COPROPHAGY AS AN AVENUE FOR FOALS OF THE DOMESTIC HORSE TO LEARN FOODPREFERENCES FROM THEIR DAMS

Observation of foal development shows that the appearance of adult-typ e motor grazing behaviour, selection of grass vs. non-grass and the av oidance of poisonous plants occur concurrently between the ages of 4 a nd 6 weeks. Suckling behaviour and close association of foal with dam change with time but show no particular coincidence with grazing behav ioural changes. Coprophagy of the foal on maternal faeces does, howeve r, correspond chronologically with the foal learning to graze selectiv ely. This correspondence suggests that, as well as other uses, in dome stic horses coprophagy may function to imprint on the foal the food-se lective values of its dam.