orphan foal

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GAILS

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today i noticed the orphan eating fresh poop from the mare he is in the pasture with. also the mares foal seems to eat dirt alot .they have plenty of grass, hay,water and salt block and feed pellet feed 10%. any ideas on if they may be missing something they need? thanks
 
It could be from the foal lacking something, or it could just be that, like all babies, they will and do put what ever in their mouth. I have seen foals lick giant field stones, simply because the stone is there.

If it is eating manure, make sure all your horses are up to par on their worming schedules and have some probios and biosponge on hand. Those babies are like little petri dishes, they will grow anything in those bellies of theirs, be prepared for belly upsets.

Carolyn
 
All foals that I've had/seen eat poo. It's totally normal. They gain a healthy amount of good bacteria for digestion of solid food from it. They stop eating it eventually. No worries.
 
All foals eat manure. This is actually beneficial to introduce bacteria into their gut.

As to the eating dirt... it is aggravating but I agree with MiniV they just put everything in their mouths. My foal is eating dirt when turned out in the arena, I think it is because she only has shavings in her stall and the dirt is something "new" to eat. She just doesn't know better.
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Andrea
 

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