Donkeys are not horses with long ears, donkeys are donkeys. Donkeys evolved from the desert they love to eat wood. Donkeys will seek out roots, dig holes, bark and leaves. Make sure you keep toxic leaves and trees away from donkeys. Donkeys are stoic will hide pain and sickness, sometimes it is too late to get a veterinarian. Prevention is most important when caring for donkeys.
Pine Pellet Bedding Add Water. If you do not add water you risk the donkey eating the pellets and the pellets expanding in their tummy causing death with colic.
Watch our six donkeys one standard, two formerly wild burro’s and three miniature donkeys running and playing on our mares (horses) track. Enjoy!
How can I create a track for my equine?
Read the book Paddock Paradise, Jaimie Jackson for some ideas. We have three tracks on the Donkey Whisperer Farm ®, one connected to our mares (horses) shelter, one to the standard and burro’s shelter and one connected to the miniature donkeys shelter. Due to the diet of the miniature donkeys they need their own shelter and paddock. After meals we let them go out with the larger donkeys on the track.
Do I feed our equine on the track? No. The equine love to try and find food on the track and love to walk, run and play. I want them to walk or run back to the shelter to get water and salt. Please understand in the wild horses and donkeys walk fifteen to twenty five miles a day. The track keeps them fit, prevents obesity, laminitis, stops cribbing for horses and well its a paddock paradise.
What size is the track?
Twelve feet wide corners are twenty one feet to run and lay on. We drive the A.T.V with the cart behind to pick up the poop once a day. Remember to mow and bag the grass before letting the equine on the track. The track is for exercise, mental and emotional enrichment. Meals are fed in the shelter with portion control.
Donkeys evolved from the desert making their metabolism different from the horse. Donkeys thrive on low sugar and protein forage. Donkeys living in the wild walk up to sixteen miles per day searching for food and water. Creating a Paddock Paradisetrack is a game changer for the health and life of donkeys, mules and horses living in domestication on green lush farm land.
What happens if my donkey becomes obese? Insulin resistance, laminitis, colic, fat in the blood, fat pockets on the body, the neck gets so fat the crest breaks over forever, hoof abscesses, white line disease meaning the hoof rots off. Sadly, the donkey dies a slow painful death due to not feeding the correct forage low sugar/protein and not giving portion control. Yes, donkeys need portion control.
The benefits to feeding a healthy balanced diet with exercise is healthy donkeys without the tears and stress of trying to find a veterinarian to save the donkeys life. Please learn how to care for your desert equine the most beautiful and humble of all the equine the donkey.
Looking for personal consulting sign up under Donkey Trainer.
We sell the best quality and fit adjustable miniature orstandard/burropremium soft yacht rope halters with a matching lead line, solid stainless steel twist safety snap and a real black leather end. Order $150.00 or more of tack and receive free shipping in the U.S.A.
How to Wash and Care for your Donkey, pony, horse or mule Blanket:
Remember that no blanket is 100% waterproof for the entire winter. Once you start putting the blanket on your equine you must check for rubs and dampness daily. I keep two blankets ready to go for all of our eight equine, six donkeys and two horses. Why? As I stated above the blanket can get wet and I need to add a dry blanket until the weather breaks and we move back into rain. I remove the blanket as soon as we are out of the 20’s and move back to rain weather. I never blanket my equine during the rain as they all have shelters to move into and no blanket is 100% waterproof though the rainy season.
How often do I wash my blankets?
DO NOT OVER WASH YOUR BLANKETS. Scrape the poop of the blanket, before washing. I wash all of our blankets once a year in the summer, this way I can hang them out to dry. DO NOT PUT A WATER PROOF BLANKET IN THE DRYER. After they are dry I spray a water repellant on each blanket. Now I am ready for winter.
Are you looking to purchase a blanket for your donkey, horse, pony, mule or Zonk?
The Donkey Whisperer Farm ® is a dealer for Kensington Protective Products. You can order a miniature horse, pony or Donkey blanket in my store under Miniature Donkey Blanket. Send me an e-mail at Melody@donkeywhisperer.com to place an order that is not in my store as I can order anything from Kensington for a cheaper price than the MSRP price.
