What to feed donkeys?

General cycling advice ( NOT technical ! )
Dingdong
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What to feed donkeys?

Post by Dingdong »

We've got an old donkey on our route or of town it seems to be well fed by everyone! I saw a guy recently feeding it cheese and onion crisps, which it seemed to love! Good idea? What's best for the old brayer?
Dingdong
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Re: What to feed donkeys?

Post by Dingdong »

Charlie, the crisp eating donkey.
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peetee
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Re: What to feed donkeys?

Post by peetee »

I love donkeys but i wouldn't suggest you feed it anything until you have spoken to the owner and asked if that's ok.
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Steve
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Re: What to feed donkeys?

Post by Steve »

Strawberries?
iandriver
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Re: What to feed donkeys?

Post by iandriver »

Donkeys are natives of very poor land and do not do well on calorific, rich food. It's kindest not to feed it. Straw is more than enough for them.
Last edited by iandriver on 30 Nov 2022, 10:53am, edited 1 time in total.
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gbnz
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Re: What to feed donkeys?

Post by gbnz »

Reminds me of the pigs in a field, last year. I asked the owner where he got them slaughtered, presuming they must be for meat (Nb. Substantial, hairy, tusk equipped animals). Turns out they were pets :lol:
tim-b
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Re: What to feed donkeys?

Post by tim-b »

I know of one donkey whose favourite food is thistles, but he also has a tail held on with a drawing pin
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6.5_lives_left
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Re: What to feed donkeys?

Post by 6.5_lives_left »

Back in the day when my nephew was young and growing up in Spain, he once fed a donkey some carrots (asked the owner first). But the carrots had been at the back of the fridge and had frozen solid. It was the middle of summer, so baking hot. The donkey seemed to enjoy the carrots because they disappeared quickly with a lot chomping but also with a lot of drooling. So it would seem that at least one donkey likes carrot popsicles in hot weather.
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Mick F
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Re: What to feed donkeys?

Post by Mick F »

Steve wrote: 29 Nov 2022, 5:07pmStrawberries?
:lol: :lol:
Mick F. Cornwall
iandriver
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Re: What to feed donkeys?

Post by iandriver »

Quote from:
https://www.thedonkeysanctuary.org.uk/w ... ng-donkeys

Donkeys require specialist feeding, they are not a small horse and should not be fed as such. They require fewer calories to maintain weight than a pony of the same size, and enjoy trickle feeding on highly fibrous feeds.
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SA_SA_SA
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Re: What to feed donkeys?

Post by SA_SA_SA »

Why do they seem to say use these basic foods such as straw with commercial supplements... commercial supplements don't grow in the wild so doesnt that undermine their advice?
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mumbojumbo
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Re: What to feed donkeys?

Post by mumbojumbo »

Donkeys eat grass, and should not be fed alien morsels. Chocolate poisons dogs ,and cats choke on aniseed.
axel_knutt
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Re: What to feed donkeys?

Post by axel_knutt »

Dingdong wrote: 29 Nov 2022, 10:49am We've got an old donkey on our route or of town it seems to be well fed by everyone! I saw a guy recently feeding it cheese and onion crisps, which it seemed to love! Good idea? What's best for the old brayer?
What's best is to leave it alone.

I had a girlfriend who owned horses, and she had a never ending series of vets bills to treat them for colic caused by locals who thought they weren't getting fed properly. The grass in the paddock was too rich for them so she had to pen off part of it to stop them gorging themselves, the problem is that people would see the sparse vegetation one side of the fence and lush grass the other, and go in and pull the fence down.
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― Friedrich Nietzsche
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simonineaston
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Re: What to feed donkeys?

Post by simonineaston »

Cute as donkeys undoubtedly are, I agree that the owner's permission should be sought before feeding him/her anything, more than a rare polo mint...
S
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mattsccm
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Re: What to feed donkeys?

Post by mattsccm »

Straw hats surely?
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