You can feed other types of straw, such as oat and wheat, but oat straw is more nutritious than barley straw, so it is best used for feeding underweight and old donkeys. Wheat straw is best suited to donkeys with good dental health, as it is very fibrous and lower in calories.
What treats can I give my donkeys?
Treats
- Basic treats like carrots, apples, peppermints, bananas, watermelon, oranges, pears, grapes, celery, strawberries, and pumpkin are all safe for donkeys. ...
- Donkeys like sweet flavors, like raspberry. ...
- You can add fruit to a bucket of water to make it more challenging to grab—think bobbing for apples, but with donkeys!
What human food can donkeys eat?
What human food can donkeys eat? Carrots, apples, bananas, pears, turnips and swedes are all safe and usually very popular with donkeys. Ensure that chopped fruit and vegetables are cut in a way that minimises the risk of choking, such as in sticks.
What is the best grain for donkeys?
- Hay
- Straw
- Minerals and Vitamins
- Short chop chaff products
- High Fibre Pellets
- Fruits and Vegetables
- Dried Sugar Beet Pulp
- Don’t forget – Your donkey needs plenty of fresh water!
How to raise a donkey as a pet?
Donkey Housing And Management. When just beginning in raising donkeys the first thing you have to prepare is land and housing. Raising donkeys requires you to build a proper house for them. The housing provides the donkeys with shade from the hot sun and keeps them warm in the winter. Donkey house can be designed using wire, fencing hardware ...
What is the best thing to feed donkeys?
What to feed your donkeysStraw. We recommend feeding donkeys quality barley straw as it is high in fibre and low in sugar, and closely resembles the food that a donkey would eat in the wild. ... Hay. ... Silage. ... High fibre pellets. ... Short chop chaff products. ... Dried sugar beet pulp. ... Succulents. ... Minerals and vitamins.More items...
What do you feed a malnourished donkey?
Good quality hay or high fibre haylage (e.g. Horsehage High Fibre) should be all that is fed initially, fed in small quantities (up to ¼ Kg) every 4-6 hours. If teeth are poor a low energy and low non-structural carbohydrate (NSC) hay replacement product (e.g. Happy Hoof) can be fed instead.
What should you not feed a donkey?
Avoid dusty or mouldy feeds. Access to an equine salt or mineral lick is advisable (avoid mineral licks designed for other types of livestock as they may contain inappropriate mineral levels).
How old do donkeys last if they are healthy?
Prior to getting a donkey, it is important to be aware that owning a donkey is a long-term commitment; the average age for donkeys in the UK is 27 but donkeys can live to over 40 years old! Donkeys are not like horses; they differ physically, mentally and emotionally.
Do donkeys need grain everyday?
Do Donkeys Need Grain? Donkeys do not need to be fed regular grain if they are given enough straw along with grass or hay to maintain their normal diet.
Why do donkeys need salt?
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What are healthy treats for donkeys?
TreatsBasic treats like carrots, apples, peppermints, bananas, watermelon, oranges, pears, grapes, celery, strawberries, and pumpkin are all safe for donkeys. ... Donkeys like sweet flavors, like raspberry.More items...
Is celery good for donkeys?
Full of water and fiber, celery is a great treat for donkeys. Celery is a good source of potassium and very low in calories; a 110 gram portion has only 15 calories, so this is a particularly healthy vegetable for donkeys to eat (source).
How long does a donkey live?
27 – 40 yearsDonkey / Lifespan
How do donkeys show affection to humans?
Donkeys are very tactile, affectionate animals among themselves and their human companions. They are fond of doing what I call "wrapping" where they cling to you and wrap themselves around you.
Do donkeys get depressed?
Donkeys become sad and depressed, even physically ill, if they are kept alone or separated from other donkeys.
How do I keep my donkey happy?
Generally, donkeys and other mammals can live in harmony together. As long as there is enough pasture, space, feed, and water for everyone placed all around the general grazing and sleeping areas, everyone should be happy.
How do you put weight on a donkey?
Assuming the donkey has no dental problems, ad lib straw and good quality hay or high fibre haylage (e.g. Horsehage High Fibre) should form the main part of the donkey's diet. the diet for encouraging weight gain and are best fed soaked. bodyweight per day (i.e. 180g per day for a 180kg donkey).
What grain do you feed donkeys?
In the majority of cases this should be solely provided by straw, hay/haylage or restricted grazing plus a vitamin and mineral balancer. If your donkey has no dental problems, feed a diet of 75% straw in summer and 50% straw in winter. Make up the remainder of their diet with hay or haylage, or restricted grazing.
Is alfalfa good for donkeys?
Straw is also far lower in protein than a typical grass hay and, certainly, donkeys should not be fed alfalfa due to its significantly higher protein content .
