Sharing Experience on Breeding and Raising Stud Donkeys

The Chinese donkey originated from the Asian wild ass, distributed in western China and the Asian inland regions such as Asia Minor, India, and Arabia, among which the Tibetan wild ass and the Mongolian wild ass were captured and tamed from a young age, forming the domestic donkey. When first introduced, they were mostly concentrated in the Guanzhong region, and later gradually spread northward and eastward. As one of the draft animals, donkeys were once found throughout the Central Plains farming areas and the semi-farming semi-pastoral areas.

Feeding and management: When formulating the daily ration for stud donkeys, the proportion of forage should be reduced, the proportion of concentrate should be increased, and energy feed should be controlled, so that the concentrate accounts for 1/3 to 1/2 of the total ration. When the breeding workload is heavy, animal-based and mineral feeds such as eggs, milk, fish meal, stone powder, and monocalcium phosphate also need to be added. In order for semen quality to meet requirements during the breeding period, feeding should be intensified 1 to 1.5 months before the start of breeding to improve feed quality.

Generally, during the non-breeding period, large stud donkeys are fed 5 to 6 kg of millet straw or high-quality hay per day, with 1.5 to 2 kg of concentrate; medium-sized stud donkeys are fed 3 to 4 kg of hay per day, with 1 to 1.5 kg of concentrate. One month before entering the breeding period, begin reducing hay and increasing concentrate to reach the breeding-period ration standard: for large donkeys, 3.5 to 4 kg of millet straw and 2.3 to 3.5 kg of concentrate, of which soybean cake or beans should be no less than 25% to 30%; when high-quality green hay is lacking in early spring, 1 kg of carrots or 0.5 kg of barley malt should be supplied daily.

To enhance physical condition, the mutually restrictive yet balanced relationship among nutrition, exercise, and breeding of stud donkeys must be handled well. When the breeding workload is heavy, exercise can be reduced and protein feed increased; when the breeding workload is light, exercise can be increased or concentrate appropriately reduced to prevent stud donkeys from becoming overweight. Exercise generally can take the form of light work or riding, and they can also be driven to exercise on a rotary exercise machine for 1.5 to 2 hours. Exercise can improve sperm motility, but strenuous exercise should be avoided within 1 hour before and after breeding (semen collection), and after breeding they should be led out for a walk for 20 minutes. Apart from feeding time, stud donkeys can exercise in the exercise yard at other times and should not be tethered.

Reasonable breeding: generally breeding (semen collection) is once per day, with 1 day of rest per week; occasionally twice a day, with an interval of more than 8 hours, and the breeding frequency of young stud donkeys should be less than that of mature stud donkeys. In short, the number of breeding sessions should be determined according to the results of semen quality inspection. Excessive breeding will reduce semen quality, affect reproductive capacity, cause infertility, and also shorten the useful life of stud donkeys.