Abstract
In Serbia, a growing demand for donkey milk is driving an increase in dairy donkey farms. This paper describes the demography and management practices at dairy donkey farms in Serbia using semi-structured face-to-face interviews with their owners. Additionally, microbiology of raw donkey milk was conducted to assess its hygienic quality and safety. The results show that most owners were male, aged over 51, who had not participated in dairy farming training courses (8/9; 88.89%). Most of the farms were located in North Serbia; they were family-run, with more than 20 animals in the herd. At the farms, straw was predominantly used as bedding material. Inadequate bedding hygiene and shelter dustiness were reported in 22.22% and 55.56% of the farms, respectively. Only two owners reported undertaking disinfection procedures for shelters or stables. All donkeys were fed hay supplemented with corn or oats, while wheat bran was provided at two farms. Healthcare measures such as vaccination and dental care were not carried out at the investigated farms, while deworming had never been performed on four of them (44.44%). The most common reported health problems were sudden death, abortion, stillbirth, and laminitis. Fore-milking was not performed on any of the farms. The post-milking procedure involved filtering through cotton gauze, packing in plastic bottles, and then refrigerating and/or freezing the milk, to be later sold at the farm. Presence of food-borne pathogens in raw donkey milk was not detected. Our results could help identify the key problems in country-specific donkey dairy management.