These pages will be continually updated and will provide you with information and handy hints on caring for and feeding your donkeys. 
There is surprisingly, a large number of donkeys kept in the urban rural outskirts of many towns and cities in Australia and other countries. They are often kept as companion animals for horses to keep the horses more settled, they’re kept to keep grass grazed down and as pets for younger children of families. There are also a number of donkey studs breeding donkeys of all sizes and types.
Unfortunately, as compared to horses, a significant number of donkeys are neglected in their older age by some owners and are eventually relocated and cared for by volunteers of donkey sanctuaries.
I first become involved with donkeys, besides treating some in veterinary practice over the years, through the Good Samaritan Donkey Sanctuary at Clarence Town in the Hunter Valley of New South Wales, which has been managed by Mrs Jo-Anne Kokas AM and a dedicated team of family and volunteers for the last 30 years or so. They have around 130 donkeys to care for, many of which are elderly and suffering diseases brought on by neglect before they arrived to be taken care of by the experienced, passionate team at the sanctuary. How someone could neglect such a loving and faithful animal as a donkey, especially in its old age, is beyond my belief.
We aim to provide you with regular information on the health care and feeding of your donkeys. Over the last 6 years, in conjunction with Jo-Anne, her daughter Sandy and the volunteers at the Clarence Town Sanctuary, I formulated a special feed supplement for donkeys, based on the known research into the nutritional needs of donkeys, which is now available as Donkey Supreme™. There are no commercial feeds formulated for donkeys and those for horses are too high in energy, protein or trace-minerals to meet the lower needs of the average sedentary donkey. Donkey Supreme aims to correct low or inadequate levels of bone minerals, trace-minerals and vitamins in the diets of donkeys of all ages kept on grass and hay based diets where they do not have the opportunity to browse on a variety of plants to supplement and balance their diets.
We hope that you find the site as it develops, to be both interesting and informative. We are planning a newsletter which will be emailed to donkey enthusiasts on a regular basis to provide information and handy hints on caring for your donkeys. Each issue will be available as it is published by email.
Please take the opportunity to register your email contact details with Gary at newsletters@kohnkesown.com to add your name to the emailing list. This list will not be disseminated for commercial advantage and will only be used to email newsletters and fact sheets on donkeys from time to time. And to those dedicated to the welfare of donkeys, please keep up the good work to help these gentle, affectionate animals.
John Kohnke BVSc RDA
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