Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Our Tiny Farm! It was a very soggy and warm Christmas this year. Chester and Meadow did not enjoy having to spend so much time in the barn (they both HATE to be wet). But we went out to spend time with them and give them treats, and today it is starting to dry out and they are back on the pasture.
We are looking forward to a quieter and easier 2024 on Our Tiny Farm. There are only two donkeys here now and we expect to just host a few fundraisers here for local non-profits.
We plan to spend more time relaxing, gardening, playing with the donkeys, and enjoying all the wildlife who call Our Tiny Farm "home". This year we have deer, rabbits, opossums, raccoons, skunks, feral cats, hawks, several kinds of woodpeckers, many other birds, and for the first time in many years, we've spotted fox again, as shown in the pic above!
Im in NC also and have 2 mini donks. Got them at 9 months old and they are now about 15 months old. Everything I find recommends barley straw for feeding, but all I find locally is bedding straw. They do have grass in pastures with lots of room to run and play. I feed them Timothy hay and 1 cup of safe choice grain and 1/2 cup of empower topline balancer, 2x a day when I feed their horse friends. I’m worried about them getting fat, but can’t find any advise about what to feed them in Raleigh NC area. Any advice?
ReplyDeleteI suggest you talk to other mini-donkey owners in your area to see what they feed theirs. We struggle to maintain a healthy weight on our minis, too. We feed grass hay which we weigh out. Donkeys should eat 1.5% of their body weight in hay daily, but you have to take pasture consumption into account, too. We do not routinely feed grain. We provide a cup of Triple Crown Lite from time to time to provide minerals that the hay may be missing since we don't test our hay. We also limit pasture time and some of our donkeys wear grazing muzzles whenever they are on pasture. And then we encourage activity through play. Wish we had a larger dry paddock!! Good luck!
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