Defining breed standards and breeding goals for domestic donkey

Abstract

Domestic donkey is a transboundary breed present in many Balkan countries. According to the Law on Animal Production, in many Balkan countries, for every breed of domestic animals it is necessary to create a separate breeding programme. Based on the results of a study evaluating the main morphological, reproductive and functional traits in 47 domestic donkeys in Macedonia during 2017 and 2018, current standards and breeding goals were defined for the next national breeding programme of this breed. According to the fact that the domestic donkey is a metapopulation and transboundary breed in almost all Balkan countries, it is a good recommendation to create a regional breeding programme with flexible standards and breeding goals for this relative of horses for all Balkan countries together.