Barley straw is a bit higher in nutrients and palatability than wheat straw and, as long as it is supplemented with a balanced vitamin/mineral supplement, can provide all the feed that a healthy, adult donkey needs. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. Wheat straw is more fibrous than barley straw and more difficult to chew. Oat straw is another acceptable option, but it is recommended mainly for older or malnourished donkeys. A young healthy donkey will survive the winter on half a bale of barley straw a day (left-overs can be used for bedding) with a handful of low protein crunch such as Red Mills Cool and Cooked 10% protein once a day as long as he has access to some grazing. As a nutritionist she works with all equids, from WEG competitors to Miniature donkeys and everything in between. It manages approximately a thousand donkeys at any given time and has experimented extensively in how best to feed them. Donkeys like to use straw as bedding, and it’s important to give them extra bedding material in much colder weather. Most horse hay should have an ADF in the low to mid-30% range. We have put together the answers to the most common questions when it comes to feeding straw to your donkey. We would usually only recommend feeding it to younger donkeys for this reason. The donkey diet should consist of mainly good quality barley straw or oat straw (barley straw is best) and carefully restricted access to grass. Even when grass … I simply have no room. Barley straw is considered a great food resource for donkeys, but it is not available in my area. Timothy hay with an ADF higher than 40% also tends to have low crude protein levels, below 10%. Clair Thunes, PhD, is an equine nutritionist who owns Summit Equine Nutrition, based in Gilbert, Arizona. We feed straw to the vast majority of donkeys, mules, ponies and horses kept at The Donkey Sanctuary. Secure to the side of the pond so that after the bag is water-logged, it will not be able to sink more than 3 feet deep. So instead of feeding 100% hay during the summer, they feed barley straw as part of the donkey’s summer rations. Most donkeys need to eat at floor level as this is healthier for their digestion, respiratory system and eyes. Stay up-to-date on the latest news about your horse's health with FREE newsletters from TheHorse.com. She works as a consultant with owners/trainers and veterinarians across the United States and globally to take the guesswork out of feeding horses and provides services to select companies. I can’t find any other than what is sold for cleaning ponds. We wouldn’t generally recommend feeding a larger proportion of hay/haylage than straw, even in young growing donkeys. Long fibres such as straw, hay and haylage need a significant amount of chewing to break them down sufficiently enough to be swallowed. For most average-sized donkeys this equates to roughly 2-3 kg of fibre per day. Barley straw can be hard to find in the United States. Some people have suggested the proportions of the micro-organisms in the hind-gut are different, with those in the donkey being better at cellulose digestion. I read that wild donkeys travel and forage over long distances and therefore can become overweight on a purely hay or alfalfa diet. It isn’t necessary to get too hung up on the numbers and start making complicated calculations as providing an ad-lib fibre-based diet will ensure your donkeys are getting enough to eat in terms of bulk. Finally feeding straw when water is not available or is unpalatable also presents an increased risk of a donkey developing colic. Barley straw is an ideal feed for your donkey. An easy access to straw encourages your donkey to eat to its filing without eating too much. Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. The straw delivery will last through to the end of the southern hemisphere summer in April and also protect them from any price rises for feed, ensuring the donkeys have a stable supply through this unprecedented time of natural crisis. Donkeys don’t generally need to eat grass alongside hay/haylage for a large part of the year when nutrients are fairly high in growing grass. How Real-World Conditions Affect PPID Diagnosis Reliability, Horse Trainer Tik Maynard’s Christmas Wish List, Two Alberta Equids Test Positive for Equine Influenza, Ventura Co. Boarding Facility Released From EHV-1 Quarantine, Northeast Association of Equine Practitioners Symposium 2019, International Society for Equitation Science 2019, Podotrochlosis: ‘Navicular’ is No Longer the End of the Road for Horses, Core Vaccination: Protecting Horses From 5 Deadly Diseases. The remainder of your donkey’s diet (25-50 per cent) should be grazing on grass, hay or haylage. After the grain is removed from cereal crops such as barley, wheat and oats the long stem or stalk of the plant is left behind on the field. The Donkey Sanctuary (a globally recognized authority in the management and care of donkeys) has found barley straw to be the best choice for healthy donkeys. Wheat straw doesn’t perform very well as a bedding material so is not generally a first choice. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Is this safe for donkeys? Small hole haynets can be used with donkeys, but should be tied at a comfortable height to avoid lifting the head too high, but also not so low that the donkey is at risk of getting tangled up in it. In the winter I was informed that the donkey's diet should be 50% barley straw, and 50% grass hay. This website uses cookies to improve your experience. