What do i need to know about donkeys...

[lasergrl]

Hey i thought of this thread today, when you were suprised that a domkey could pick up and throw an adult sheep.

I was reading in one of our vet magazines today at work. The were talking about how a paraylzed mini donkey was cured with stem cell injections into him spine. Anyways, he became paralysed when a standard donkey (not even a mammoth!) picked him up and shook him!!! Crazy!

 

[prairiehen74369]

Our gaurd Donkey was very protective of his girls (goats) every thing was fine until the babies arrived he picked one up shook it threw it to the ground and stomped it. We were surprised never even gave a thought to him not understanding that the babies were for him to protect as well. Now, we had put does with babies that were a couple of weeks old back in the pasture with him apparently since they were old enough to get away from him he couldn't harm them. he was a gelding bought at the sale barn and appeared to be young, needless to say we took him back to the salebarn on talking to other folks about this found out it is a pretty common problem. If you take your ewes into the barn to give birth and don't let them back out to pasture for a couple of weeks and are willing to go to the trouble.I recommend a guard donkey no problems with predators dogs, coyotes ect. as long as Amos was in place we never dreamed he would hurt our babies. He ate with the goats we had a pen that only the goats could get into to feed them fed him seperately. He was good at the hay ring never saw him be mean with the nannys there. For what it's worth thought you needed to know this.

 

[duckluck]

I'd get a donkey without issues if you want it to do a proper job. Donkeys can be difficult to train because they are so smart, so why not start off on the right foot to begin with and avoid issues? Also, I know a sheep farmer who used to have a donkey as a livestock guardian, and I can tell you they don't do a very good job if their feet are neglected, which his was. Good feet will allow the donkey to chase whatever varmints you need chased; laminitis or overly long toes will allow the donkey to become just another prey animal in the pasture. The thing you have to decide is if you are passionate about the animal doing the job properly or if you really just want a donkey and are justifying getting it by "giving it a job to do". Sorry if I come across as pessimistic, but I have seen too many donkeys neglected because they were considered the cheap way to get a job done, and they wound up not being able to even do the job because the human didn't equip them to do it with the proper care. I think it is a fallacy that donkeys and mules need less care than horses...they merely have a much higher constitution when it comes to pain and survival and have to be seriously in trouble to be lame, unlike a horse which can go lame with the slightest bruise. They just don't complain or show signs of discomfort, so their needs are more easily dismissed.

Here is another consideration too: if you are going to be feeding up sheep on something besides pasture, you do NOT want your donkey eating sheep feed free choice...they can fatten and founder very easily this way. Donkeys generally do better on sparser food, and not all pastures are created equal. This is not to say that you want to malnourish them, but a little rich food goes a very long way with a donkey. The rich soil in this part of Illinois grows some very lush grass and donkeys fatten and founder easily on it. Adding sheep feed to it is asking for a disaster. So the donkey guardian idea does not work so hot up here unless someone wants to be crippling donkeys and replacing them, or they can be prepared to have the donkey in with the sheep at some times and not others.

Most donkeys do not like to have their hooves trimmed, though they do need it, and so there are many farriers out there who will not do them. They'll fight a lot harder than a horse and won't acclimate to the idea like a horse will, because so many of them have not been properly handled and kept trimmed to begin with, so when looking for a donkey you might want to consider this and have an eye out for a gentler individual who has had the proper handling to allow this to be done.