Donkeys are livestock guardians

This is wrong! Very few donkeys make great livestock guardians. Please get a livestock guarding dog to protect your livestock. Donkeys will guard the animals they are bonded to if they are big enough. A miniature donkey is too small to guard anything. Domesticated dogs can kill a miniature donkey. Donkeys bond for life to their own species. If a donkey is placed in with a flock of sheep that it does not know, the donkey may grab the neck of the sheep and kill it. This is not a bad donkey it is simply donkey behavior. Donkeys do best when they get to live with another donkey. Donkeys will kill newborn baby cows, sheep and goats, pigs etc., so best to keep the babies away from donkeys. Donkeys grab the neck of another donkey in play and in battle, play tug with a ball, sleep, drink and eat together basically book ends. Dogs, most donkeys do not like dogs they resemble the wolf and coyote. We have hot wire fences to keep our donkeys in and the dogs out. Sadly farmers end up burying the donkey, re-sell give away a donkey who has not performed the job as livestock guarding to their satisfaction.

Donkey Diet & Care

Donkeys evolved from the desert. Donkeys need a serious diet and cannot eat all day and night on pasture or brush. Most livestock is fed an extremely rich diet full of grains and lush pasture. Donkeys who are fed rich food or overfed grass or brush will get insulin resistance, white line disease, fat deposits on the body, neck gets fat and can break over, hoof abscesses, laminitis. Hoof abscesses are common with a rich diet, the liver fails and soon the donkey dies a painfully slow death. Donkeys are stoic and will never show pain until it is too late.

Hay and all forage must be tested to come in at 10% or lower in sugar and protein along with portion control as donkeys gain weight quickly. Donkeys need shelter, clean water, warm in freezing climates and salt. Donkeys do not do well standing in the rain with no shelter due to their thick fur. Some donkeys need a blanket as they cant take the freezing temperatures and this blanket needs to be changed and checked. Donkeys need their hooves trimmed, vet care teeth, shots, fecal sample before worming spring and summer.

Donkeys need great fences and locks as donkeys can visually watch you do something and repeat the task.

Donkeys Are Intelligent, Not Stubborn

Donkeys are not flight animals like horses, most donkeys do not react to physical force to do a task. Donkeys push into pressure. Donkeys can freeze when scared or fight back. Please take the time to learn donkey behavior and personality. Extroverts bray and have more go than whoa, introverts do not bray and have more whoa than go. I teach about this in Donkey 102 video on demand. Donkeys need to see a reason for everything they do. Since donkeys evolved from the desert they learned how to survive with their mind as they do not have the speed of a horse to outrun the predator. Donkeys are deep thinkers game players. I call this ON DONKEY TIME ®. The donkey will never do anything that can hurt the donkey. Self-preservation is number one to a donkey. Donkeys ears back can mean anger, thinking, happy to see you. Learn to read the eyes of your donkey not the ears. The horse will jump off the grand canyon when scared, the donkey will not, do you see the difference? A donkeys’ gift is not sped it is a brain that can problem-solve to stay alive.

Donkeys are incredibly strong.

Donkeys have a reputation for being strong pack animals and while this is true, they are not stronger than another animal of the same size. Donkeys can only hold up to 20% of their weight. Donkeys must be full-grown and conditioned to do heavy work.

When Is A Donkey Full-Grown?

Miniature Donkeys age three

Standard or Burro age four

Mammoth Donkeys six to seven

If you would like to learn how to train your donkey go to the Donkey Whisperer Farm ® education center. Melody Johnson trains the owner or caretaker worldwide via Donkey 101 & 102 Video On Demand, use your smartphone to take Melody to the farm with you.