How do you build a meat donkey farm? A detailed explanation of construction methods
Donkey meat is a typical high-protein, low-fat meat food, with a mineral content of about 1.1% and a relatively low cholesterol content. It has health benefits such as enriching the blood, tonifying qi and replenishing deficiency, and it also has eating characteristics such as delicious taste and a unique flavor. It has very high farming prospects and is a very good farming project for becoming wealthy and increasing income. Now let us take a look at the construction methods for a meat donkey farm!
Construction of a meat donkey farm
1. Site selection: A meat donkey farm should have sufficient water and electricity, and the water source should meet the national sanitary standards for drinking water. The feed source should be convenient, transportation should be convenient, the terrain should be high and dry, the groundwater level should be low, drainage should be good, the soil should be solid, the site should face the sun with shelter from the wind, air circulation should be good, and the land should be flat and broad or have a gentle slope. It should be more than 1000 m from major traffic roads, public places, residential areas, towns, and schools, and more than 2000 m away from hospitals, livestock product processing plants, garbage dumps, and sewage treatment plants. There should be a wall or other effective barrier around it.
2. Farm layout: A meat donkey farm is generally divided into a living area, management area, production area, and auxiliary production area. The living area and management area should be located at the highest point of the farm or on the windward side, and maintain a distance of more than 50 m from the production area. The auxiliary production area is set between the management area and the production area. The production area includes donkey barns, exercise yards, manure collection pits, etc., and should be located in a lower position on the farm. The disinfection room, veterinary room, isolation room, manure collection pit, and harmless treatment room for dead donkeys should be located on the downwind side of the production area, no less than 50 m from the donkey barns. Personnel, animals, and materials should be transported in a single flow direction to prevent cross-contamination and the spread of disease. Trees should be planted for greening around the farm, along roadsides, and around exercise yards.
3. Donkey barn planning: The construction of donkey barns should be determined according to factors such as local temperature changes and the production purposes of the donkey farm. A double-slope donkey barn facing north-to-south or southeast is most commonly used. There should be a certain number and size of windows or ventilation openings to ensure sufficient sunlight and air circulation. A concrete disinfection pool should be set up at the entrance of the donkey barn. The main facilities inside the donkey barn include donkey beds, feed troughs, manure cleaning passages, manure and urine gutters, drinking water troughs, and ventilation openings.
Zoning of a meat donkey farm
1. Living area: Refers to the cultural and residential area for workers. It should be located on the windward side of the cattle farm and on higher terrain, and maintain a distance of more than 100 m from the production area to ensure a good sanitary environment in the living area.
2. Management area: Includes buildings related to business management and product processing and sales. The management area must be strictly separated from the production area, ensuring a distance of more than 50 m. Outsiders may only move around in the management area, and off-farm transport vehicles and livestock are strictly prohibited from entering the production area.
3. Production area
① Location: The production area should be located in a relatively downwind position on the farm. It must be able to control off-farm personnel and vehicles so that they cannot directly enter the production area, and it must ensure the greatest safety and quiet. A gatehouse reception room, disinfection room, changing room, and vehicle disinfection pool should be set up at the main entrance. Non-production personnel are strictly prohibited from entering or leaving the farm, and entering and exiting personnel and vehicles must undergo strict disinfection through the disinfection room or disinfection pool.
② Layout: The meat donkey barns in the production area should be rationally laid out, with feeding by stage and by group. Appropriate distances should be maintained between the cattle barns, and the layout should be neat to facilitate disease prevention and fire prevention. However, they should also be appropriately concentrated to save water and electricity lines and pipelines, shorten the transport distance for forage and feed and manure, and facilitate scientific management.
③ Feed storage: The roughage storage should be set on the downwind side of the production area at a higher location, maintaining a fire prevention distance of 60 m from other buildings, while taking into account both links of transport from off the farm and then to the donkey barns. The feed storage, hay shed, processing workshop, and silage pit should be relatively close to the cattle barns and moderately positioned to facilitate vehicle transport of forage and reduce labor intensity, but it must be prevented that sewage from the donkey barns and exercise yards seeps in and contaminates the forage.
4. Manure and urine sewage treatment and sick animal management area: Set in a low-lying downwind area of the production area, maintaining a sanitary separation distance of 300 m from the production area. The sick donkey area should be easy to isolate, with a separate passage, and convenient for disinfection and waste treatment. Burial wells or incinerators should be more than 300-500 m from livestock barns to prevent sewage, manure, urine, and waste from spreading and polluting the environment.
Facilities of a meat donkey farm
1. Meat donkey bed: The meat donkey bed is the place where meat donkeys eat feed and rest. The length of the meat donkey bed varies according to the size of the donkey's body. The general design of a meat donkey bed is to make the front part of the meat donkey close to the rear wall of the feed trough, with the hind limbs close to the edge of the meat donkey bed, so that manure can fall directly into the manure gutter. For adult female donkeys, the bed is 1.8-2 m long and 1.1-1.3 m wide; for breeding male donkeys, the bed is 2-2.2 m long and 1.3-1.5 m wide; for fattening donkeys, the bed is 1.9-2.1 m long and 1.2-1.3 m wide; for growing donkeys over 6 months of age, the bed is 1.7-1.8 m long and 1-1.2 m wide. The donkey bed should be 5 cm above the ground and maintain a gentle slope, which is suitable for washing and keeping dry. The donkey bed is best made with a lime-sand-clay ground, which both preserves warmth and protects the hooves.
2. Feed trough: Feed troughs can be built as fixed or movable types. Cement troughs, iron troughs, and wooden troughs can all be used as donkey feed troughs. The length of the feed trough is the same as the width of the meat donkey bed. The upper opening width is 60-70 cm, the bottom width is 35-45 cm, the height of the side near the meat donkey is 40-50 cm, and the height of the side away from the donkey is 70-80 cm. The bottom is curved, and railings are set behind the feed trough to restrain the donkeys.
3. Manure gutter: A manure discharge gutter is set between the meat donkey bed and the passage. The gutter is 35-40 cm wide and 10-15 cm deep, and the bottom of the gutter has a certain slope to allow sewage to flow.
4. Manure cleaning passage: The manure cleaning passage is also the passage for meat donkeys to enter and exit. It is mostly built with a cement surface, and the surface should have a certain slope and be scored with lines to prevent slipping. The manure cleaning passage is 1.5-2 m wide, and manure cleaning passages are also left at both ends of the donkey pen, with a width of 1.5-2 m.
5. Feed passage: A feed passage is set in front of the feed trough, and it is appropriate for the passage to be 10 cm above the ground. The feed passage is generally 1.5-2 m wide.
6. Doors of the meat donkey barn: The meat donkey barn usually has two side doors at both ends of the barn, that is, directly facing the central feed passage. Longer meat donkey barns also have doors on the leeward and sunny side of the longitudinal wall to facilitate the entry and exit of people and meat donkeys. The doors should be double push doors without thresholds, and their size is appropriately 2-2.2 m × 2-2.2 m.
7. Exercise yard: Barns for raising breeding donkeys and foals should have exercise yards. Exercise yards are mostly set in the spare area between two barns, enclosed by fences around them, and the donkeys are tied or kept loose inside. The area that each donkey should occupy is 15-20 sq m for adult donkeys, 10-15 sq m for growing donkeys, and 5-10 sq m for foals. The ground of the exercise yard is best made of lime-sand-clay. Supplementary feed troughs and water troughs should be set up in the exercise yard. The supplementary feed troughs and water troughs should be set on one side of the exercise yard, and their number should be sufficient and the layout reasonable to avoid donkeys fighting for food, fighting for water, and butting each other.