A Detailed Guide to the Prevention and Treatment of Donkey Diseases

No matter what you raise, poor management will lead to illness, and raising donkeys is no different. Because the numbers are sometimes too large, people cannot keep an eye on every animal, and certain ailments naturally appear. So which diseases are most likely to occur when raising donkeys? Qinong Web briefly introduces below several common ailments in donkey raising along with ways to handle and prevent them.

1. Diarrhea

This symptom is relatively concentrated in young donkeys, because young donkeys have relatively poor digestive capacity and the food they are fed tends to be thin and mushy. The cause is too much water in the feed and the thin, mushy food, which leads to poor digestion of what is fed, manifesting as diarrhea, with manure appearing watery and a small amount of fluid flowing from the rear. In this case, sulfaguanidine or long-acting sulfonamide is generally used to treat it, and then one feeding is skipped. The food fed afterward should be kept somewhat dry, and fresh forage should be fed for a period as much as possible. Once you notice the donkey's manure becoming increasingly watery, you must pay attention.

2. Gastroenteritis

Gastroenteritis is generally caused by feeding poor-quality food. It usually manifests as lack of appetite, a large belly despite eating very little, and foul-smelling manure containing some viscous liquid. Generally, sulfaguanidine is used first to reduce inflammation, and then things like tea leaves are fed to clear the bloating in the belly. In more severe cases, some nutrient solution also needs to be injected to prevent the meat donkey from becoming dehydrated and collapsing. The preventive approach is that feed must be stored well, carefully checked at feeding time, and any spoiled food must be discarded. Do not risk a big loss over a small saving, and never casually feed plants you do not recognize.

3. Donkey botfly

This ailment mainly means that donkey botfly parasites are present in the donkey's stomach. It is generally caused by botfly larvae mixed into the forage fed during the day, or by poor sanitation attracting donkey botflies. At this point the donkey's symptoms look very much like gastroenteritis, and some people misjudge it. There is a trick to tell them apart: if the area near the stomach shows a tendency to shrivel, it is definitely the botfly. Generally, feeding is stopped for more than one day, then trichlorfon is administered to kill the parasites, once every three days, for two rounds in a row. The preventive approach is to keep sanitation clean and to choose fresh forage from places free of pests.

4. Split and rotting donkey hooves

This is a disease that all livestock can have, and it is also the most common condition to appear on the hooves. It usually manifests as restlessness while standing, the donkey kicking its hooves wildly and walking around nonstop. At this point the only option is to cut away the rotting part, then bandage it, and place the animal in a dry and clean place. Generally it will gradually recover after about a week. This happens because the ground is too damp and the donkey moves around very little each day, so the hooves are corroded and split open by moisture, allowing bacteria to invade. The key point of prevention lies in cleaning up sanitation.

When raising donkeys, you will inevitably run into some ailments; this is unavoidable. What we can do is reduce the probability of their occurrence. Strengthen management so problems can be found and handled in time, avoiding greater losses. If you have other ailments you would like to deal with, you can follow our website!