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. – The Horse Barley straw is the Donkey Sanctuary’s main recommendation, followed by wheat and then oat straw. Donkey’s may require supplemental hay if they are not maintaining good body condition with the straw and restricted grass … Horse breeding from planning through foal care, Horse-health-problem risk factors, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment, Design and maintain a healthy horse operation, Prevention and treatment for problems of the equine foot, How to care for the basic health needs of horses, Prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of leg lameness, Proper feeding practices for foals, adult horses, and older horses, All aspects of caring for performance horses, News and issues for equine health professionals, Discussions about the welfare of our equine friends, Exposed: Practical Lessons from a Real-Life Equine Infectious Disease Outbreak. The Donkey Sanctuary are buying 21 tons of barley straw and funding two weekly water collections until the end of April 2020. When fed with a balanced mineral supplement it can fill the needs for most donkeys as long as their teeth are good. quality" feeds such as barley straw or maize (corn) stover. Now, this made sense to me. Born in England, she earned her undergraduate degree at Edinburgh University, in Scotland, and her master’s and doctorate in nutrition at the University of California, Davis. Oat straw is higher in calories than barley or wheat straw, it needs to be fed with caution to avoid weight gain so may be a good option for slimmer donkeys. Oat straw is also highly prized by the feed manufacturers so it is often in short supply and more expensive. Posted by Clair Thunes, PhD | Oct 14, 2019 | Commentary, Donkeys, Horse Care, Horse Nutrition Commentary Series, Mules, Donkeys, & Other Equids, Nutrition, Pasture and Forages. Our animals are all housed in groups with free access to exercise areas as opposed to being kept stabled. Growing up, she competed in a wide array of disciplines and was an active member of the U.K. Pony Club. If using more than 1 barley straw bag, place bags at intervals along side the pond or on the wind side. I have never seen barley straw, just wheat or oat straw. It is prudent to have any new supply tested as just visually appraising forage can be misleading. Donkeys are generally able to eat as much straw as they like to fill their bellies and keep their digestive systems moving without consuming too much energy (although testing straw before feeding is recommended as some modern strains can be higher in energy than expected). Follow this guide on our recommendations. Barley straw also doesn’t seem to cause the same weight gain that can occur with oat straw, which is more digestible. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. This hay often has an acid detergent fiber (ADF, a measure of indigestible fiber) content of more than 40%. Factors that might increase the risk of colic include a sudden introduction of straw to the diet of an animal that has not previously been fed it. Grass or hay/haylage should make up approximately 25-50% of the diet depending on the time of year. We feel that donkeys that are free to eat and move as naturally as possible - in a similar way to their evolutionary pattern of roaming and foraging - suffer less from impaction colic compared to stabled animals. Depending on a donkey’s condition hay/haylage could make up to 50% of the diet. What kind of treats do donkeys like? Barley straw makes great bedding. Barley straw is an ideal feed for your donkey. Donkeys have developed several adaptations to survive successfully on these fibrous, low-nutrition foods. Straw is a by-product of the cereal grain industry. Straw We recommend feeding donkeys quality barley straw as it is low in sugar and high in fibre, and is identical to what your pet feed will feed on in their natural environment. Webcast | Horse Under Stress? These have been cleaned of dust, but they’re approximately $7 for just more than 4 pounds. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. Straw should make up the majority of most donkeys’ diets, with grazing and hay or haylage being considered a top-up only. Planning a visit to Sidmouth between 19 Dec and 4 Jan? I was also told to give him a salt block, and a forage balancer. Barley Straw does not kill algae. I have found some small bales available online sold for use as pet feed. No legumes, just local grasses. Barley Straw is Nature's cure for a chemical-free Algae solution. Again, this is preferable for donkeys because they’re able to recycle nitrogen and, therefore, don’t need as high a dietary crude protein content as horses. We…. In terms of how much to feed, there is no single answer to this question. However, research has shown that clean, fresh barley straw is an ideal feed for donkeys being high in fibre and low in protein, sugar and starch. It depends. During the summer there are more nutrients in the grass and without monitoring your donkeys' weight can often end up putting on a bit of weight. Of the three kinds of straw generally available, barley straw is lower in energy than oat straw and higher than wheat. Chaff/chop products are easier to pick up and chew and will ensure the donkey can actually consume enough to stay healthy and avoid the risk of choking on partially chewed food. If you continue to use the site, we'll assume you're okay with this. Therefore, experts typically recommend feeding donkeys forages with high fiber content and low nutritional value. They need barley straw (oat straw is too rich and wheat straw is too long and hard to digest.) Book for free. 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