🐴 Jenny
Also known as: she-donkey, jennet, Equus asinus
The female donkey: she carries her foal for almost a year and gives 1.3–2 kg of milk a day — low in fat, sweetish and similar to human milk.
A she-donkey, or jenny, is the female of the domestic donkey. She carries her foal for about 350–356 days, almost a year, and nurses it. Jennies are rarely milked for people: according to FAO, mainly in dry regions, and the yield is small, 1.3–2 kg a day. But the milk is unusual: low in fat and very similar to human milk.
Jennies have to be milked often — five or six times a day, according to FAO. On a Sicilian farm, jennies were machine-milked twice a day from the 28th day after foaling, and over 295 days each gave about 490 kg of milk; the daily yield fell from 1.98 to 1.28 kg.
According to FAO tables, 100 g of donkey milk contains 0.7 g of fat (0.3–1.8), 1.6 g of protein, 6.4 g of lactose and only 37 kcal. Casein makes up only 40–45% of the protein, as in human milk, so it is hard to make cheese from it. But it is rich in lysozyme — about 1 mg per millilitre, while cow's milk has only traces.
Donkey milk is being studied for children allergic to cow's milk protein: in a 2007 Italian study it was tolerated by 82.6% of 46 children, in others by 86–100%. However, in 2017 the first case of allergy specifically to donkey milk was described. Pliny the Elder wrote that Poppaea, Nero's wife, kept 500 she-donkeys to bathe in their milk; Cleopatra's milk baths are a legend.
Why it matters to you. Donkey milk is not a cure-all or a full substitute for breast milk: it has fewer calories than human milk, and not all children with allergy tolerate it. Give it to a child only on a doctor's advice. For sale, this milk is usually pasteurised and kept chilled or frozen.
Facts
How it connects to milk
Links
- What milk it gives
- 🥛 Donkey milk
- What it gives
- 🥛 Milk
- Feeds with milk
- 🍼 Donkey foal
- Belongs to
- 🔬 Mammal
- What it contains
- 🧪 Milk fat, 🧪 Lactose
- What it affects
- ❤️ Milk protein allergy
- Part of
- 🐎 Equids
- Similar and different
- 🥛 Breast milk
Frequently asked questions
How much milk does a jenny give?
Not much: about 1.3–2 kg a day. On a Sicilian farm, one jenny gave about 490 kg over 295 days.
Why is donkey milk compared with human milk?
It is low in fat (0.3–1.8%) and high in lactose (5.9–6.9%), and casein makes up only 40–45% of the protein, as in breast milk.
Is it true that donkey milk suits every child with an allergy?
No. In small studies it was tolerated by 82.6–100% of children allergic to cow's milk — so not all of them. Allergy to donkey milk itself is also known, so the decision rests with a doctor.
How long is a jenny's pregnancy?
About 350–356 days — almost a year.
Did Cleopatra bathe in donkey milk?
That is a legend. Pliny the Elder writes about Poppaea, Nero's wife: she kept 500 she-donkeys to bathe in their milk.
What to read next
- 🍼 Donkey foal — The young of a jenny.
- 🔬 Mammal — The class of animals that feed their young with milk.
- ❤️ Milk protein allergy — A reaction to cow's milk protein, more common in children.
- 🧪 Milk fat — ~3.5% in cow's milk.
Similar
🐎 Mare · 🐈 Cat · 🐋 Whale · 🦭 Seal · 🦌 Moose cow · 🦔 Hedgehog
Sources
- FAO. Milk and dairy products in human nutrition (2013), Tables 3.3–3.4
- FAO. Dairy production and products — Other dairy animals
- Giosuè C. et al. Jennet milk production during the lactation in a Sicilian farming system. Animal 2(10), 2008
- Cappai M. G. et al. Shift in circulating serum protein fraction levels of pregnant jennies. Animals 11(9):2646, 2021
- Vincenzetti S. et al. Vitamins in Human and Donkey Milk: Functional and Nutritional Role. Nutrients 13:1509, 2021
- Pliny the Elder. Natural History, Book 28, ch. 50 (Perseus Digital Library)