Nutritional requirements, feed intake and digestion in working donkeys : a comparison with other work animals
2003
Tisserand, J.L. | Pearson, R. Anne
Donkeys are numerous in the Mediterranean area and play a very important part in the region's rural domestic economy particularly in the south. The donkey seems to have a lower energy cost of walking and work, compared to other animals that are commonly used for work. Their resting metabolism is about 20% lower that that of horses. They require less feed over the working year than horses or cattle due to their small size. Nutritional studies of donkeys and ponies are reviewed and where relevant comparisons are made with cattle. Donkeys are hardy animals, they have a greater tolerance to dehydration and rapid re-hydration than cattle and ponies. Above all donkeys have a good capacity to use poor forage diets. They digest low quality forages almost as effectively as do cattle. They can maintain intake of forage diets and digestibility as feed quality falls, increasing the mean retention time of diets in the digestive tract. Studies with caecal cannulated animals and in sacco techniques have shown that fibre degradation, and volatile fatty acid (VFA) production are higher in the donkey caecum than that of the pony on the same forages, suggesting better more effective microbial digestion in the hind-gut of the donkey compared to the pony and hence a greater aptitude to degrade cell walls. More information is needed on the effects of concentrate supplementation on the intake and digestibility of the generally low quality forages available to working donkeys. This will help in the development of suitable rations for working donkeys in those area where they are used for work.
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