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Coprophagia ( ) or coprophagy ( ) is the consumption of feces. The word is derived from the Ancient Greek κόπρος "feces" and φαγεῖν "to eat". Coprophagy refers to many kinds of feces-eating, including eating feces of other species (heterospecifics), of other individuals (allocoprophagy), or one's own (autocoprophagy). Feces may be already deposited or taken directly from the anus. Some animal species eat feces as a normal behavior, whereas other species may eat feces under certain conditions.
Among beetles, are a diverse lineage, many of which feed on the microorganism-rich liquid component of mammals' dung, and lay their eggs in balls composed mainly of the remaining fibrous material. Group living and aggregation among common earwigs promotes allo-coprophagy (consuming the feces of other members of one's own species) to promote the growth of helpful gut bacteria and provide a food source when food is scarce.
Through proctodeal feeding, eat one another's feces as a means of obtaining their hindgut . Termites and protists have a symbiotic relationship (e.g. with the protozoan that allows the termites to digest the cellulose in their diet). For example, in one group of termites, a three-way symbiotic relationship exists; termites of the family Rhinotermitidae, cellulolytic protists of the genus Pseudotrichonympha in the guts of these termites, and intracellular bacterial symbionts of the protists.
Domesticated and wild mammals are sometimes coprophagic.
Some dogs may lack critical digestive enzymes when they are only eating processed dried foods, so they gain these from consuming fecal matter. They only consume fecal matter that is less than two days old which supports this theory.
Cattle in the United States are often fed chicken litter. Concerns have arisen that the practice of feeding chicken litter to cattle could lead to bovine spongiform encephalopathy (mad-cow disease) because of the crushed bone meal in chicken feed. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulates this practice by attempting to prevent the introduction of any part of cattle brain or spinal cord into livestock feed. Chickens also eat their own feces. Other countries, such as Canada, have banned chicken litter for use as a livestock feed.
The young of , Giant Panda, , and Hippopotamus eat the feces of their mothers or other animals in the herd, to obtain the bacteria required to properly digest vegetation found in their ecosystems. When such animals are born, their are sterile and do not contain these bacteria. Without doing this, they would be unable to obtain any nutritional value from plants. Piglets with access to maternal feces early in life exhibited better performance.
, guinea pigs, chinchillas, hedgehogs, and eat their own droppings, which are thought to be a source of B vitamins and Vitamin K, produced by gut bacteria. Sometimes, there is also the aspect of self-anointment while these creatures eat their droppings. On rare occasions have been observed consuming their feces, possibly out of boredom, a desire for warm food, or to reingest seeds contained in the feces. (2025). 9780387335056, Springer Science & Business Media. ISBN 9780387335056
During the mid 16th century, physicians tasted their patients' feces to better judge their state and condition, according to François Rabelais. Rabelais studied medicine, but was also a writer of satirical and grotesque fiction, so the truth of this statement is unclear. (2025). 9781103353989, BiblioBazaar. ISBN 9781103353989
Elephant caretakers in Xayaboury province, Laos, have been documented using elephant feces primarily as a medicine for gastrointestinal and skin problems.
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