If you have been thinking about a new treat for your special donkey pet then you are about to add one to your list.
Donkeys can eat celery and celery is not only a great treat, it is a nutritious vegetable with a lot of healthy benefits to your donkey. If you want to spice up your donkey’s diet with treats and other vegetables, then celery is definitely a good option.
In this article, we will discuss the health benefits of celery to donkeys, how much celery you should feed your donkey and other yummy and healthy vegetables to add to your treats plate.
What Are The Health Benefits Of Celery To Donkeys?
If you didn’t know, donkeys are a big fan of the crunchy celery vegetable and it is very nutritious for them.
You can add it to their treats and feed it to them from time to time as a change from their staple diet.
Celery’s health benefits to donkeys are wide and your donkey can consume all the parts including roots and stem.
Celery is particularly healthy as its low in calories which will ensure that your donkey doesn’t get overweight from eating it.
Celery has quite a number of nutritional supplements including vitamins, fibre, folate, potassium, and minerals to mention a few.
Some of the nutritional supplements from celery include:
1. It contains Fiber
Because of the high fiber content in celery, it is usually very instrumental in the digestion of food and beneficial to the digestive system.
2. It is rich in Antioxidants
Celery is rich in antioxidants which helps the donkey fight infections and inflammations thereby staying healthy for a longer period.
3. It is rich in Folate
Celery is rich in folate which helps the donkey produce more red and white blood cells to fight off infections.
It also helps the donkey transform carbohydrate into usable energy thereby reducing the risk of obesity.
Other health benefits of celery include but are not limited to:
- Potassium
- Zinc
- Iron
- Vitamins
- Riboflavin
- Thiamine
- Copper
- Low blood sugar
Related: Here is an article I wrote on how do donkeys show aggression?
How Much Celery Should I Feed My Donkeys?
Just like every other vegetables or food concerning your donkey, celery should be given out in moderation.
Celery when mixed with other vegetables is am awesome home made treat which you can serve to your pet donkey for dinner.
However you should not let your donkey get too used to the treat as it might become spoiled and react in a bad tempered or aggressive way when they sight you without the treat.
Cutting one or two celery plants and chopping it with other vegetables should be done about once a day or so. It also depends on the owners discretion and guide.
Some donkey owners would rather feed the treats once a week, while some don’t mind giving once a day.
The purpose of the treats is to provide variety in the donkey’s nutrition and also encourage an healthy appetite in the donkey.
Also if you have not been feeding your donkey celery previously, it is important that you bring it in bits by bits so your donkey’s system can get used to it without getting sick.
Donkeys will eat as much treats and food as you give them however it is your duty as the owner to ensure it doesn’t get too much of one thing to the detriment of the other.
Any Precautions While Feeding Them Celery?
As established earlier, if you have not been feeding celery to your donkeys then it’s best to introduce it to them in bits.
Let them have small bits over the day amd if you watch that there is no adverse reaction then you can go ahead to add it to their treat feed.
Properly washing and cleaning all fruits to be fed is best to avoid your do key getting contamination from donkey discomfort.
You should also not feed your donkey celery by hand though a lot of donkey owners do this.
The celery can get stuck in their throat or cause them to have colic.
Also large pieces of celery can hurt donkeys that have teeth problems so you have to feed them in a way they can enjoy the treat.
Also check out this article I wrote on why do donkeys bray?
How Can I Feed My Donkey Celery?
The best way to feed celery to your donkeys is by chopping all the fresh vegetables in a plate.
You can either dice or slice the celery raw with other vegetables such as carrots.
You can also slightly boil or steam the vegetables to make them a bit more succulent.
This is also good for donkeys with teeth problems as it’s easy for them to chew on the food without their teeth acting up.
Some people also rather feed the donkeys the celery by hand. Please ensure your hands and the celery are clean so the donkey doesn’t get contaminated food from there.
Can Miniature Donkeys Eat Celery?
Miniature donkeys also known as mini donkeys are donkeys who do not grow up to standard sized donkeys and are shorter.
Mini donkeys are usually cute and kept as pets by humans. You can feed your mini donkeys celery just like it’s bigger siblings.
Mini donkeys have as much hearty appetites as standard sizes donkeys. Donkey owners though tend to spoil their mini donkeys with tests.
You should know that you are responsible for what you feed your donkey and as such you should take the precautions for feeding the standard sized donkeys while also feeding your mini donkeys.
What Other Vegetables Can I Feed Them?
There are quite a number of vegetables which a donkey owner can put together to get the donkey salivating at the sight of such.
Cutting various vegetables together and presenting them in a dish is a nice way of feeding your boy treats.
Some other vegetables you could feed your donkey include
- Carrot
- Bananas
- Cucumber
- Apple’s
- Watermelon
- Oranges
- Pears
- Grapefruit
- Strawberries
- Pineapples
- Blackberries
These are but a few of the fruits and vegetables which will add great nutritional benefits to your donkeys health.
This helps them fight off infections, reduce sugar levels and produce more antibodies to stay healthy.
Conclusion
Your donkey deserves a treat once in a while especially of it’s a hard worker.
When you want to give your equine friend his celery treat try to make it nicer by adding other vegetables to it.
This will greatly your bonding with the animal and you can choose to handfeed the donkey if you both prefer that.
Donkeys are sweet tempered animals to keep and they are always except at the thought of a treat.
