~~~Personally…I’ve never had a problem with that~~~

*****(A Donkey’s Diet )*****

But…a little while ago…we noticed that Sibyl was losing weight…..

We were giving her ample good quality horse feed and hay…..

Her son was still with her…(and trying to nurse)…..

That could have been Potential Problem #1…..

Neither one of them had been wormed yet…..

That was definitely Potential Problem #2…..

But what with the better quality meals and the TLC…it didn’t make sense that she’d be loosing weight(?)…..

So…we kicked into gear with additional tweaking to our basic weight gain protocol…..

First things first…..

Worming all ’round for everybody!………….Yeah!…Woot!…Woot!…..

Everyone is on a regular worming schedule here anyway…but Sibyl and Bartholomew were the newcomers on our farm…and they hadn’t been added into the loop yet…..

…..so a little extra bump to our protocol wasn’t out of the question…..

Yippee!….Everyone Was Getting Wormed Early!…Woot!…Woot!…..

They all got an early anthelmintic-ization (sp?)…that was Phase #1…..

I don’t think Sibyl or Bartholomew have ever been wormed before…they weren’t thrilled with the whole process…..

…..but as my Dad used to say…”They don’t pay the mortgage…so they don’t get a choice in the matter”…..

After the wormings were done…we implemented Phase #2…..

…..which meant I needed to do some research…and find out why Sibyl was loosing weight on our high-octane…Michelin rated equine diet(?)…..

So I did a swan dive into the internet…..

*****(An Appropriate Donkey Diet)*****

And…Lo & Behold…Donkeys do better on coastal hay rather than green and leafy alfalfa…..

Their body condition improves on lower protein…and little or no sweet feed…..

…..they are scavengers and survivors…..

You can literally kill them with kindness (or ignorance…by thinking that more expensive food is better food…where donkeys are concerned)…..

After my deep illuminating dive into donkey diet research…we changed Sibyl’s diet…..

She was already weaning Bartholomew herself…(she no longer allows him to nurse–she is very insistent and accurate with her hind hoof kicks)…..

Bartholomew is not happy with this new agenda…but he does like the new menu of solid food…..

Now…Sibyl and Bartholomew get coastal hay at their morning meal and at their evening meal…no more alfalfa…..

They get a token small can of sweet feed in the morning…but a bucket full of soaked unsweetened beet pulp with their evening meal…..

I’ve waited a little bit to write this post…I wanted to make sure that this new altered low octane menu would work…..

It seems very contrary to my past approaches at putting weight back on horses…..

But Damn…if it isn’t working!…..

Sibyl’s hip bones are rounding out and disappearing…and her chest in getting wider…..

Donkeys are very very “Easy Keepers”…..