And now you are thinking, “She is Off. Her. Rocker.”
I received a text late last night from Ellie suggesting that I should research donkey milk.
“Seriously?”
It turns out, she was quite serious.
Ellie gave birth to a beautiful baby girl last month, and life has never been the same. She’s a joy to all of us.
And a challenge for Ellie, she takes after me. I wasn’t able to produce enough breast milk to feed my babies. I tried most of the non-herbal recommendations out there. I wasn’t into herbs 20-35 years ago. I may have tried one or two back then. Not sure. Had I known then what I know now, I would have tried them all. And based on Ellie’s experience, I’m guessing I would not have been very successful.
She’s done everything—meeting with a lactation consultant, using all the herbs, pumping—and has been able to increase milk production somewhat, but not enough to meet her baby’s needs. They’ve investigated alternatives for supplementing. Buttercup donates a couple of bags a week. They get some more from a nearby family. And they buy some from someone in town, at a price of $1 per ounce.
While the immediate concern is feeding this baby, Ellie also wonders how she should prepare for future babies. She’s read about steps she can take to increase her milk supply before the next baby comes, but there’s no guarantee as to their efficacy. Relying on friends and family to donate milk, especially when she is in a remote area, seems tenuous at best. She’s tried the emergency baby formulas I shared here on the blog, but they’re really only for a true emergency (which is what it was one night), and she thinks the baby doesn’t do well with cow’s milk.
And that’s where the donkey milk comes in.
I’d never heard of such a thing. And yet, if you Google it, loads of hits appear on the screen. It’s real and apparently not just for baby donkeys. It is considered to be the milk that most closely resembles human breast milk. It’s what was used in 19th century Europe to feed orphaned infants.[1] Donkey milk (also known as jenny milk) is most commonly used in Europe today for the nourishment of infants and young children with multiple food intolerances and cow milk allergies.[2]
How viable will this solution be in uncertain times? Not sure. It will be a much easier option for those living on ranches, so Ellie’s got that going for her. Unfortunately, donkeys gestate for 12 months. So the donkey has to be bred before the mother becomes pregnant. In addition, donkeys only give milk for 6-7 months before stopping. Donkey milk needs to be supplemented with fat for babies. Furthermore, donkeys only produce about 1 liter of milk per day and need to be milked three times per day. It must be pasteurized and lasts three days with refrigeration.
And what does one do with the surplus milk?
Donkey milk is used in moisturizers, soap, cream, and shampoo.
Believe it or not, donkey milk has been used medicinally for thousands of years. I’m not going to seek documentation for these medicinal uses. I’m pretty sure we’ll all find it easier to use the herbs growing around us as opposed to raising a donkey and milking it. If you’ve got a donkey and want to use its milk medicinally, it won’t be too hard to find the sources.
USAGE
- Cardiovascular
- Atherosclerosis
- Nosebleeds
- Gastrointestinal
- Stomach acid
- Respiratory
- Cough
- Fever
- Tuberculosis
- Fermented milk
- Whooping cough
- Skin
- Acne
- Eczema
- Herpes
- Psoriasis
- Sores
- Urogenital
- Edema
- Other
- Anti-venom
- Poisoning
References:
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/donkey-milk
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8840189/
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8997926/
https://www.milksandhealth.com/donkey-milk/
That was a hum-dinger! Never would I have thought about that even tho I knew about milking sheep, goats, and horses for human digestion! Another valuable attribute to donkeys!
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