Effects of Feeding Strategies on Gut Microbial Communities in Donkeys: A Comprehensive Narrative Review

Donkeys (<i>Equus asinus</i>) remain nutritionally understudied despite their critical roles in agriculture across developing regions, with current feeding practices inappropriately extrapolating horse standards without accounting for species-specific digestive physiology. No comprehensive synthesis has integrated how dietary modifications systematically alter gut microbial communities to drive measurable health outcomes in donkeys, preventing development of evidence-based feeding strategies. This review critically synthesizes current evidence on donkey nutritional requirements and gut microbiota dynamics to establish mechanistic frameworks for optimizing health and productivity. Donkeys exhibit remarkable adaptations including 30% superior fiber digestibility versus horses and specialized hindgut fermentation where microbiota provide 60-70% of metabolic energy. Targeted nutritional interventions-protein supplementation (12.52%), methionine supplementation (5-15 g/day), and optimized energy levels (10.49 MJ/kg)-have shown preliminary evidence of modulating beneficial microbial populations (<i>Prevotella</i>, <i>Ruminococcus</i>, <i>Akkermansia</i>, <i>Bacteroides</i>), with short-term studies (typically 30-60 days, <i>n</i> < 10 animals) indicating potential reducing oxidative stress (20-40%), decreasing inflammatory cytokines (30-50%), and improving growth performance (15-25%). However, these findings require validation through larger-scale, longer-term studies to establish sustainable effects and broader applicability. Non-conventional feeds including reed silage, bamboo leaves, and garlic byproducts offer sustainable alternatives. This narrative review uniquely establishes mechanistic pathways linking dietary modifications to microbiota changes and downstream physiological effects, providing the first comprehensive framework integrating digestive physiology, microbiota ecology, and nutritional interventions specifically for donkeys to support evidence-based, sustainable feeding strategies.