Mini donkeys eating the bark off trees?

Food:

One thing I think is very important to mention - if you notice your donkey is not eating like normal, there is usually something wrong. One thing about donkeys - they LOVE their food, so if they aren't eating with their normal relish, this indicates a problem. It could be something simple that will be gone quickly, but watch them closely and if they are still not eating and in particular, acting listless - consult your vet immediately.

Pasture grass is good for donkeys as long as it isn't too rich in protein. Our grass is a combination of bermuda and native grasses, so we're lucky in the fact that it's not rich enough to cause weight problems. Since donkeys are desert animals, they can gain weight easily, so keep an eye on their condition and limit their pasture access if you start seeing a weight problem.

Donkeys do love their hay. They will do best with a fairly low protein bermuda and/or native grass hay. We also give bermuda hay in the evenings, along with their pellet feed. Normally they should not have alfalfa hay, which is a high protein hay, but then again, all donkeys are not alike. We hear a lot about giving low protein, but I think you should assess your donkeys and make your own intelligent decisions. A nursing mom that is being pulled down by her foal will probably benefit from a small amount of alfalfa, along with growing foals.

A small amount of a good, nutritious 10% - 14% protein pellet feed can also be added to their diet - particularly for foals and nursing mothers. Our personal choice of feed is Stategy, but there are quite a number of good ones out there. We do not recommend sweet feed be given to donkeys. Donkeys will develop a fat neck roll if they're fed too much. Once this unattractive fat roll accumulates, it's usually there to stay. Again, I can't stress enough - watch the condition of your donkeys and make an intelligent decision on what they require in food. Consult with your vet if you feel you need additional input.

Oh dear - and yes, some of them are little horrors and will just chew on bark (and sometimes fencing, gates, stables etc).

The only thing I have ever found is to physcially prevent them from reaching the 'delicious treat'. I've never found anything that you paint on that works (and yes, I've tried the expensive 'anti chew' stuff, plus dung mixed in creosote, old engine oil etc etc - and no, giving them half a forest of logs etc doens't detract them - and yes, they do have access to a full range of nutrients so aren't misisng anything form their diet - some are juast destructive little wotsits!!).

The most cost effective thing I have ever found - and now use everywhere - is something called 'Weldmesh' or Twiwled'. It's a sort of rigid chicken wire, but thicker than chicken wire ('cos they can bite through that) and the squares are parallel to the ground and not on the diagonal . You can get it with approx. 2" squares of a fairly rigid wire mesh, so that if you cut off a piece, it will stand up on its own. You can get it in approx 1m and 2m heights. I use the 1m for wrapping round door jambs and 'lining' wooden gates and the 2m for making my own 'tree guards' - just cut to length, then put round tree (loosely) and wire onto itself.

I hope this helps / makes sense - if not. email me and I'll ring my fencing people and get the definitive trade name of it.

http://www.forum.dbs.dsoftd.com/ShowPost.aspx?Post...

http://www.lowdowndonkey.com/Donkey%20Care.htm

It's common for horses/donkeys to munch on tree bark, even if there's plenty of food. You just want to watch out that the trees aren't poisonous to the donkeys. Also, if you want your trees to live, I'd put up some chicken wire around the trunks up to a point where they cannot reach it. Luckily, they're minis so you shouldn't have to go too high. If they happen to eat all the bark away all the way around the tree, it can die. It's called "girdling" and the tree dies because the bark is how it gets its nutrients to the tops of the tree. If the bark is gone, the nutrients can't get to the rest of the tree.

So, eating bark isn't necessarily unhealthy for the donkeys, unless it's poisonous, but if you don't want the trees to die, I'd suggest putting up some chicken wire.

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Mini donkeys eating the bark off trees?

My new Mini donkeys are eating the bark off of some of my trees. They have plenty of good grass to eat and access to a salt brick and trace minerals. They must be lacking in something....any ideas? I've only had them for 3 days. They have way more grass here than where they came from.They are both...

i know, my dogs do this(de-bark trees) when they are bored!

i don't know much about donkeys, but these guys are young!

do the like playing with each other?got to some farm supply, buy toys made for horses!Like really big plastic balls?maybe put a goat(a young goat of course) in the same pasture with the donkeys!

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It's just that the bark tastes good and they love the snack, I prevented that just with chicken wire wrapped around the tree up to a height they couldn't reach anymore :)

You should wrap the trees in hardware cloth to keep the minis from ring-barking and killing your trees.

Even when my horses were out in lush pasture, they still wanted their hay. I, too, am in Fl.

They could be lacking some roughage, if your grass is very lush right now and mature, it could have a very high water content and thus be less nutritional. Do they have any dry hay to nosh on?

Another problem for them and far more likely: They could be bored. ;) Horses crib and rip parts out of wood beams as bored habits. If I had to guess, they could just be bored and fidgeting or exploring.

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