Eating other pigs poop

Roclibrarian

Roclibrarian

Teenage Guinea Pig
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OK this is the most disgusting thing I've seen from my pigs. Just witnessed Ginny taking Lunas poop straight from the source and eat it. :vom:
I was wondering what she was up to as she kept nudging Lunas bum (to protests from Luna). I kind of wish I hadn't seen it now!
Ginny did give Lunas ear a good lick afterwards to say thanks for the snack.
Is this something that happens a lot and I've just not seen it before?

Here's the culprit Ginny eating something more palatable.

20190926_105946.webp

And here is the unwilling poop donor Luna.

20190928_192335.webp
 
Roclibrarian said:
OK this is the most disgusting thing I've seen from my pigs. Just witnessed Ginny taking Lunas poop straight from the source and eat it. :vom:
I was wondering what she was up to as she kept nudging Lunas bum (to protests from Luna). I kind of wish I hadn't seen it now!
Ginny did give Lunas ear a good lick afterwards to say thanks for the snack.
Is this something that happens a lot and I've just not seen it before?

Here's the culprit Ginny eating something more palatable.

View attachment 124984

And here is the unwilling poop donor Luna.

View attachment 124985
Click to expand...

Hi!

It is something that has happened before but you haven't realised. ;)

Guinea pigs have to digest their food twice as they have only one stomach and gut in order to break up the tough grass/hay fibre and get the most out of it. For that purpose they eat their own poos that contain the not yet fully broken down fibre for a second run through the digestive system in order to gain more nutrients. These redigested poos are called caecotrophs. A piggy tends to pick them up straight from the opening because they need to be as fresh as possible. They are produced at another time than the waste poos from the first and second run through the gut, by the way, and differ in a colour and texture from the waste poos. you can often see arthritic or elderly piggies desperately circling the ground in order to find a dropped caecotroph.

But because the caecotrophs contain already half digested material they also contain vital live gut microbiome. This is what recovering piggies are after when they dig for caecotrops from their mates' bums - the healthy live stuff to help their own guts recover after an illness or after antibiotics have wiped out the gut biome. It is basically a targeted course of tailored probiotics, only much stronger and effective. Giving your mate a kiss to say thank you for letting you have a precious caecotroph to get better is a very lovely gesture to witness!

When we recommend 'poo soup' as a valid alternative to a course of probiotics, then we are basically mimicking this natural behaviour. Unlike piggies, we usually have to make do with fresh waste poos instead of caecotrophs, but even these contain enough live gut microbiome if used as soon as they are being dropped by a health companion.

It may a bit gross for human sensitivities, but it is in no way disgusting or silly behaviour.
In fact, when properly made, poo soup is more effective than a nice tidy probiotic powder. ;)

PS: the stuck poo mass in boars with impaction is actually caecotrophs which can no longer be expressed by weaking muscles at the bum end.

I hope that this helps you?
 
Thanks that makes sense. I know they eat their own poo but didn't know they ate each others.
Yes she's had digestive issues recently, rumbley tummy, soft poops, bloating. Took her off veg for 48 hours and gave gripe water, that seemed to sort it. I guess she's self medicating as well.
Clever little things aren't they!
She's back to a soft tummy, normal poop and sprinting at the sound of plastic bags!
 
I noticed Mavis did this and also ate cardboard (a good source of roughage) when she was on antibiotics for a UTI. It definitely worked as her poo went back to normal without resorting to medication.
 
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