack of fluids. The dark color plus the slime was the thing that tipped her off, lol. She said give a bit of salt (I give about 1/4 teaspoon)on the feed and it worked.
 
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I want to show a picture of manure that is cause for concern. We traveled over an hour to a parade in 100+ degree weather. Don't know if this contributed to it or if this stallion were stressed before that, or if any earlier feces did this. This was not my horse, but belonged to my sister. The slime is mucus from the intestine lining. Fortunately, there seemed to be no health issues and his feces returned to normal the next day. The vet did not seem unduly worried about it, though if it had continued it would certainly have been cause for concern. feces.jpg
 

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