Eating other's poops?

[Poppy'sMum]

Daisy is recovering from her operation a week ago, she is now on Zithromax antibiotic as the vet thought there may be a little bit of infection in the wound.

This afternoon I had to take one of her companions out as she was being bullied

I left her in with her mum & she was following her mum around, trying to eat her mum's poops from underneath her all the time. I realised she wanted the poos, is this because she is on the antibiotics? I made some poop soup & syringed her a bit, as she hates the taste f the probiotic I have. She also seems to be eating every singe poop she is doing at the moment!

Any advice? Is this normal? I am wondering if this is what has turned the other two against her, as she is annoying them? :...

 

[Connie]

I dont know much about this, but i just wanted to say that i have heard poorly piggies often eat the poop of healthy piggies. Something to do with replenishing the guts? Hopefully someone more knowledgeable will come along with more info.

 

[Freela]

I have seen one of my piggies do this, when she was ill and on antibiotics. I think it's very likely related to that- antibiotics, even safe ones, can disturb the gut flora and she may isntinctively be trying to replenish them.

 

[Poppy'sMum]

I have seen one of my piggies do this, when she was ill and on antibiotics. I think it's very likely related to that- antibiotics, even safe ones, can disturb the gut flora and she may isntinctively be trying to replenish them.

That's what I thought I made a poop soup earlier out of some of them & fed her with it rolleyes she wasn't keen though! I did feed her some of the others' poops & she is hoovering up behind them all the time eww lol rolleyes

 

[Wiebke]

It's the natural way of guinea pigs to top up their own gut fauna with "good" bacteria after an illness and a course of antibiotics. Actually, it is a good sign. It means that Daisy is recovering well.

You can help if you wish by offering "poo soup" made from fresh poos from a healthy piggy. It generally goes down a treat! (Yucky, though, I know!)

 

[Poppy'sMum]

It's the natural way of guinea pigs to top up their own gut fauna with "good" bacteria after an illness and a course of antibiotics. Actually, it is a good sign. It means that Daisy is recovering well.

You can help if you wish by offering "poo soup" made from fresh poos from a healthy piggy. It generally goes down a treat! (Yucky, though, I know!)

I tried that she wasn't keen lol! Instead I have been trying to scoop up the fresh ones & feed them to her >>>

Do you think this behaviour is annoying the others? I was wondering if they are getting fed up with her licking their bums & that's why they nip her & chase her off?

 

[Freela]

I tried that she wasn't keen lol! Instead I have been trying to scoop up the fresh ones & feed them to her >>>

Do you think this behaviour is annoying the others? I was wondering if they are getting fed up with her licking their bums & that's why they nip her & chase her off?

I think it depends on the piggies! I though Linney (dominant healthy pig) was pretty tolerant of Frenzy following her around with her nose up Linney's butt for the first little while, but she did end up getting snippy about it when it continued. Frenzy was on syringe feeds at the time so I kept adding 'poop soup' to the syringe in the hopes of getting her some probiotics that way.

 

[Mummylind]

Daisy is recovering from her operation a week ago, she is now on Zithromax antibiotic as the vet thought there may be a little bit of infection in the wound.

This afternoon I had to take one of her companions out as she was being bullied

I left her in with her mum & she was following her mum around, trying to eat her mum's poops from underneath her all the time. I realised she wanted the poos, is this because she is on the antibiotics? I made some poop soup & syringed her a bit, as she hates the taste f the probiotic I have. She also seems to be eating every singe poop she is doing at the moment!

Any advice? Is this normal? I am wondering if this is what has turned the other two against her, as she is annoying them? :...

Hi
Absolutely perfectly normal behaviour. I have had exactly the same behaviour with my sick sow. The rest of the herd seem to sense when a piggie is sickly hence the bullying begins. It's a sad part of nature. I have had to separate my sow from the group unfortunately as she became hostile towards them too. The poo eating is part of the gut flora imbalance. She will pick up no end if you continue to feed her the poo from a healthy piggie.
Good luck.