The Donkey Whisperer Farm ® has had donkeys and horses in our lives for almost two decades, since 2007.
All of our donkeys and horses live in their forever homes. We have experienced bringing home a baby donkey, caring for elderly donkeys, and humanely burying donkeys. I will explain the truth about donkeys, not the myths or incorrect information shared on the internet and social media.
Watch my Free YouTube video, Bringing Your Donkey Home.
Donkeys evolved from the desert, and their diet is one of the most important considerations in owning donkeys. Why? Donkeys were given the git to survive in the desert; overgrazing and feeding the wrong foods will cause life-threatening health issues for donkeys. Donkeys’ hooves are pointy, unlike the horse, as they were created to live in the desert. Donkeys cannot stand in urine, feces, and mud without having hoof issues. Their thick fur coat needs to stay dry. You must have shelter. Think about what the donkey has to eat in the desert, and you will clearly understand why the donkey cannot graze on brush and grass and eat human bread, cookies, grains, and oats without becoming obese and dying a painful death. Give loose salt with minerals, never vitamins. Please remember that all hay or straw must be tested to come in at ten percent or lower in sugar and protein, along with portion control. We can not look at hay by color or brand, i.e., orchard, timothy, or teff, and know it is low in sugar and protein. Do not feed beet pulp or Alfalfa to a donkey. Low sugar/protein hay starts with the farmer ensuring his soil has all the nutrients needed, including nitrogen and more. Cutting the field when the hayseeds have popped and cut on a gray day or early morning helps ensure low sugar and protein.
How can I find low-sugar/protein hay?
Send hay samples to Equine Analytical Lab before purchasing hay for the year. We use a slow feeder, Hay Pillow, fed inside the shelter and locked inside the High Country Plastic Slow Feeder. Feeding two meals a day, morning and night, is sufficient. When winter comes, donkeys will need more meals to stay warm. Provide warm, clean water using a heated bucket or bring warm water to your donkeys within 2 hours of feeding during freezing temperatures. Read Donkey Winter Care.
Donkey Shelter Big Enough For All Of Your Donkeys:
Donkeys need shelter from the hot sun, wind, rain, and snow. Make sure your shelter has a door that can open and close. Donkeys love to go in and out of the shelter when food, water, and looe-free salt are inside. Closing the door during fireworks and high winds and teaching Donkey 101 & 102 video on demand is needed.
Quality fences and gates:
Donkeys are smart; they can watch us do something and repeat it. We use electro-braid hot wire for the paddocks and hot wire tracks. The exterior of our farm, to keep neighborhood dogs, coyotes, etc., out, is a Red Brand horse-woven fence.
Storage for hay for one year:
After you test and find low sugar/protein hay, test 10% or lower in sugar and protein, and purchase enough hay to last one year.
Donkey Training:
I train the owner or caretaker how to tame and train the donkey via Donkey 101 & 102 Video On Demand with my E-book to print out. Sold with lifetime access. If you require personal consulting and coaching, hire me as a Donkey Trainer.
Hoof Care:
A farrier or trimmer needs to trim hooves every six weeks in the spring and summer and seven weeks in the fall and winter.
Shots and Veterinarian Care Required:
All donkeys need a veterinarian to visit the farm at least once a year. If you do not have a vet doing preventative care, you cannot call a vet in an emergency. Vets do not come to farms that are not their customers. In the spring, the vet will come to give shots and provide dental care. The minimum shots given to our donkeys as they do not travel to shows or other farms are Rabies, West Nile, and Tetanus. All donkeys need the vet to check their teeth, jaw, and gums once a year. Do not skip this; this is one of the most important preventive care medical procedures needed. Why? Donkeys are stoic. They will not show us pain or suffering until, in most cases, it is too late. Colic is preventable.
Worming Donkeys, Mules, and Horses:
I collect poop samples from all of my equines and give them to my vet twice a year, spring and fall. My vet tells me which wormer to give my donkeys based on the fecal count and the part of the world we each live in. Overworming causes resistant parasites to wormer, making it, in many cases, impossible to remove all the parasites from the host donkey and can make the immune system suffer. Do not overworm your equine.
Exercise is vital to your donkey’s health. Create a track out of the hot wire and connect it back to the shelter and sacrifice paddock. Donkeys love to run and play on their tracks, browsing and exploring.
