Thin Pickings Donkey Grazing Mix

Thin Pickings is the leanest mix in our horse and donkey range. It is built almost entirely from fine-leaved fescues with Timothy, browntop bent and a touch of Yorkshire fog. There is no perennial ryegrass, no clover and no added herbs, so the sward stays fibrous and slow-growing rather than lush and sugary.

Why this mix suits donkeys

Donkeys evolved on sparse, dry scrubland. In the UK they put on weight easily and are prone to laminitis and hyperlipaemia, so The Donkey Sanctuary recommends a straw-based diet with restricted grazing. A paddock sown with Thin Pickings gives donkeys somewhere to walk, browse and graze for part of the day without the high-sugar flush of a ryegrass ley. It is our first recommendation for donkey paddocks, and works equally well for native ponies, retired horses and laminitis-prone good-doers.

What success looks like

Fine fescues are slower to establish than ryegrass, so expect a thinner-looking sward in the first summer. By the second year the fescues knit into a dense, hard-wearing turf that copes with hooves and recovers well from close grazing. It will never be a high-yield field, and that is the point.

Do this / avoid this

• Do strip-graze or use a track system so donkeys only access part of the paddock at a time
• Do keep a straw ration available alongside grazing
• Avoid fertiliser and manure, which push the sward back towards lush, sugary growth
• Avoid grazing new sowings until the grass is well rooted (usually 8–12 weeks)