Free fecal water in the horse – an unsolved problem

Ertelt, Antonia; Gehlen, H

doi:10.21836/pem20150308

Cited by 9 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 43 publications

(49 reference statements)

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“…1 No clinical signs mean no signs other than free faecal liquid. 2 Including extensive tail swishing and/or trampling with hindlegs while voiding faeces and/or faecal liquid.…”

Section: Horses and Signs Of Free Faecal Liquidmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1 Wrapped forage with ≥50% DM. 2 Wrapped forage with <50% DM. 3 Includes both pelleted lucerne and lucerne chaff in a dried format.…”

Section: Feedingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1 Horses reported to have ad libitum access to roughage, forage or having straw as bedding material were not included. 2 Horses reported to have access to roughage ad libitum without concentrates in the diet were included. 3 Horses reported to have access to roughage ad libitum without concentrates in the diet were included.…”

Section: Feedingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1 Wrapped forages. 2 Feed additives reported included yeast, linseed, psyllium seed, thiamine and various types of commercial pro-and prebiotics.…”

Section: % Of Horsesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The liquid phase is a brown-coloured liquid that can be voided separately or together with the solid phase. The condition has previously been referred to as free faecal water and/or free faecal water syndrome (FWS), and cases have been described in Germany [1][2][3], Denmark [4] and Italy [5], but the overall incidence of FFL is not known. Horse owners in Sweden and Norway have anecdotally reported cases of FFL in horses, and have referred to the condition as "haylage intolerance" due to an assumed association with feeding wrapped forages (including grass conserved as silage and/or haylage with dry matter concentrations from 300-840 g per kg [6][7][8]).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Differential Defecation of Solid and Liquid Phases in Horses—A Descriptive Survey

Lindroth

Johansen

Båverud

et al. 2020

Animals

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Free faecal liquid (FFL) is a condition in horses where faeces are voided in one solid and one liquid phase. The liquid phase contaminates the tail, hindlegs and area around the anus of the horse, resulting in management problems and potentially contributing to impaired equine welfare. The underlying causes are not known, but anecdotal suggestions include feeding wrapped forages or other feed- or management-related factors. Individual horse factors may also be associated with the presence of FFL. This study, therefore, aimed to characterize horses showing FFL particularly when fed wrapped forages, and to map the management and feeding strategies of these horses. Data were retrieved by a web-based survey, including 339 horses with FFL. A large variety of different breeds, ages, disciplines, coat colours, housing systems and feeding strategies were represented among the horses in the study, meaning that any type of horse could be affected. Respondents were asked to indicate if their horse had diminished signs of FFL with different changes in forage feeding. Fifty-eight percent (n = 197) of the horse owners reported diminished signs of FFL in their horses when changing from wrapped forages to hay; 46 (n = 156) of the horse owners reported diminished signs of FFL in their horses when changing from wrapped forages to pasture; 17% (n = 58) reported diminished signs of FFL when changing from any type of forage batch to any other forage. This indicated that feeding strategy may be of importance, but cannot solely explain the presence of FFL. The results also showed that the horses in this study had a comparably high incidence of previous colic (23%, n = 78) compared to published data from other horse populations. In conclusion, the results showed that FFL may affect a large variety of horse types and that further studies should include detailed data on individual horse factors including gastrointestinal diseases as well as feeding strategies, in order to increase the chance of finding causes of FFL.

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“…1 No clinical signs mean no signs other than free faecal liquid. 2 Including extensive tail swishing and/or trampling with hindlegs while voiding faeces and/or faecal liquid.…”

Section: Horses and Signs Of Free Faecal Liquidmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1 Wrapped forage with ≥50% DM. 2 Wrapped forage with <50% DM. 3 Includes both pelleted lucerne and lucerne chaff in a dried format.…”

Section: Feedingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Feedingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1 Wrapped forages. 2 Feed additives reported included yeast, linseed, psyllium seed, thiamine and various types of commercial pro-and prebiotics.…”

Section: % Of Horsesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Differential Defecation of Solid and Liquid Phases in Horses—A Descriptive Survey

Lindroth

Johansen

Båverud

et al. 2020

Animals

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Field Study on Risk Factors for Free Fecal Water in Pleasure Horses

Kienzle

Zehnder

Gerhards

et al. 2016

Journal of Equine Veterinary Science

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Dysbiosis not observed in Canadian horses with free fecal liquid (FFL) using 16S rRNA sequencing

Wester,

Baillie,

McCarthy

et al. 2024

Sci Rep

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Free Fecal Liquid (FFL), also termed Fecal Water Syndrome (FWS), is an ailment in horses characterized by variable solid and liquid (water) phases at defecation. The liquid phase can be excreted before, during, or after the solid defecation phase. While the underlying causes of FFL are unknown, hindgut dysbiosis is suggested to be associated with FFL. Three European studies investigated dysbiosis in horses with FFL using 16S rRNA sequencing and reported results that conflicted between each other. In the present study, we also used 16S rRNA sequencing to study the fecal microbial composition in 14 Canadian horses with FFL, and 11 healthy stable mate controls. We found no significant difference in fecal microbial composition between FFL and healthy horses, which further supports that dysbiosis is not associated with FFL.

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Free fecal water in the horse – an unsolved problem

Cited by 9 publications

References 43 publications

Differential Defecation of Solid and Liquid Phases in Horses—A Descriptive Survey

Differential Defecation of Solid and Liquid Phases in Horses—A Descriptive Survey

Field Study on Risk Factors for Free Fecal Water in Pleasure Horses

Dysbiosis not observed in Canadian horses with free fecal liquid (FFL) using 16S rRNA sequencing

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