One of the roles of the Vet Projects Department is to provide feeding advice to donkey owners and keepers. We have had a busy few weeks with lots of calls coming through from owners of donkeys wanting to know how to feed their donkeys appropriately at this time of year. It is often during these months that elderly donkeys may struggle to maintain weight and need supplementary feeding. In general feeding donkeys that are fit and healthy with good teeth is extremely easy. Donkeys are amazing at obtaining as much from their food as possible, they have evolved to live in semi arid environments where the quality of food available is very poor and subsequently are masters at eating and digesting tough, fibrous plants.
In the UK the most common problems that we come across are donkeys that are overweight or elderly donkeys that are struggling to eat hay and straw and need these 'long fibres' replacing with something more manageable. So first of all what should you feed a healthy donkey with good teeth? (remember that your donkey's teeth should be checked by a qualified professional at least once per year). Healthy donkeys thrive on a basic diet of good quality feeding straw (barley is best) with a little hay and very restricted grazing. This diet allows the donkey to satisfy his natural appetite without putting on weight. In my experience the addition of supplements is unnecessary unless specifically recommended by a vet. Overweight donkeys are more prone to life threatening diseases such as hyperlipaemia and laminitis so it is important to prevent your donkey becoming overweight before it happens – you can diet donkeys but it is very difficult and must be done with care, seek advice if unsure!
This week I spoke to the owner of Fudge an elderly donkey with very poor teeth. The equine dentist had been out to see him and made him as comfortable as possible but unfortunately old age was catching up with him and he had lost a number of teeth. After chatting to his owner we decided that Fudge was no longer able to manage his straw and hay. We decided we would have to provide Fudge with what we call a 'Haynet in a Bucket'. This involves providing Fudge with a chopped fibre product that he doesn't have to chew too much and that will not cause problems such as impaction colic. In the short term I also advised that Fudge should be fed some high fibre nuts and unmolassed sugar beet to help him put a little bit of weight on safely. All of the feed types that we recommend for donkeys are safe for laminitics (if you're not sure look on the bag, if it's safe it will say) and are high in fibre. We do not advise that donkey owners feed cereal based products (cubes or mixes) as these can increase the risk of the donkey developing laminitis and gastric ulcers unless fed very carefully. Donkeys do very well on these natural fibre feeds, here at the Donkey Sanctuary we feed all of our animals on this basis.
There is lots of information available on our website with factsheets on General Feeding and Feeding Elderly Donkeys. If you would like any further advice please do contact us.
I would very much appreciate a comment from you on the following ; our two donkeys are in excellent health and they have plenty of acreage to graze on we also feed hay at night. However when we keep them in their stables at night or during wet weather, they chew the chipboard which lines the stables. Do you have any ideas or suggestions as to any product I could put (or paint) on the chipboard to stop the damage? I have tried mustard and also chilli paste which my previous dog never liked and I thought would deter them but no luck!
Danny and Daisy are 5 years old and came from the same place we purchased them together, they are delightful and happy in their home, this chewing is the only problem we have with them.
Your assistance would be most welcome.
Kind regards
KNR
Thank you for your enquiry about donkeys chewing the chipboard in your stables; this is unfortunately a very common problem. Donkeys evolved in semi-arid environments where plants are often very tough and fibrous, because of this donkeys will ‘browse’ as well as graze meaning that they view things like wood and hedgerows as food items! Donkeys in this country will often chew wood as a way of increasing the level of fibre in their diet and it should not be confused with crib biting, a vice that is common in horses. Unfortunately most anti-chew products will not deter your donkeys as they view the chipboard as something tasty and are unlikely to be put off by a thin covering of mustard or chili. The best way to deter your donkeys is to give them lots of fibre to eat, you do not mention if you give your donkeys straw to eat? Here at the Sanctuary we recommend that the majority of a young, fit, healthy donkey’s diet should be made up of good quality feeding straw (barley is best), in fact if fed on hay and grass alone it is almost inevitable that donkeys will not be able to satisfy their natural appetite without putting on excess weight. Another way of deterring your donkeys from eating the chipboard would be to give them logs (birch, ash, hazel and fruit trees) to chew on, donkeys enjoy stripping the bark and chewing the woody parts. During our study looking at enrichment for donkeys at The Donkey Sanctuary we found that this was an excellent way of stimulating their minds and bodies and gave them the opportunity to satisfy their natural urge to browse.
I do hope these ideas are helpful, please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any further queries.
Best wishes,
Faith
Hello, I came across you article and question/answer and found them very informing.
