Slaughter Performance and Proportion of Individual By-Products in Donkeys

The domestication of the wild African (Nubian) donkey is believed to have begun approximately 8,000–11,000 years ago. This process gradually spread from North Africa toward the regions of Southeast Asia and parts of Southern Europe (Trailovi? et al., 2021) [8].

The donkey is a typical working animal. Its biostatic model is specifically adapted to enable prolonged locomotion and endurance (Uroševi? et al., 2022) [11]. Today, particularly in Western and Central Europe, the role of the donkey has changed significantly.

The observed parameters were collected during the commercial slaughter of 12 male donkeys in an appropriately equipped industrial slaughter facility. The age of the donkeys ranged from 1.5 to 3.0 years. All donkeys in this group belonged to the same type and were of approximately the same age. In addition to these 12 male donkeys, one further male donkey was slaughtered that differed markedly from the previous group in its exterior characteristics (height at the withers, chest girth, and body mass).

Based on all recorded parameters and the mathematical analyses performed, it can be concluded that pre-slaughter body mass is the most reliable predictor of bone mass, meat mass, and raw hide mass in donkeys. With regard to height at the withers, it does not have primary importance in influencing bone mass, meat mass, or hide mass. Chest girth is not a reliable indicator because of its considerable variability, and the influence of this morphometric parameter on bone mass, meat mass, and fresh hide mass is almost negligible.