3 Best Donkey Treats for Training [Plus RECIPE]

Training your donkey using the best donkey treats quickens up the process of obedience training.

Positive reinforcement training (also known as clicker training) uses a system where you break down behaviors into small, teachable steps, instantly marking the correct behavior with a “Yes” answer signal (the clicker training) and following this with a reward they really, really want – in this case, TREATS/FOODS!

Best Donkey Treats that Works!

Using donkey treats for training basically means: Behavior = Click = Reward

The best donkey treat I have found is SIMPLE TIMOTHY HAY PELLETS.

They’re readily available in the US and UK but not in Canada and other countries.

If you’re lucky, you could have a traveler or a friend bring you bags while they’re on their way back.

Simple Timothy Hay pellets are the best out there.

I have tried several bags of horse feeds and even the so-called best ones are either high FAT, high fiber, or contain plenty molasses and other unwanted components, like oil.

Donkey Treats for Training

My donkey loves carrots and apples but I don’t want to spoil them too much and spend so much time doing that (as my work is very demanding).

So, I decided to try something quick – that still keeps my pets attentive all through the training process.

Here’s a list of things I believe are healthy and safe to feed your donkeys:

Carrots (grated), applesauce, flax “eggs: (which is just flax seed in water), dried raspberry or nettle leaf, banana, little amounts of ginger, and mint.

How to Prepare Treats for Donkey Training?

Method one: I love to make cookie dough logs that can bake and cut into very small pieces.

However, I spice things up by adding whole oats ground into flour.

I have heard that some people feed oats to donkeys.

Personally, I would try to avoid cereal grains, but I may not need to add them here.

Method Two: You can swap flour for tapioca flour. It has lower starches than the “usual” flour, and a lot of people use it in gluten-free baking.

Here are the health benefits of tapioca for donkeys:

Fat

Tapioca flour lacks fat in a ¼ cup serving. Unlike typical flour that has a minuscule amount of fat in a 1-cup serving – 1 gram of fat – but this becomes negligible in a 1/4 cup serving size.

READ ALSO: Best Donkey Shelter

Carbohydrates

You will get 26 grams of carbohydrates in a ¼ cup serving of tapioca flour, but no grams of either dietary sugars or fiber.

Traditional flour on the other hand comes with 23 grams of carbs, including 1 gram of dietary fiber, which makes up 3% of your daily recommended intake if you follow a 2,000-calorie-per-day diet.

Other Nutrients

Tapioca flour lacks protein. But, it does feature iron (daily ratio value). In contrast, traditional flour contains 3 grams of protein per 1/4 cup serving, as well as 8 percent of your daily value of iron.

Donkey Treats Recipe

• Recipe One:

You can use minced carrot slices, minced apple slices, flour, oats, molasses, and some water.

I made the last homemade treat recipe for my donkeys and they loved it.

Also, it takes only a small time to whip them up. You can store the rest in the fridge and use them up for two weeks.

I recommend avoiding sugar and cereal grains in whatever form for donkeys.

That means no molasses, oats, or flour. Although your donkeys love them, they aren’t the safest options out there.

Picture your donkey as “insulin-resistant”. Metabolic issues can show up later (after a diet of sweet feed or fructans rich hay or grass!).

• Recipe Two:

Small bits of watermelon rind (after you consume the good parts yourself), heel and bread crusts and stale bread products, fingering bananas (with or without peels), and cucumber peels.