Help with Donkey information!!! ASAP!

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Sounds like you have a good plan. Donkeys will work for food. They are designed to eat poor roughage so be careful that he doesn't get too much grain. And he shouldn't get any rich hay, the goat either. Donkeys can founder and they are prone to obesity. My boys are fat on pasture and grass hay. They are good at converting food to fat. Giving treats for performance should work really well, and help to gain his trust.

I don't mind talking donkeys, they are misunderstood creatures. My husband once corrected the one donkey by slapping him on the shoulder when he wouldn't stand for his feet trimming. That donkey took a few years to trust him again. Some are more forgiving than others.

I once tried lunging a donkey, it didn't work out too well. They make you think and figure out what is the best way to deal with them. We have to push our donkeys out of the way a lot, as they often just stand there when we are trying to feed them hay.

I only once broke one to ride, but it was fairly easy and without too much fuss from the donkey. Getting them to move forward can be the hardest think.

All three of mine will come running to have fly spray applied. They actually understand the cause and effect of it. My horse that I used to have needed to be chased down for fly spray. My donkeys also remember yearly that my mother brings apples to them in the fall and will begin braying at her arrival even before she starts to bring them, so they remember it.

Did you mention how old he was? Mine are getting older, mom is 29, and the boys are 19, and 20, so they are long lived. My miniature lived to 35.

Once you figure out a name he should eventually come when called, especially if he gets a treat each time.

Give him time, my original donkeys were from the adopt a burro program, and the female I have is one of them. It was quite easy to tame 2 wild donkeys, where wild horses can quite a bit of trouble.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I forgot to mention if you live somewhere that it snows donkeys need the snow brushed off their backs as they don't shake off like horses do, so they can get rain rot from snow.

Donkeys will roll in one spot and make it a permanent rolling spot. They also like to do their business in one area and will back up to go in a certain spot, and will sometimes pile it. I've also seen them mark over the top of each other like dogs. Just a few interesting behaviors.

 

[SueT]

I am glad to hear he is a gelding. Oldhenlikesdogs has given you great advice! It has been several years since I had donkeys, so it's good to have someone who's doing it advise you. My first donkey was somewhat of an impulse buy, a little gelding who luckily, loved attention. But he did take a while to warm up to us.. The 2nd was for company for the first and for riding. #1 would be very upset if #2 went somewhere without him. They liked riding together. One thing about riding, donkeys don't have prominent withers and the saddles can slip . I had to cinch it up so tight and it still would slip. I fell off more than once. The donkeys would immediately stop, and let me crawl out from under. They were very careful. I was 60 by then, and after the last fall, decided no more riding, and sold the donkeys.
We had guineas at the time, and the donkeys and guineas were good friends. The guineas would eat flies off the donkeys' legs, and one of them would invite them onto his back. Another thing I wanted to mention, if you plan to pack with the donkey, goats can be pack animals as well, lots of people have pack goats, so why not bring the goat along! I'd love to see that!

 

[sannabelle]

This isn't my thread but has been super useful for me!

We have three donkeys, a standard Jenny who is a sweet lovable baby, and two minis we got who had never been handled before. There is a Jack who is 10, and his dad, a gelding, who is 15. We have had the minis for about a year and have not been able to get a halter on them. We have never been anything but sweet to them but they are so so leery of us. It's incredibly frustrating because my big girl sees the farrier and stands with zero problems, but we haven't been able to have the minis stand for him. Just the past few weeks the jack has started letting me brush and rub him, but the second he sees a halter he runs off. Sigh. I'm worried that one of them is going to get sick and we won't be able to help them in time because they are so wild.

 

[SueT]

This isn't my thread but has been super useful for me!

We have three donkeys, a standard Jenny who is a sweet lovable baby, and two minis we got who had never been handled before. There is a Jack who is 10, and his dad, a gelding, who is 15. We have had the minis for about a year and have not been able to get a halter on them. We have never been anything but sweet to them but they are so so leery of us. It's incredibly frustrating because my big girl sees the farrier and stands with zero problems, but we haven't been able to have the minis stand for him. Just the past few weeks the jack has started letting me brush and rub him, but the second he sees a halter he runs off. Sigh. I'm worried that one of them is going to get sick and we won't be able to help them in time because they are so wild.

One way to get them used to haltering is this...will they come for treats? Hold the halter nearby as you treat them. Little by little, hold it closer and allow it to touch them. They will begin to associate it with treats. Have them stick their nose thru just part of it to get treat. Then you put it part way on, remove immediately, then treat. Eventually you put it all the way on and remove immediately, then treat. Etc. Once you have it on don't pull on the halter from in front. This makes them stop. Stand at their side, give a gentle amt. of pressure, turn their head and have them step to you. It helps to turn your body and face the way you want them to go rather than face them. I liked the Parelli method--'the games you play with your horse' these are useful. You can find info online...
Good luck!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

One way to get them used to haltering is this...will they come for treats?   Hold the halter nearby as you treat them.   Little by little, hold it closer and allow it to touch them.  They will begin to associate it with treats.  Have them stick their nose thru just part of it to get treat.    Then you put it part way on, remove immediately, then treat.  Eventually you put it all the way on and remove immediately, then treat. Etc.   Once you have it on don't pull on the halter from in front.  This makes them stop. Stand at their side, give a gentle amt. of pressure,   turn their head and have them step to you. It helps to turn your body and face the way you want them to go rather than face them.   I liked the Parelli method--'the games you play with your horse'  these are useful.  You can find info online...
Good luck!

This is good advice.

My youngest donkey I didn't handle much when he was young because I was working at the time. He has always been more leary as a donkey. A few years back I had had enough of chasing his around to catch him, he is one donkey that didn't mind running, and I had recently watch a show about join up in horses so I decided to try it.

I kept him running away from me for almost an hour around the pasture, before he started to lip lick and was showing signs of wanting to join up, by facing me. It took a few tries before he allowed me to walk right up to him with my shoulder to him, and my eyes averted, and to be able to halter him. He had been haltered and knew how to lead, but was always a pain to do so. Since I did this he isn't as frightened and will get in my way just as much as the others.

So I would always go the gentle way first, but I apparently needed to dominate this boy first in order to earn his trust.

 

[sannabelle]

Thank you so much!! I will definitely try that out. I have tried to chase him down before- months ago, and he never did quit running, I got more nervous he was going to hurt himself than anything. I would love to have the younger one gelded- I'm sure that would calm him down, but until I catch him and teach him to lead a little no vet is going to come out and do it for me -sigh-. I won't give up on him though! I'll start trying some of these new methods out!!

Thanks so much!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I'd advise watching a show or reading a book about it first so you understand the signs and signals and do it correctly, otherwise it could backfire. When you use it you are talking to them in their own language.

Monty Roberts is who I watched, there are some utube videos you could watch, and I know he wrote a few books and did a few shows.

 

[sannabelle]

Awesome! I am a dog trainer by trade but equines are a whole new animal (literally) for me! I will use all the resources I can get

 

[SueT]

I read many of Monty Roberts' books and watched videos on join-up and was/am in awe of his methods. I used his Dually training halter with my larger donkey. (That's another tool you might look into, there are videos on how to use that as well.) I did find a quote from him that said, "Donkeys are a challenge. They are lovable creatures and I have nothing against donkeys. They’re a little hard to train through the language because they have a lesser flight mechanism, and they’re often not as responsive as horses." I was therefore reluctant to try it. I am so glad to hear of someone who succeeded joining up with a donkey! If I had a donkey I couldn't handle, I think I would go for it. Here's an old pic of my large standard gelding with his Dually halter.