revisit: pasture size

Hi there. I am new to the mini donkey world, but not to equines. My parents had a horse farm that I was very involved with.

I am thinking about getting 2 mini donkeys as pets. I am currently building a new house on ~ 2 acres of land.

Since it isn't a ton of room I am trying to figure out the minimum size paddock I would need for two little ones. I expect I wont have enough room to keep the grass there, so it will most likely be a dirt pasture and they will be fed hay.

(Note: Don't worry, I am not just going to put them in the smallest one suggested. I am trying to get a feel for it and will take a look at my property and decide then)

So here are my questions for you...

1) What size pasture(s) do you have and how many minis? Do you have some dirt and some grass ones? Explain your setup in as much detail as possible.

2) What is the absolute minimum paddock size you would feel remotely comfortable with having only two? (Again, dirt paddock supplemented with hay is fine)

3) How many acres (or sq ft) will a donkey (or mini horse) eat of grass? Ignoring the space to play aspect of this, If I were to want to be able to keep it a grass paddock and them eat that, how big would it have to be for two donkeys to not need supplemental hay in the summer? (Note: I live in TN. Weather is mild. I'm sure I would have to supplement hay in the winter though as we do get some snow and its cold enough that the grass stops growing)

Thanks!

They'll really eat as much grass as you give them.

Personally I would suggest you build as big a paddock as you can and divide it internally with electric fencing if you have to.

Better to build a decent size in the first place than mess around with tiny bits, I find.

I would say a minimum of an acre, divided internally, and rotated, would keep in grass.

You would need to poo pick, but with just two that would not be a real hardship.

You will need a shelter for Donkeys, an open fronted one would do.

what about if i am not interested in rotating them and trying to keep grass growing?

I assume if I am keeping them in a dry run there is no need for rotation. How big then? (I realize I will be poop scooping, thats fine)

I have seen anything from 1/2 an acre to 1/8 acre or less. Some keeping them in a barn and having a small 25x75' type runout.

I plan on giving them as much space as I can. I am just trying to figure out whether or not I can at this point.

1/2 an acre would be hard for me to manage on my property.

And yes, of course I'll have a run in shed for them. I also plan on taking them for walks and hikes and such.

Any other opinions?

Personally, what I would do in your situation is build a 12x16 shelter that is divided into two 12x8 stalls that has a front door and a back door, with possibly a 4' overhang on the back for additional shelter in case they don't want all the way in the barn. I suggest having seperate stalls for feeding time, as it will make life easier for you knowing they get exactly how much you give them (no fighting over food) and you can keep them out of bad weather if need be. 

All my horses are kept on dry lots (dirt paddocks) 24/7 and are fed hay. They get turn out into the pastures once or twice per week, depending on how well the grass is doing. Personally I would fence in just 1/2 acre (leave it one big space, do not divide up) and let the backside of the shelter be connected or inside the paddock. It will probably become a dirt paddock or have very short grass spots here and there but you will need to pick up poop daily or every other day. With 1/2 acre they can still kick up their heels and play. 

You will need to be sure to provide either free access hay or give hay 2-3 times per day along with grain if need be. 

Hope this helps!

i am planning on going out and measuring and seeing how much room i can really have. I will give them as much space as i can but am not sure how much that is yet. i dont think i will quite have 1/2 acre to play with. would 1/4 acre be way too small or would that be ok?

also, to give them a reasonable amount of space, some of the paddock will have trees in it. would this be a big problem?

friesepferd said:

Hi there. I am new to the mini donkey world, but not to equines. My parents had a horse farm that I was very involved with.I am thinking about getting 2 mini donkeys as pets. I am currently building a new house on ~ 2 acres of land.

Since it isn't a ton of room I am trying to figure out the minimum size paddock I would need for two little ones. I expect I wont have enough room to keep the grass there, so it will most likely be a dirt pasture and they will be fed hay.

(Note: Don't worry, I am not just going to put them in the smallest one suggested. I am trying to get a feel for it and will take a look at my property and decide then)

So here are my questions for you...

1) What size pasture(s) do you have and how many minis? Do you have some dirt and some grass ones? Explain your setup in as much detail as possible.

2) What is the absolute minimum paddock size you would feel remotely comfortable with having only two? (Again, dirt paddock supplemented with hay is fine)

3) How many acres (or sq ft) will a donkey (or mini horse) eat of grass? Ignoring the space to play aspect of this, If I were to want to be able to keep it a grass paddock and them eat that, how big would it have to be for two donkeys to not need supplemental hay in the summer? (Note: I live in TN. Weather is mild. I'm sure I would have to supplement hay in the winter though as we do get some snow and its cold enough that the grass stops growing)

Thanks!

Click to expand...

