Eating hay and straw already gives donkeys a lot of fiber, but they need a ton of it in their diet to keep things moving and guarantee their overall health.
One of the main issues with feeding donkeys treats is they tend to gain weight. On most farms and homesteads, donkeys don’t get a ton of daily exercise.
If you increase the calories they eat by feeding them apples, pears, and other fruits frequently, they can gain too much weight and run into associated health issues.
Can a donkey eat celery and celery leaves?
Celery is a fantastic treat for donkeys because it’s full of water and fiber. Celery is a great snack option because it’s juicy but doesn’t have many calories. It’s a guilt-free treat you can give to your donkey as much as you’d like.
They’ll love munching on cold celery in the hot summer months, and feeding them celery is a terrific way to get close to your animals.
Here’s some great information on feeding donkeys celery and what you need to know to keep your donkeys happy and healthy!
Table of Contents
Why Donkeys Love Celery Treats?
Donkeys have regular diets that don’t offer much in the way of flavor. Eating straw and hay all day can get old, as you might imagine.
Anytime you stand next to their enclosure and wave a carrot, apples, or some watermelon, they’ll come running because they love the chance to eat something different.
Celery is a great treat for donkeys because it’s healthy for them and doesn’t have a lot of sugar.
The satisfying, watery crunch they get from eating a celery stalk will keep them coming back for more.
Donkeys can comfortably eat one celery stalk with leaves at a time. It’s a tasty snack that you can give your donkeys to cool them off when it’s hot out.
Stick them in the fridge or the freezer before giving them celery, and they’ll like it even more.
Reasons Why Celery Is a Good Donkey Snack
Donkeys are strong, robust animals. They have resilient stomachs that can handle a lot. You have several options when it comes to snacks for donkeys. They love eating fruits, grains, and vegetables.
Celery is a nice choice for a donkey snack for several reasons. Here are some of the biggest reasons you should choose celery over other, sweeter snacks.
Low in Sugar
The main thing you want to avoid is giving donkeys too much sugar and calories. Weight issues will come back to bite you, which is why celery is an excellent option.
There’s no sugar in celery, but the high water content almost makes it feel like you’re eating watermelon or a crunchy apple.
Your donkey won’t mind that it’s not particularly sweet because it’s so different from the straw they normally eat.
You can feed your donkey a lot of celery without worrying about potential weight gain.
Affordable
Celery is one of the most affordable vegetables you can buy. It’s cheaper than most fruit and has a very good shelf-life, so you can feed it to your donkey for days or even weeks after you buy it.
Some fruits, like nice apples, can cost a lot of money. With celery, however, you can stock up without breaking the bank.
Easy to Feed
Another reason why celery is such a good treat for donkeys is that the shape of the vegetable makes it very easy to feed them.
The length and shape of celery make it almost perfect because hungry donkeys avoid nibbling on your hands.
The celery also lets children or friends stand at a distance while feeding. They’ll feel more comfortable and are less likely to drop the celery compared to something like an apple.
Nutritional
We’ve already mentioned that celery is high in fiber, but it also contains many antioxidants that are good for the donkeys’ immune system and overall health.
More antioxidants in the system can lower inflammation and stave off infections, so the more you can give them, the better.
Celery also has good amounts of potassium, iron, and zinc, which are all beneficial for humans and animals.
Can You Feed Donkeys Too Much Celery?
With celery, it’s much harder to overfeed donkeys because it’s very low in calories and it doesn’t have harmful sugars.
Things like bananas and apples should be an occasional treat for donkeys because too much fruit can impact their health.
However, celery doesn’t have the sugars or calories that many fruits do, so it’s much less of a concern.
You want to avoid feeding your donkeys too much celery to the point where they don’t want to eat their regular food.
It becomes a problem when piles of straw and hay go untouched because they’re waiting for you to come around with more celery.
Also, some donkeys will become aggressive if they see you approach without a stalk of celery in your hand. That means you’re likely giving them too many treats.
You should scale back the celery snacks until their behavior returns to normal.
How Often Should I Feed My Donkey Celery?
It’s hard to say how often you should feed your donkey celery. Typically, it depends on the individual donkey. Celery is a very safe snack, so overfeeding is unlikely.
Some people will restrict snacks to once a week no matter what the snack is because they don’t want their donkeys to rely on eating human foods.
Hand feeding them too much could make them lose interest in their food.
Other people have friendlier donkeys that respond well to treats, so they feed them celery and celery leaves every day.
The donkeys love the time with humans, and the owners can get up close with the animals to pet them, groom them, and otherwise incentivize good behavior.
One Final Thought
Anytime you introduce treats to your donkey’s diet, you should do so slowly, so you can monitor how they react and whether the food is upsetting them. Celery, though, is a good starter snack because it’s low risk.
Resources
- https://faq-blog.com/can-donkeys-eat-celery
- https://firsttimefarming.com/can-donkeys-eat-celery/
- https://hayfarmguy.com/can-donkeys-eat-celery