We have 2 mini donkeys who are ages Stallion at 4 and a gelding at 7. Both in good condition except our gelding, he is over weight. The vets in our area really don't have much experience with donkeys only horses. So most of the advice I get is for horses and does not always work for our guys. Our guys both chew wood, on the barn and fencing. They have grazing field availble during the day and at night they are in a padock that has some grass and toys. The cheiwing just recently started this past year. They really like the wood when its wet. Our vets did not have much to offer other than the concern of impaction with them eating wood. Do you find impaction as issue with them chewing on wood?
Your comment on giving them a log had crossed my mind before but I was scared of impaction. The other comment you mentioned is feeding them Straw. Is feeding them any type of straw ok? And do they need a combination of straw and hay? my guys have field grass available to them all year long.
Another question, I rarely give them grain because of their weight, other than a hand full to keep them coming in at night. Should I be giving them grain? I was scared of founder because they are so easiely kept.
Your advise would be greatly appreciated.
Hi Sam,
Thank you for your enquiry. Donkeys certainly have very different nutritional needs than horses and occasionally problems with their diets can manifest themselves as wood chewing. The key thing to remember is that donkeys evolved to live in areas where food was scarce and of very poor nutritional quality, donkeys really do view wood or very coarse bushes as a natural part of their diet which can lead to problems for us in domesticated sitautions.
In order to discuorage your animals from chewing your wooden structures it is important to give them an alternative high fibre, low nutritional value food. We recommend all donkeys are given free access to straw (barley, oat or wheat are all suitable but not flax), this is high in fibre and satisfies your donkeys natural desire to eat for much of the day, however, as it is low in energy it should not lead to weight gain. You may find that you need to supplement the straw with a little hay in the winter months if your donkeys lose weight but in general grazing and straw is adequate for most of the year.
Logs can also be a great way of allowing your donkeys to satsify their natural behaviours in a safe way, it is important to select safe woods such as fruit trees (except fruit trees with stoned fruit e.g. plums or cherries), ash, beech, hazel and sycamore, logs from poisonous trees such as oaks, evergreens and red wood trees should be avoided. As long as your donkeys teeth are good and checked yearly by your vet or equine dental techinician then I would be extremely surprised if you have problems with impaction, to ensure that your donkeys are able to manage their feed introduce new feeds (straw, logs etc..) gradually over a period of 4-6 weeks.
You are absolutely right not to feed your donkeys grain, donkeys have not evolved to eat cereal and we have found that when fed such feeds they are at increased risk of developing laminitis, gastric ulcers and colic. I would even go so far as to try to avoid using small quantities of grain to bring them in with, how about replacing the grain with a chopped carrot, apple or banana?
Good luck with your donkeys and do let us know how you get on!
Best wishes,
Faith
Hi Faith!
We also had a problem with wood chewing when we first got our Fosters which can be somewhat disheartening. Ben Hart suggested providing logs which we now do - the donkeys love them. This time of year there is also a plentiful supply of hazel in our area and all our neighbours allow me to go and snip off a few branches which I scatter in the yard for their afternoon amusement when they come in off the rich grass.
If other owners are having trouble sourcing the right type of wood its a good idea to post a few notices in local shops or at work. I often do this and it is suprising the number of people that get in contact, only too glad of someone to come and relieve them of branches etc when they have been pruning. I notice you say they can have Birch, is that any sort of Birch? We have a plentiful supply of Silver Birch but I wasn't sure if they could have it, although they always make a bee-line for it when we walk them across the heath.
I also give them chopped fruit which I throw in on top of their straw - they spend ages routing through trying to find it, their favourite is bananas and pears!
Another subject for your blog when you have time - could you do a recap on the worm count regime please? I seem to remember at the Workshop you mentioned about testing for Fluke, I also keep sheep so should I be testing for that as well?
Thanks
Hettie
Hi Hettie,
Thanks for your reply, what a great idea to ask your neighbours for their overgrown hedgerows and trees. All of the trees mentioned are safe to our knowledge but we would always recommend that anything like this should be given in moderation and owners should monitor their donkeys for any ill effects. We have found that some donkeys like silver birch and others are not interested so it is obviously a personal choice! If you are selecting branches then it is always best to select healthy looking branches and relatively new growth with no signs of fungi growing on them.
Worm egg counting is always best addressed on an individual level as every donkey or mule has different needs depending on their age and health but I will try and put together a blog about some general rules to keep your donkey and pastures as happy and healthy as possible - watch this space.
Best wishes,
Faith