Glossary · 🍽️ Diet & feeding

Caecotrophs

Also called: caecotrophy · night droppings

Caecotrophs are soft, nutrient-rich droppings that rabbits (and other hindgut fermenters) eat directly from their bottom to absorb vitamins and protein — a normal, essential behaviour, not a problem.

They’re distinct from the normal hard, round faecal pellets. Eating them (caecotrophy, a form of coprophagy) lets the animal extract nutrients its gut can only produce on a second pass.

Sticky caecotrophs left uneaten and stuck to the fur can signal too rich a diet or an animal that can’t reach its bottom — and, in warm weather, a flystrike risk.

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