First Miniature Donkey - feeding questions

[Terry Miller]

Hi everyone! We just brought home our first mini donk last night. He is 6 month old and a real sweet boy.

I live in SW FL and the 1 acre pasture he is in does not have much grass for him to forage on. I have a lot of trees and they shade out grass, plus our sandy soil doesn't grow much anyway. Just weeds...

The person I bought him from "spoils" his donks and lets them free feed on hay and gives them 12% all stock sweet feed. (I am not sure what kind of hay he buys.) He looks to be in good shape. Not fat not skinny.

Of course everything I read warns about over feeding and low protein hays but from that point on everyone has their own opinion and I haven't seen anything on quantities especially for the younger ones.

So, since my little guy will not have good pasture to graze on and he is only 6 months old what should I be feeding him and how much? Also, I know we are selenium deficient here so how should I best supplement that for him.

Anyone object to adding a sprinkle of diatomaceous earth to his feed?

Thanks!

 

[Baymule]

DE on his feed won't hurt a thing. Grass hay is good for him. Donkeys are desert animals and put on fat on top of their hips, pones on either side of their backbone and on the crest of their neck. Seriously overweight donkeys can put on so much fat, that their crest falls over and it will never stand back up. A good source of info is

www.lovelongears.com