How often should I feed my donkey?
Feed your donkey hay or haylage two to three times a day.
What can I feed my donkey?
Donkeys enjoy soaked sugar beet added as a ‘top dressing’ to their normal diet.
What to feed an elderly donkey?
It is important to only offer treats that elderly donkeys can manage. To tempt fussy donkeys, carrots, bananas and apples are invaluable; however, donkeys with poor teeth may struggle with them. Grated carrots and apples are ideal, however if this is not practical mashed, tinned carrots may be used or small amounts of unsweetened apple sauce may be helpful.
What do donkeys eat?
Donkeys have evolved to eat fibrous plant materials in small quantities throughout the day. This is known as trickle feeding and helps to keep the donkey’s digestive system healthy and to keep the donkey occupied. When donkeys have poor teeth and are finding long fibres difficult to chew, it is important to provide them with an alternative source of fibre. There are a number of hay replacement short chop products on the market for example Mollichaff Donkey, Dengie Hi Fi Lite, Hi Fi Senior and Happy Hoof.
How long do donkeys live?
Many donkeys live until 30 years and beyond. Get up to speed on your ageing donkey's dietary needs and health issues. Many donkeys live until 30 years and the accepted classification for a ‘geriatric’ donkey is one that is over 20 years old. This is more the case in donkeys kept as companions rather than as working donkeys, ...
How much food should I feed a 200 kg donkey?
Meals of less than 500 g of supplementary feed are ideal for a 200 kg donkey. Try to avoid feeding as one meal, small frequent meals are best. If you are not feeding a forage balancer, ensure that the donkeys have access to an equine specific non-molassed mineral lick.
How often should I check my donkey's dental health?
Regular checks of the dental function is essential and either a vet or a dental technician should carry out checks every 6 months and appropriate treatment where necessary. Donkeys have specific requirements, which are often very different to those of horses and ponies, and it is important to be aware of these.
Do donkeys drink cold water?
It is important to ensure your don key is drinking enough, sometimes in the winter donkeys may not want to drink very cold water and you may need to provide tepid water to tempt them. Always introduce changes to the diet gradually and watch your donkey to ensure that it is eating.
Can donkeys eat cereal?
Donkeys, on the other hand, don’t need this kind of supplementation. In fact, cereal grains should never be fed to a donkey; a donkey’s increased metabolism of energy and protein makes cereal grains completely off-limits.
Can donkeys get laminitis?
It also means that if a donkey is let loose in a lush pasture, he’s more likely to put on too much weight. (And yes, overweight donkeys can develop laminitis.) Ideally, a donkey’s year-round diet should include more mature hay than grass, to help keep his condition in check.
Is a donkey a pet?
Donkeys are growing in popularity as pets, even here in Kentucky, home of the Horse Capital of the World! Because donkeys look so similar to ponies, their owners may think Hallway Feeds is a good option to ensure they get all the nutrition they need. However, donkeys and ponies are very different—with different digestive systems, ...
Is a donkey a browser?
For example, ponies are grazers, and they can meet a lot of their nutritional needs out in the pasture. Donkeys, however, are both grazers and browsers.
Can a donkey have a ration balancer?
A product like Hallway Feeds Pure & Simple Balancer can support a healthy digestive tract and has the protein, vitamins, and minerals that many equines need to ensure overall health. Note , though, that a donkey would be fed a balancer at a much lower rate than a pony. Consult your vet for appropriate advice.
What does a donkey eat?
The donkey is a herbivore. This means that it eats plants as food. The food provides the energy, protein, minerals and vitamins which the donkey needs for maintenance, for work, for growth, and when appropriate for pregnancy and lactation.
How much do donkeys eat?
It will then eat about 2.5 kg of dry matter in a day per 100 kg live weight. A donkey allowed access to grazing at will, will spend about 60% of the day in feeding.
How does a donkey get energy?
Energy is available to the donkey in several different forms. It is supplied in the food as carbohydrate, fat or protein. It is also available from the body reserves of glycogen in the muscles and liver or from fat in the adipose tissue throughout the body. Providing energy from food protein is wasteful. Many working donkeys are in lean condition and so have few body reserves to call on. The main supply of energy to a working animal is therefore the carbohydrate and fat in the diet. Carbohydrate is in two forms:#N#(a) simple carbohydrates, which are broken down to glucose which is absorbed from the small intestine into the bloodstream and#N#(b) complex carbohydrates found in fibrous plant material, which are fermented by the microorganisms in the large intestine to produce volatile fatty acids absorbed through the gut wall into the bloodstream.
How does a donkey regulate its temperature?
One way the donkey regulates its body temperature is by reducing the metabolic heat produced during feeding. Rate of passage of digesta through the intestine can also slow down when the donkey is hot, further reducing food intake.
