How to raise a donkey? Breeding tips
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Welcoming a donkey into your home is not a decision to be taken lightly, like any adoption of an animal. The donkey can live up to 40 years. You must therefore be aware that this is a long-term commitment.
On the other hand, the donkey is very attached to its masters and does not support separations very well. It is necessary to be available for him and above all to provide him with suitable living conditions. The donkey requires a minimum of attention and care.
The donkey, a pet
Want to raise a donkey at home? You are right. The donkey is a loyal,
endearing pet that has fewer needs than a horse or a pony, for example.
However, it is also synonymous with stupidity and bad character in the
popular image, when it is not so. The donkey is on the contrary an
intelligent animal, loving freedom. If he can seem stubborn in certain
situations, it is precise because he has understood that they do not
respect his living conditions or that they present a danger for him.
Anyway, if you adopt a colt, you will have to educate it and teach it a
minimum of limits so that it respects you as an adult.
Originally from North Africa and the Middle East, the donkey
particularly likes to eat hard and thorny plants that remind it of its
drylands of origin. For this reason, the donkey is the king of clearers!
It will easily rid your land of weeds such as brambles or nettles.
Several species of donkeys are present in France: the donkey of Poitou,
the big black of Berry, the donkey of Provence, the donkey of Cotentin,
the Norman donkey, the donkey of the Pyrenees, and the Bourbonnais
donkey.
Donkey habitat
The donkey lives outdoors all year round. A minimum of 3,000 m² of
pasture is essential. Rather than beautiful flat terrain, the donkey
prefers hilly meadows with vegetation and bushes. The ideal is to divide
your pasture into several plots separated by a fence. This division
makes it possible to rotate the donkey from one plot to another, every 2
to 3 weeks, the time that the grass regenerates and so that it is not in
contact with its own excrement which can carry diseases.
A donkey also needs a dry shelter where it can protect itself from the
sun in summer or from the cold and humidity in winter. This shelter
should be cleaned once a week. Ideally, its opening should be protected
from prevailing winds and directed towards the sun.
Be careful, the donkey is a runaway, it quickly leaves its pasture. It
is therefore advisable to close your land well with a fence made of
barbed wire or with an electric fence.
The living conditions of the donkey
The second rule to follow if you want to raise a donkey at home: never
leave a donkey alone because it can't stand loneliness and it will let you
know by doing stupid things. In the absence of another donkey, you can
offer him a hen, a sheep, or even a goat as a companion. If you choose to
raise two donkeys together, prefer two females so as not to be confronted
with reproduction problems. The risk of a fight is greater if you take two
males. If your donkey's pasture is located far from your home, don't
forget to visit your animal regularly. Adopting a donkey means being able
to give it at least 30 minutes a day to clean its shelter and take care of
it.
Donkey feeding
The donkey spends between 12 and 16 hours of the day grazing. His diet is
mainly composed, in the summer, of grasses from his pasture: he feasts on
thistles, brambles, hawthorns, and branches of the ash, elm, or hornbeam.
In winter, its diet is mainly hay. He eats an average of 5 kilos a day. Be
careful not to give him too rich food because the donkey is prone to
obesity. To quench his thirst, he must always have clean water at his
disposal. The donkey also needs minerals. A salt stone suspended in its
shelter provides this contribution.
Donkey health
To avoid any health problems, it is recommended to show your donkey to a
veterinarian at least once a year. It is essential to vaccinate him
against tetanus, equine flu, and rabies. The hooves of donkeys must also
be maintained regularly under penalty of irreversible lesions. You will
need to call a farrier to have his hooves trimmed three times a year or
according to their growth. A donkey must also be dewormed 2 to 3 times a
year. Special monitoring of his teeth and ears is useful.
Daily grooming (kind of brushing) is important for the animal. This
treatment cleans him of his dust and dead hair, but also superficially
massages his muscles and ultimately offers him a moment of well-being that
he will greatly appreciate. It is also a way to check that your donkey is
not affected by skin diseases or parasites.
How to choose a donkey?
If you adopt a donkey to have it reproduced, choose a purebred male. If
you intend your donkey to be used for driving or hiking, for example, and
you want animals with a gentle character, choose a castrated donkey,
called a gelding, or have a male castrated as soon as it reaches its third
birthday.
In any case, before acquiring a donkey, some elements can tell you that
it is in good health: its ears must be mobile; his dry, shiny hair; his
cold hooves and lively eyes.
Legal obligations
When adopting a donkey, it is obligatory to have it identified in the
national equine file. This identification is carried out by a veterinarian
or the national stud farms, which assign the animal a descriptive sheet
and a national number, the Equine Information System (SIRE). In concrete
terms, this involves implanting an electronic chip containing this
information in the neck of the donkey and tattooing the SIRE on its lips.
In fact, when you buy a donkey, its former owner must be able to provide
his papers, his health record, and his origins.
On the other hand, all donkey owners must keep an up-to-date breeding
register that mentions all entries and exits of animals, as well as
information on the health and diet of the donkeys.
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