How To Start Donkey Farming

How To Start Donkey Farming

How Much Feed Does A Donkey Need?

In temperate climates the most suitable way of providing a low energy diet is straw (barley or wheat). Many veterinarians and owners are reluctant to feed straw to equids due to concerns relating to colic and gastric ulcers; however, studies carried out in a large population of donkeys showed no increased colic (Cox et al., 2009) or gastrc ulcer risk (Burden et al., 2009).

Feeding of fit, healthy donkeys should focus on providing greater proportions of highly fibrous feedstuffs such as cereal straw (barley or wheat straw) or coarse, low energy hay (ideally with an energy level of less than 8 MJ/kg DM) to provide “bulk” with greater energy fibre sources such as grass, hay, haylage, alfalfa and beet pulp being fed as required according to body condition, life stage and workload (Burden & Thiemann, 2015).

Donkeys rarely require energy rich cereal grains, sweet feeds, or highly molassed products; the feeding of such products is poorly tolerated, often wasteful and frequently associated with the development of health issues such as laminitis, gastrc ulceration, hyperlipemia and colic (Burden et al., 2009).

Where cereal grains or molasses are included to increase the palatability or energy density of feeds, it is advised that combined starch and sugar levels (Non Structural Carbohydrates) do not exceed 15% and ideally should be =10%. Care should be taken with diets for growing young stock, pregnant jennies and geriatric donkeys with poor dentition, as these may require supplements or short chopped diets (Burden & Thiemann, 2015).

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Water is perhaps the most essential of all nutrients since without it life cannot continue for longer than a few days, or less in adverse conditions. Clean, fresh water should be freely available at all times; donkeys are renowned for their thirst tolerance, which should not be confused with their water requirements. Water requirements for donkeys are similar to that of horses and will vary considerably depending on workload, environmental temperature, pregnancy and lactation.

Body Condition Scoring and Weight Estimation

Keeping a regular record of donkey’s condition scores and estimated weight measurements can be very useful for monitoring their health and management. For donkeys over two years of age their weight can be estimated using the Donkey Sanctaury’s weight estimator (www.thedonkeysanctuary.org.uk), but this estimator is not accurate for miniature or mammoth donkeys.

To measure donkey’s height, stand him/her on a hard level surface and measure from the ground up to the highest point of their withers. Once a donkey is over four years of age this measurement will only be required once and the same measurement can be used in future weight estimations. A height measuring stick is ideal.

The hearth measurement can be taken using an ordinary tailor’s tape measure; the tape should pass around the bottom of the donkey’s chest as far forward as possible as close to the front legs as possible. Both height and heart girth measurements can then be marked on the weight estimation chart (Figure 1) and the donkey’s weight read off the centre scale by drawing a line between the two measurements.

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For donkeys less than two years of age, height cannot be used to help estimate the donkey’s weight but Table 4 can be used instead.

To determine the Body Condition Score (BCS) of a donkey can be used the “Body Condition Score Chart” (Figure 2). To best manage donkey’s weight, animals must be weighed and condition scored at least once a month (www.thedonkeysanctuary.org.uk). Half scores can be assigned where donkeys fall between scores; aged donkeys can be hard to condition score due to lack of muscle bulk and tone giving thin appearance dorsally with dropped belly ventrally, while overall condition may be reasonable.

Fat deposits may be unevenly distributed especially over the neck and hindquarters. Some resistant fat deposits may be retained in the event of weight loss and/or may calcify (harden). Careful assessment of all areas should be made and combined in order to give an overall score, according to the following parameters.

Raising Donkeys For Milk Production

The Pan-European Strategy on Biological and Landscape Diversity has encouraged the institution of new protected areas of regional and of national parks aimed to safeguard the extensive agriculture and the sustainable rearing of autochthonous breeds in order to reduce the abandon of rural areas. These areas, which include parks, reserves and marginal areas, have an economy mainly based on agriculture, livestock production and forestry.

Among these activities, livestock production in general and the raising of autochthonous livestock breeds in particular contributed significantly to create traditional agricultural landscapes supporting a greater variety of plants and wild animals. Therefore, to maintain and valorise this biodiversity, it is fundamental to preserve and/or reintroduce autochthonous breeds into these areas. This, in turn, may have positive implications for protecting and conserving the natural heritage of these areas (Cosentino et al., 2015).

In this context, the pastoral activity and semi-extensive farming of donkey, if properly managed, may exert a positive influence on biodiversity. Donkeys are grazers as well as browsers, their teeth and lips allow them to graze close to the ground; thus, they can efficiently graze short vegetation. These animals are non-selective grazers (Izraely et al., 1989), preferring thistles, rushes and other coarse vegetation to more palatable grasses. Thus, donkeys are capable of controlling some invasive plant species and those with less appetite (Cosentino et al., 2012).

