Before digestion can start, donkeys must first physically break down their food by the action of chewing. Every kilogram of hay that the donkey consumes needs to be chewed more than 2,000 times in order to reduce the forage to fragments of approximately 1.6 mm in length. These small fragments are much more readily digested than larger particles and allow the donkey to make efficient use of its food. Concentrated feeds require less chews per kilogram (1,000-1,500), whilst poorer quality feeds like straw | Before digestion can start, donkeys must first physically break down their food by the action of chewing. Every kilogram of hay that the donkey consumes needs to be chewed more than 2,000 times in order to reduce the forage to fragments of approximately 1.6 mm in length. These small fragments are much more readily digested than larger particles and allow the donkey to make efficient use of its food. Concentrated feeds require less chews per kilogram (1,000-1,500), whilst poorer quality feeds like straw |