Donkeys are classified as animals that are undemanding in terms of housing conditions and quality of feed. Improvements in grooming that can significantly improve their quality can be achieved without significantly increasing donkey maintenance costs.
First of all, you should create good conditions for pregnant queens. One should not lose sight of such a moment as the frequent miscarriages of donkeys. The main cause of this problem is hard work.
Dampness and cold are dangerous for donkeys, therefore premises are required for their maintenance. In winter, dryness and warmth are required in the room, and coolness is encouraged in summer. Littering material is of great importance (especially in winter).
A couple of weeks after foaling, the donkeys are connected to light work, at first the mother does not leave the sucker for more than 3 hours. At the same time, as far as possible, it is necessary to abandon long transitions (more than 25 km), since they are difficult for the colt. The suckling uterus needs daily grazing. Grazing increases the milk production of the donkey and has a beneficial effect on the condition of the donkey. Fresh herb complements breast milk perfectly.
Donkeys are sometimes left under the queens until the next foal. However, such late weaning is recognized as undesirable - it negatively affects the milk production of the queens and the development of the future offspring. The optimal age for donkeys at weaning is 7-8 months. It is possible to be late with it only if it is precisely determined that the mother remained unfertilized.
For a colt under its mother, feeding for the first months is not necessary. A prerequisite is good milk production of the uterus and the gradual accustoming of young animals to other feeds in the mother's feeder. The same grazing is needed. A few weeks before weaning, suckers are provided with a special feeding, represented by crushed barley. The minimum daily allowance is 0.1 kg.
After weaning, which usually coincides with the winter period when there is practically no grazing, special attention should be paid to feeding the young. Approximate diet: crushed barley - 0.5 kg, hay - up to 2 kg. Closer to the spring period, the rate of hay increases to 2.5 kg. The greens that have appeared replace roughage and partially concentrates for year-old donkeys.
The winter diet of one and a half year old donkeys includes alfalfa hay - 3 kg, adobe - 2 kg and crushed barley - 0.7 kg.
With the onset of a new grazing period, two-year-old donkeys begin to graze, and in late autumn they go to stalls and begin to receive a ration calculated for one and a half-year-old animals. The average live weight of donkeys raised in this way reaches 180 kg by the age of three.
As you can see, feeding donkeys has its own characteristics. At the same time, they are less demanding on food compared to foals, which naturally makes it easier to breed and use donkeys.
