Feeding Your Miniature Donkey

Donkeys evolved in harsh, sparse desert environments, so their bodies are incredibly efficient at pulling nutrition from very little. That's great in the wild, but on lush pastures, it makes obesity the #1 health risk for donkeys.

High Fiber Forage

Straw, not hay, is the base of an ideal diet. Good-quality barley or wheat straw is high-fiber, low-sugar, and should make up the bulk of what your adult donkey eats on a maintenance diet. First cutting hay is also a good choice if straw is not available.  Hay should still be provided in moderation when straw is the main course.  Unlike mature adults on maintenace diets, weanlings and nursing jennets should have free access to good quality hay.

Skip Alfalfa and Rich Grass

Skip the alfalfa and rich grass. First-cutting grass hay is fine in moderation. Alfalfa and lush spring pasture pack too many calories for adult donkeys.  Donkeys on pasture must still have access to high fiber forage sources at all times.  It is generally safe to allow weanlings and nursing jennets to have pasture access, but they still must have hay access as well.  

Learn to Body-Condition Score

Learn to body-condition score. Run your hands over the neck, ribs, and tail head (the coat hides weight gain). A cresty neck or fat pads = time to cut calories and add exercise time.

Minerals, Yes — Grain, No

Offer a loose mineral or feed balancer made for equines (not cattle). Skip sweet feed and sugary treats.  A low starch/low sugar horse feed can be used in small amounts (under 1 measuring cup) daily to add feed supplements.  Weanlings up to 12 months old and nursing jennets should be on an equine senior feed, 1-2 cups twice a day depending on body condition.  Senior donkeys may also need grain and soaked feed supplementation as they lose their teeth and ability to chew forage.  

Provide free access to salt.  Many prefer to use lose salt.  We like to use the selenium90 mineral salt blocks as we are in a selenium deficient area of the country.  

Pregnant Jennets

Be sure to pull pregnant jennets off fescue pastures and hays 90 days before foaling if you are in an area of the country that has native fescue grass.  The endophyte in fescue will cause severe pregnancy, lactation, and foaling issues in 80% of cases which can be avoided if they are put on a fescue free diet in the last trimester.  

Red Flag: Loss of Appetite

A donkey that won't eat, even for one meal, needs a vet call right away. A donkey off feed is always an emergency. They hide illness extremely well, and going off feed can turn serious within just a few hours.  It is often the only symptom you will readily notice in a colic case or sick donkey.