Donkey 101: Time Demands of Donkey Management
- Bray Club Arizona
- Apr 10
- 5 min read
So you're considering getting a donkey (but wait! you need two! They need a friend!) and you've already checked out BRAY's guide to new donkey ownership and decided you have enough space, and good fencing, you've looked at BRAY's guide to the cost of owning a donkey, you've checked to make sure there are farriers and vets nearby who will work with donkeys, but you're not sure just yet if you'll have enough time to care for a donkey. How much time per day does it take to care for a donkey, anyway?
Well, it's time for our favorite-least-favorite saying! It depends!
The time it takes every day to care for you animals will depend on a variety of factors, some of which you can change or streamline, and some you cannot. A good, quick rule of thumb is that in an average urban/suburban ranchette of around 1-2 acres it will take about an hour a day to care for a pair of donkeys, regardless of size, if those two donkeys are of similar weight and health, and can eat together. This hour does not include any working with the donkeys, training, or activities, it is simply the baseline for how much extra time you should have to dedicate to your donkeys most days for their basic care. Will you sometimes spend less time if you are busy, sick, or the weather is terrible? Yes, of course, but be realistic with your available free time, and consider if you have an extra hour for 340 days of the year.
With that said, what goes into this hour a day of donkey care? First, we're assuming the bulk of the care is done at once, for most people that looks like doing all your chores with either breakfast or dinner, and your other two meals largely consisting of just tossing out hay and straw. So, where does all this time go?
Weighing and bagging hay and straw. Donkeys need access to forage at all times (going no more than four hours between meals to prevent gastric ulcers and keep their GI tract working correctly), but their thrifty metabolism will cause them to easily gain weight, leading to generalized inflammation and poor health outcomes. How does an owner manage these two truths? Slow feed hay nets at feeding time dispensing an appropriate daily ration of grass hay, and barley or wheat straw for a minimally palatable snack between meals. New owners, and owners helping their animals to lose weight, should be weighing the grass provided to their donkey to ensure it's the right amount. Some owners do choose to feed their donkeys from round bales or square bales in slow feed nets to eliminate having to feed as often. While this is an option, personally we've never seen donkeys maintain appropriate weight while being fed in this manner unless they're being heavily worked (and even then it's somewhat atypical). It's not to say no donkey can self regulate with hay in front of them at all times, but it's rare, and that unicorn donkey is unlikely to be yours. Assume you'll need to weigh and bag hay two to three times a day, depending on your management. We typically feed hay and straw twice a day, with a straw only snack mid day, or upon returning home from work. How you manage your hay and meal times will look different for everyone.
Scrubbing and refiling water buckets. Water buckets and troughs will need to be refilled every day, checked at every feeding (we are all too familiar with a dead ground squirrel or grackle in our water buckets, preventing our animals from drinking), and emptied and scrubbed out regularly. How often they need to be scrubbed will depend on the season, and the temperature of your water, but you can assume every bucket or trough will need to be emptied and scrubbed minimum once a week in the winter, and as often as every other day in the summer, depending on how hot your water is. They will need to be refilled at least every day. We do not recommend automatic waterers or floats, as they prevent you from noting how much water your animals have consumed, and in the desert they only refill your water bucket with water that has been sitting in the pipes getting blazing hot.
Supplements, even at a bare minimum (grass hay pellets, monthly psyllium, salt, and a vitamin/mineral topdress) will require assembling, soaking, and dispensing. Many people will need to separate their animals and wait while they finish their individual supplements, especially if they have different dietary needs.
Pen cleaning and manure removal. Assume about 3-5 minutes per animal for manure removal on spaces up to about 1/5 of an acre. As the size of your donkey's paddock increases, so does the amount of time it takes to walk around removing manure. Raking up old straw or hay, removing fallen leaves or mesquite pods will add time here, as well. Don't forget to include whatever time it takes to get to your dumpster or compost pile!
Fly spray, boots, and masks. This takes another 2-5 minutes per animal, assuming they are trained and tolerate their fly prevention well. Add extra time for animals you have to catch and halter to mask and spray.
We figure those meals with no extra chores are about 10 minutes apiece for a daily total of 20 minutes. This is a fairly quick turnaround and will definitely be extended if you have to walk very far to your feed room, or weigh out lots of bags of hay. Depending on your management you may budget anywhere from 10-30 minutes for these quick meals.
Of course, as we said above, this is for a property of about 1-2 acres, with a paddock of 1/5 acre or less which houses the donkeys, set up in a reasonably efficient and functional manner. A larger pasture will result in more time walking around scooping poop, and inefficient infrastructure, for instance if you need to walk around to a gate and back to turn on the hose to rinse and refill the water buckets will add to your time spent. This time budgeting also doesn't include any grooming or hoof picking, which you should be doing several times a week, or any training or working with your animal. An hour a day is what one can expect to spend to keep your 2-3 animals alive and hygienic.
In addition to adding time for basic grooming, and working with your animal, be sure you have a couple extra hours a month for facilities and maintenance including maintaining drainage, weed removal, basic tidying (cleaning up your hay room, raking up alleys and aisles, etc.), tree trimming, hose repairs, trailer maintenance, farrier visits, vet visits, feed store runs, and more.
If you don't feel you have an hour or more a day to spend with your animals, every day? Plus another 3-5 hours a week for training, grooming, and facilities maintenance? There are great volunteer opportunities with rescues and farms where you can get your donkey fix in while helping them accomplish some of these daily chores.