I also live in TN! and have two miniature horses. I have them on one acre with a three sided run-in shed of about 15 feet wide and 10 feet deep. I hardly have to do any poop pickup since they don't produce that much for that size paddock and they also are very tidy about not messing up the real living areas. They never poop near or in the shed or hay feeder. They eat the grass completely to the nubs so I feed them hay. If I wanted, I could fence off 1/2 of the area and I don't think it would restrict their playing too much but I do like seeing them run full out in the bigger area. I would recommend the full acre if it is possible. There are also advantages to feeding hay and not having much grass since you can regulate their weight a little easier and also have control when the spring/fall high sugar grass comes up and laminitis risk increases. If you can't do 1 acre, I'm sure 1/2 acre would also work comfortably with a little manure management. I wouldn't go much under 1/2 acre although I know many people keep them in tiny little pens and 1/8 acre plots. To me that's hardly room for them to turn around. I'm jealous of your mini donks!

1/4 acre is only 200'x50' turnout. f at all possible, more would be better. If you can get a bit more area, maybe make a 30x30area for a drylot and the rest a turn out you can put them out during the daylight hours.

Hi from another Tennesseean! I believe in rotation to help with parasite overload and to give the fields a rest to re-coup. You'd be surprised how fast they can fill up a little area. Utilize every bit of your property as you can. Bigger is always better. This may interest you:

When my main barn was over flowing, we built a two stall mini barn that opened up into a dry lot, approximately 80' X 40'. That in turn has a gate where it opens up into a grassy field. So during the day I open the gate and let them out to graze, and at night, bring them back into the dry lot with hay.

On bad stormy days, or winter cold nasty days, they would stay in the barn area (where their dry lot is) .......I'd close the gate on the field, and feed them their hay inside their stalls. These options give me the best of both worlds, where they still have grazing and not wreck it down to the nubs where I can control it, and also allow me to keep them in the dry lot area to control grass grazing. This also helps prevent founder from new spring grass growth and also new fall grass growth. Best wishes.

I really like MARTYS system. Her place looks really nice too. I have the same idea, but I am on a hill with a few levels. I like Martys "dry lot" idea. I have one too. This is where the 3 minis and a donkey stay between meals and at night. They have a stall that is accessible at all thimes of the day. The donkey likes to be in his stall when the rain comes, the others dont. I have another pasture that is about 2 acres that is connected to the dry lot by a fence. This is where they go during the day, or the fence is open so they can come and go as they please. The dry lot is important though, you do not want the donkeys getting too much fresh grass, it can cause diaharia, laminitis, bloating or colic if there is a poisionus weed out there. You want the dry lot to be big enough that you wouldnt feel guilty if the donkeys were in that space all day, or for most of the day while the spring grass is fresh and dangerious. My dry lot is 1/2 acre. In your grass pasture you can fence off 1/2 of it with electric fencing so that the grass can grow without the donkeys nibbiling it down. 3 weeks or so is usually long enough for the grass to grow without graizing . Please buy a muzzle, this will help against laminitis , and they hate wearing one and mine move around a lot when I have one on them , so they are getting exercise too. ( I know I am cruel) 2 acres should be plenty of space...where are you going to put your poop? section a place for it away from your horses or any run off water . make sure its easy to get to in all seasons, and that you can get a tractor or trailer to it to haul away. Make sure gates are big enough to get the truck and trailer through in case of an emergency. there are a few books on putting small ranches together. Good luck , and have fun

I'm not an expert on the subject...yet, but I'll tell you what we have done so far.

We fenced between 1/4-1/2 acre with access to our large run-in shed/tackroom combo. We divided the run-in area in 1/2 making 12x6 stalls. We built dutch doors that meet in the middle with the lower half being at a height so that the minis can look over and out as desired.

We generally don't stall them on purpose unless we have to, instead we let the 4 of them decide on when they want in or out.

The first two chewed down this "paddock" area by the end of July (from early May) so that it is now a "dirt lot". We have an addition 1.25 acres seeded for next year and fence posts are in place ready for fencing next spring (over spring break most likely). The seed is coming up beautifully thanks to the crazy rain we've had this fall.

We are considering dividing this lower pasture space in half. After the spring lush has gone down (mid-June?), our plan is to open the fence to this "back pasture" giving them this additional space to "roam". We're obviously very concious of not letting them overeat on this field in an effort to avoid laminitis (sp?), but we want to give them more room to stretch their legs. Dividing the space would allow us three areas to rotate. A lot will depend on whether the "dry lot" area recovers any come spring. Another thing we'll have to determine is whether there will always been an open gate between the lower pasture (or pastures) and the upper paddock for access to the shelter or whether we'll need to keep them confined to one area at a time thus needing another shelter (or two) in the lower pasture.

For our girls, even if we have to use feed muzzles, I really hope to give them this additional space because I think they will benefit from the space to spread out and move around.

If I can, I'll try to take some photos this weekend.

thanks for the info. yea any photos you have would be great.

ill probably build some kind of run in shed that is split up, then maybe a 3rd section for storing hay.