TL;DR: starting old dental donkey on TC safe starch as a hay replacement. Any guidance from people who have done the same?
I have a 20 year old mini donkey named Muffin. She has terrible teeth and will most likely be having most if not all of them removed this summer. Lately she’s been having trouble eating hay. Right now she can eat soaked hay, but since she only has access to dry hay in the paddock (some grass in the summer) I want to make sure she is getting enough calories to offset any forage she’s missing out on. Once all her teeth are removed I’m anticipating that even the soaked hay will be difficult for her.
She gets no grain, just a handful of balancer twice a day. Typically she gets one flake of Timothy hay outside and another flake inside split up between turn in and night check. I’ve started her on TC safe starch and she LOVES it! Right now she only gets a handful twice a day along with her soaked hay.
I’ve looked at the feeding guidelines and they’re a bit confusing. Does anyone have donkeys that they feed safe starch to? If so what quantity do you feed? She shares a paddock with her baby boy and a mini horse so I can’t really give her specialized forage outside, the other two would gobble it up which would defeat the purpose (not to mention $$). I’m guessing that eventually the TC SS will completely replace her hay consumption.
P.S. she isn’t metabolic, but as a mini donkey keeping weight on her is not a concern, at least not yet, so TC SS seems like the ideal choice (as opposed to hay cubes or other higher calorie options). I’m just looking for guidance on feeding, and curious if anyone has gone through the same process. Thanks!
