What are the key points for fattening donkeys in winter?

Donkeys are herbivorous animals with strong disease resistance, are easy to raise and manage, reproduce quickly, can be kept either by grazing or in pens, and require little investment, making them very suitable for small-scale raising by farming households. After a short period of fattening in winter, the body weight of a young donkey can reach 150-200 kg, and that of an adult donkey can reach 250-300 kg. Based on current market conditions, raising one donkey can yield a profit of 600-1,000 yuan.

1. Selecting donkeys for fattening

Guanzhong donkeys and Dezhou donkeys are the first choice. Guanzhong donkeys are mainly produced in the Guanzhong Plain area of Shaanxi Province, and after fattening their body weight can reach 250-290 kg; Dezhou donkeys are mainly produced in Dezhou City, Shandong Province, and after fattening their body weight can reach about 260 kg.

2. Deworming and stomach strengthening before fattening

Deworming and stomach strengthening can be carried out after the donkeys have been stable in the pen for 2-3 days. Use Chongkexing to remove internal parasites from the donkeys; the oral powder dosage is 0.1 g per kg of body weight, and the subcutaneous injection dosage is 0.2 mL per kg of body weight. Stomach strengthening is usually carried out 3 days after deworming, giving each donkey 60-100 g of artificial salt orally or 450 g of Jianwei San orally.

3. Fattening and feeding of young donkeys

Young donkeys purchased from other places should be trained more intensively so that they gradually adapt to local feeding conditions. At first, corn, wheat and the like can be ground into powder, boiled into a thin porridge and mixed with a little sugar to entice them to eat. After several days, in addition to normal grass feeding, feed 80-100 g of concentrate per day, then gradually increase it. During the entire fattening period for a young donkey, about 500 kg of concentrate is needed.

4. Fattening and feeding of adult donkeys

For adult donkeys purchased from other places, first feed some easily digestible feed such as green grass and wheat bran, and feed small amounts frequently, with each feeding amounting to about 70% of full satiety, and only enter the fattening period after they eat grass normally. The mixed roughage during the fattening period is mainly high-quality hay, soybean stalk powder and corn stalk powder, and the mixed concentrate is generally 50% soybean cake, 30% cornmeal and 20% wheat bran. Fattening donkeys can be fed concentrate twice during the day, and at night only roughage is given, with each feeding at about 80% of full satiety; after about two months they can be slaughtered and sold. The concentrate and roughage used for fattening adult donkeys should be selected according to local natural resources and market conditions. For example, roughage can include cottonseed hulls, soybean stalk powder, corn stalk powder and the like, and concentrate can include peanut cake, soybean cake, cooked sorghum or soybean powder and the like. During the fattening period, the amount of exercise of the donkeys should be limited, and the pen and environment should be kept clean and dry.