How to meet water requirements for donkeys?
The best advice that can be given on how to meet water requirements is - offer water to the donkey at every opportunity and at least 4 times a day, more if it is working in the heat. Contrary to popular belief a donkey, and a horse, does not suffer from water toxicity. Both species can drink large amounts of water in one go without suffering any ill effects. A donkey deprived of water is very good at drinking to its requirements. In a study in Zimbabwe donkeys drinking only every 48 hours, drank the same amount over a three-week period as donkeys allowed to drink as much as they wanted daily. Working donkeys can also be watered during work in the day with no harm. In any short rest periods it is important to make sure the donkey is in the shade and to offer it water. It may not drink straight away so let the donkey spend some time at the trough or with the water bucket (at least 5 minutes) to see if it will drink. When it starts drinking it may pause in drinking and look about, make sure it is allowed to continue until it has finished and turns away of its own accord.
How much time do donkeys spend feeding?
In natural conditions a donkey would spend 14 - 16 hours a day in feeding. It is important that donkeys kept on grazing land have time to eat. Work in particular takes the donkey away from feeding. The more work it does the less time there is for feeding, but the more food is needed to meet the increased energy requirement. A working donkey therefore needs more concentrated feeds than one that is not working. Donkeys are more susceptible to the time available for eating than cattle. Cattle increase rate of eating if they have been working, donkeys do not, since the initial chewing is more important in processing the food in the donkey than in the ox (a ruminant).
What is the digestive system of a donkey?
It consists of the mouth (lips and teeth), the esophagus, the stomach, the small intestine, the large intestine (cecum and colon) and the rectum.
Long Fibre Replacement
Other Supplementary Feeds
- Some donkeys may require more calories than those that can be provided by a fibrous diet alone and may need additional feeds. There are a number of high energy alfalfa based chop products such as Alfa A, that may be used to supplement part of the fibre ration. Alfalfa products are not suitable for older donkeys with poor liver function; a vet can take blood samples to check liver fu…
Appetizing Additions
- Although donkeys are generally good eaters and enjoy most feeds given to them some elderly donkeys may need the addition of some extra ‘goodies’ to tempt them. It is important to only offer treats that elderly donkeys can manage. To tempt fussy donkeys, carrots, bananas and apples are invaluable; however, donkeys with poor teeth may struggle with t...
Feeding Hints and Tips
- The following hints and tips are important to remember when feeding your donkey: 1. Continually assess your donkey’s body condition, using the donkey specific body condition scoring chart, and make changes to their diet accordingly. 2. Make sure that fresh, clean water is available at all times. It is important to ensure your donkey is drinking enough, sometimes in the winter donkey…
Introduction
Feeding Strategy of The Donkey
- To feed a donkey well does not require a large amount of money or feed, it is easier to feed a working donkey well than for example a working ox. The donkey is smaller and so needs less actual feed than most cattle. However, the way in which the donkey processes the food and what it gets from it are different from an ox. It is important to remember this when feeding donkeys - t…
The Digestive Tract
- The anatomy of the digestive system of the donkey is similar to that of the horse (Figure 1). It consists of the mouth (lips and teeth), the esophagus, the stomach, the small intestine, the large intestine (cecum and colon) and the rectum.
Foods Available
- Most donkeys are fed on roughages for most of their life, supplemented with grazing of natural grassland, roadsides, bush and scrubland if they are kept in the rural areas. Many working donkeys are found in urban and peri-urban areas of the world where opportunities for grazing are few and people feed their animals entirely on purchased feeds. In t...
Guidelines to Feeding Donkeys For Different Activities
- These are guidelines, since the exact amounts and proportions will be affected by how much production is expected from the donkey, its body condition and the food available. A thin donkey has few body reserves of energy, whereas a donkey in good condition does have something in reserve for a short period. Table 1shows how to assess the feeding value of roughage in terms …
Conclusions
- The final test of a ration is to try feeding it to some donkeys and see if it is palatable, maintains weight and keeps the animals healthy. Feed a range of feedstuffs - if possible a mixture of dry forage, green forage and some concentrate - and then you can rarely go wrong. Feed the young donkey on the best possible feeds available, good quality roughage and high protein, energy con…
General Textbooks on Equine Nutrition
- 1. Allison K, Day C. A Guide to Equine Nutrition. UK: JA Allen Ltd, 1995. 2. Cuddeford D. Equine Nutrition. UK: The Crowood Press, 1997. - Available from amazon.com- 3. Frape D. Equine Nutrition and Feeding. UK: Blackwell Sciences, 1998. - Available from amazon.com- 4. Kohnke J, Kelleher F and Trevor-Jones P. Feeding Horses in Australia. A Guide for Horse Owners and Man…