Literature review, questionnaires and interviews, on-farm welfare assessments and statistical analysis of all data.
- Research: understand the key requirements of donkey milk, its demand on a demographic basis and if methods to reduce bacteria are adopted.
- Research: understand European Regulation and local animal welfare legislation to determine how the donkey is categorised - domestic or agricultural animal.
- Investigation: gather data about the husbandry of donkey stallions, both as studs and those surplus to breeding. Collect information regarding their final destination (pet, work, meat production). As for male donkeys intended for meat production, farming methods and distances travelled to reach slaughter will be investigated.
- Investigation: donkey welfare assessment on dairy farms will be conducted through direct collection of animal-based indicators developed within the AWIN (Animal Welfare Indicators) project.
Communications: as a deliverable and extended report of principal results of analysis, raw databases, participation (or planning for participation) to an International Scientific Congress to disseminate results.
1) Milk use results:
Of the eleven farms visited which were producing donkey milk for sale, all produced milk which was intended for human consumption. Eight farms also produced cosmetics and four additionally transformed milk into confectionery products. The main sales channel was direct to the consumer (N=11), other options were a small consortium (N=1) and a non-specialised shop (N=1). The marketing channels were websites and social networks (N=8) and word of mouth (N=8). None of the sampled farms sold milk to paediatric wards. Consumers mostly bought fresh milk directly on farm more than once a week (N=5) or less frequently (N=6). All the consumers, as reported by farmers, were children in the household, and it was interpreted from the questionnaire that they needed to drink milk for health reasons. All the farms but one performed mechanical milking, the remaining one did manual milking; machines used were modified from a goat milkmaid. Nine farms milked once a day, the remaining one milked upon request. All the farmers adopted a method of cleaning and disinfection of the teats: damp cloth, disinfectant or pre-dipping. Five farms performed pasteurization, four refrigerated the milk, one farm performed filtering and one farm froze the milk. All the farms but one periodically carried out milk analysis, with eight farms searching for somatic cells (22916,7±34851,5 SSC/ml) in addition to bacterial count (134166,7±229383,3 cfu/ml). All the farmers declared not to use any drugs on lactating donkeys. It remains to be investigated if and how lactating donkeys were treated when ill.
2) Legislation results:
According to European Council Directive 98/58 donkeys kept for milk/meat production should be considered as farm animals. Also within the council directive are non-species-specific guidelines on minimum standards for the protection of animals bred or kept for farming purposes. Within European Regulations 37/2010 and &Italian Dlgs 193/2006 is stated that a veterinarian must prescribe pharmacologically active substances and commend an appropriate withdrawal period. No specific information regarding drugs for dairy donkeys is reported. Italian guidelines “Codice per la Tutela e la Gestione degli Equidi” state essential criteria for proper management of equines and make suggestions about nutrition and water provision, stable management, training, identification documents, transport, euthanasia and education of farmers; none of which are specific for donkeys or dairy donkeys. Italian Regional D.D. 461 17/06/2013 & Circolare 17 05/10/2005 & ALLEGATO A Dgr 513 03/04/2012 generically suggest that donkeys should be kept in good welfare conditions, but with no specific indication about how to guarantee a good welfare state.
3) Husbandry results:
Twelve farms were visited between June and September 2015 by two assessors. The welfare assessment was conducted on a representative sample of animals, using the AWIN welfare assessment protocol for donkeys, comprising 22 animal-based indicators. A total of 257 donkeys (females = 131; pregnant females = 73 gelding = 1; stallions = 52) of different breeds, aged between one and 360 months (mean = 65.70 ± 61.92) were assessed. Data was collected using ODK application and analysed with IBM SPSS Statistic 23. The proportion of donkeys with different scores for each welfare indicator was calculated.
4) Welfare assessment results
On the average, the assessed donkeys had a good welfare status. Most of the donkeys (80.2%) showed a good nutritional status (BCS = 3); the others tended to be thin (12.8% with BCS = 2) rather than fat (6.2% with BCS = 4). The main issue highlighted was hoof care: 18.7% of the donkeys showed signs of neglect. All the donkeys could express normal behaviour and interact with conspecifics. Most of the donkeys showed positive reactions to human-animal relationship tests; 20.9% donkeys were not used to be restrained with a head-collar; thus, it was not possible to assess them.
Belonging to a given farm or production group influenced many of the welfare indicators. The absence of pasture affected the likelihood of having skin lesions, alopecia, low BCS scores and a less positive emotional state. Lack of routine veterinary visits (P < 0·001) and having neglected hooves (P < 0·001) affected the likelihood of being thin (BCS < 3). Belonging to specific production groups, lack of access to pasture and showing an avoidance reaction to an approaching human (AD) resulted in risk factors associated with a higher prevalence of signs of hoof neglect. The results support the idea that lack of knowledge of proper donkey care among owners was behind many welfare issues found.
To date, this was the first study investigating different aspects of donkey milk production. Even though the sample of dairy donkey farms assessed was small, considerable differences were found in management and milk processing. These differences are likely due to the lack of uniform information available for the farmer. The adoption of scientific based procedures in both management of donkeys and milk processing is suggested in order to improve both animal welfare and milk quality raising the consumer trust in this niche product. This led to the creation of the guidelines ‘Dairy donkeys: good practice principles for sustainable donkey milk production’; launched in December 2017. They include suggestions derived from scientific literature and/or reported by internationally recognised experts. The guidelines provide clear and helpful advice on good animal management practices for anyone interested in donkey milk production. They comprise the following chapters:
- Responsibilities
- Feed and water
- Housing and management
- Donkey health care
- Humane killing
- Appropriate behaviour
- Milking procedures.