In recent years, there has been a renewed interest towards the products (milk and meat) and social practices (rural tourism, onotherapy, etc.) that this species can offer, although donkey’s breeding is still poorly widespread (Vincenzetti et al., 2014a). Concerning milk production, it is well known that donkeys provide milk that shows the closest similarity to human milk (Polidori et al., 2009).

Thanks to its nutritional characteristics, donkey milk has several applications: in paediatric sphere, in patients affected by cow’s milk protein allergy and intolerance, as best alternative to human milk in infant food and in geriatric field for the treatment of ageing diseases (Tesse et al., 2009; Polidori et al., 2015).

According to the literature, this milk has low levels of casein allergens and high levels of lactose, of unsaturated fatty acids (linoleic and linolenic) and of lysozyme. This enzyme is practically absent in other species, such as cow, goat, sheep, human (Vincenzetti et al., 2008) and has important physiological functions like inhibition of certain microorganism growth, anti-inflammatory and antitumor activity and increase of defence system in early childhood (Monti et al., 2007).

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Another promising valorisation strategy of donkey milk is the use of this product in cosmetic preparations. Nowadays, the cosmetic trade is mainly focused towards products made with natural ingredients, and it is oriented to a sustainable consumption without preservatives addition. This has led many companies to increase the use of natural ingredients in existing preparations or to create new products (Cosentino et al., 2015).

Because of their natural origin, milk components correspond in many fields to the needs of cosmetology. In cosmetic preparations, donkey milk is often used as basic constituent. Minerals, vitamins, fatty acids, bioactive enzyme and coenzyme, lactose and whey proteins contained in donkey milk prevent skin-ageing process, thanks to the hydrating and restructuring action of the dermal intercellular substance (Cosentino et al., 2013).

It is known that these properties are principally due to the high lysozyme and to the antioxidant action of fatty acids contained in donkey milk (Polidori et al., 2009; Cosentino et al., 2012; Vincenzetti et al., 2014b).

FEEDING LACTATING DONKEY

For most of the year donkeys are fed on crop residues and mature bush grasses of poor nutrient quality, each being low in N and with high fibre content (Pearson et al., 2001).

In order to determine the quantity of nutrients donkeys can obtain from both poor- and good-quality forages, it is important to know how much they consume and how well they digest these feeds when given them either ad libitum or when they receive a restricted ration.

Comparative studies (Pearson & Merritt, 1991) of the voluntary food intakes of donkeys and ponies fed moderate- or poor-quality roughage diets (meadow hay and barley straw respectively) have shown that donkeys tend to consume less DM/d. As a result, they have a slower rate of passage of digesta through the gastrointestinal tract and, as a consequence, have a higher apparent digestibility of both organic matter and fibre fractions than has been measured in ponies. The better apparent digestibility of nutrients by donkeys on forage diets compared with that of ponies enables them to compensate fairly successfully for their lower intakes of feed (Pearson et al., 2001).

The donkey appears more “ruminant-like,” with longer retention times of feed in the tract, lower intakes and better apparent digestibility of nutrients. In situations where the forage supply is limited, the donkey would exploit the nutrients available more effectively than the pony could (Janis, 1976).

Donkeys may require dietary supplementation with hay or haylage during the winter or when pregnant, lactating or growing in order to supply extra energy. Hay or haylage for donkeys must be selected carefully as forage made for horses or other livestock is often too rich and may lead to dietary upset or laminitis. Hay or haylage should be late cut, high in fibre, low in sugar and will be visibly coarse. High fibre haylage may be appropriate for donkeys when late cut hay is not readily available as sugar levels are reduced through partial fermentation. Pregnant or lactating donkeys should be provided with ad libitum hay or haylage during the last trimester of pregnancy and the first 3 months of lactation.

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During lactation, donkey has a low but constant daily production (Polidori et al., 2009). Production level is influenced by several aspects, such as stage of lactation, milking technique, presence of the foal and foaling season (Salimei et al., 2004). In particular, during milking, the presence of foal and the stage of lactation influence fat and protein content. Moreover, lactose content is constant during lactation, being independent of breed, milking time and stage of lactation (Guo et al., 2007).

NUTRIENTS REQUIREMENTS

Requirements are basically determined by factorial method; for maintenance, requirements are determined using balance experiments and then appropriate nutrients conversion rates for calculation (Martin-Rosset et al., 2006). For pregnancy, requirements are determined using weight gain and accretion of nutrients, estimated with the appropriate method and then nutrients conversion rates if these are known.

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