By the age of two, the donkeys mature for work accustoming. Three-year-old donkeys are often used regularly but are not burdened with hard work.
The performance of donkeys is reduced in the absence of care for their hooves. In order to maintain the desired shape of the hooves, they constantly monitor their regrowth and promptly correct the curvature of the horn shoe by trimming (at least once a month). With hard work on stony ground, the donkey is shod, in all other cases, the hooves from forging can be abandoned, the hooves of donkeys are distinguished by enviable strength.
During work, excessive exertion should be avoided to the maximum and, especially, with poor feeding. So, when a donkey works for a couple of days in 7-8 days or it is used for occasional trips or deliveries of cargo under a pack, it is possible to keep the animal only on pasture, but regular work will require abundant and adequate feeding. In the case of a transition to medium loads, concentrates should be included in the diet, and roughage and concentrates for heavy ones. Diet: adobe - 2 kg; wheat bran - 1 kg, hay - at least 2 kg, crushed barley - 1-2 kg. If donkeys, with the prescribed feeding, maintain an average body condition and normal working capacity, then we can safely speak of sufficient feeding. Weight loss of the animal will indicate insufficient feeding.
You can prolong the high productivity of a donkey through the correct working regime. The stomach of these animals is small, for this reason, the feeding should be at least three times. If the animal is hot, then it should not be watered. A donkey that is not watered is not attracted to roughage. It is also impossible to feed grain with simultaneous watering. Therefore, a working donkey should be watered about 30 minutes before completion of work.
The donkey works productively for 8-10 hours.
Under a pack for a small donkey habitual to work, the normal load is 60 kg, for medium animals - 80-85 kg, and for large individuals - 95 kg. With such a pack, an animal can cover a distance of 35 km per day.
When working in harness on a flat road, a donkey can carry a load three times greater than under a pack, but the distance of passage with such a load is somewhat reduced. It should be borne in mind that when harnessing donkeys, the shafts must go parallel to the ground, then the pulling force is used especially fully.
The performance of donkeys decreases with the appearance of injections, which can reach very large sizes. Pressure build-ups appear due to poor harness, and in order to avoid their occurrence, you must carefully monitor the harness. The sweat cloth should be thick enough, soft, without roughness or hardening. The girth should be wide enough; it is impossible to use a rope instead of a girth, since with a strong tightening it rubs the chest, and with a weak one it forms a bend on the back.
When pressure appears, it is necessary to urgently take measures to treat the animal until the damage has reached a large size. To prevent wear and tear, all working donkeys should be inspected daily, and when the first signs of a disease appear, the cause of its occurrence should be established, and then, if necessary, seek veterinary help and release the donkey from work for several days.