Why is it important to have your donkeys teeth checked by a vet once a year?
The role of routine dental care is to improve chewing, relieve pain, to treat and cure infection and to promote the general health, productivity and longevity of the donkey, horse or mule. It is important to remember that dentistry includes not only the teeth and mouth but the sinuses, bones of the jaw and the temporomandibular joint.
Facts:
1. Domesticated donkeys can develop high points on their teeth pushing on the gums making them sore and difficult to chew. Eating hay that is not chewed causes colic and can contribute directly to death in donkeys, mules and horses.
2. The gums can become inflamed and need a vet to do oral surgery. Most of the time these donkeys need to go to a hay mash and can no longer eat hay.
3. Sinus health issues are addressed by annual vet exam of the mouth.
If we do not do regular dental care we risk loosing our donkeys early in life. Eating hay that is not chewed properly will cause colic. Senior donkeys can be moved to a hay mash with restrictions to eating hay or straw 100%, these donkeys can graze on fresh grass for limited amounts of time to avoid obesity.
Please find a veterinarian that has experience with donkeys as donkeys digest drugs differently than a horse. Most vet’s in the U.S.A. give a mild sedative before opening the mouth, as it is safer for the donkey and the human.
Thank you for investing in your donkeys.
donkey dentist
GOD bless you and your family two and four-legged!
Donkeys evolved from the desert. The donkeys gift is to survive on low sugar and protein forage and use every calorie. Donkeys are stronger than a horse the same size. Donkeys have pointy hooves made to survive in the dry climates with rocks. Donkeys long ears are made to hear their donkey buddy up to 60 miles away in the desert and to cool them down in the desert heat.
Donkeys living in the U.S.A. are being overfed and fed the wrong foods. Once the neck crest (fat) breaks over nothing can be done to repair the neck. Insulin resistance, laminitis, hoof abscesses, white line disease, hyperlipidemia (fat in the blood) and soon death. The good news is with diet and exercise the donkey can live a healthy life.
Do not starve a donkey trying to loose weight. Tested hay in a slow feeder with portion control works best @haypillowinc
What can I do to help my obese donkey? Just like humans diet and exercise changes everything in most cases. Test all of your hay, equine analytical lab in the USA to ensure 10% or lower in sugar and protein. No grain, no sweet feed, no oats, no vitamins give salt with minerals, no breads, beet pulp or human snacks. Limit time grazing on pastures and brush. Diarrhea is on sign of too rich foods along with stress. A safe treat is a bite of a carrot. If you cant find low sugar/protein hay remember you can soak it to remove sugar.
Exercise & Diet: Create a donkey track connected to the shelter and dry paddock for clean water, salt, and portion control with a slow feeder. Remember portion control is important no big round bales of hay eating on full-time 24×7. Do not let your donkey graze on pasture and brush.
If you would like to learn how to setup your farm for the desert equine sign up in my store under Donkey Trainer for a consultation.
It was created to bring awareness to the plight of these intelligent, stoic equine animal helpers, including their diet, training, and care.
If you would like to help your local donkey sanctuary simply ask what they need. The Donkey Whisperer Farm ® sells quality tack made to fit a donkey, donkey E-Training Video On Demand, and donkey artwork.
Spring Sale! Spring is almost here get ready to take your donkeys out for walks this spring and summer. Donkey 101, 102, and Trailer Loading Video On Demand Sold with lifetime access. Print out my e-book located in the first video of all of my training to speed up your training time. After you get your donkeys trained move into my Link Line, walk two donkeys using one lead line.
Training Tip! Quality exercises take 20 minutes per donkey to teach end on a good note put your donkey(s) away. Your donkey will sit and think over and over process everything about the lesson you had with him or her. Do not drill (repeat over and over) until your donkey is panicked or bored) never push or pull on your donkey to teach how to walk. Teach words, walk-on, over, foot, back-up, and whoa. Stay On Donkey Time! Tomorrow your donkey will show you how smart he or she is.
After you study and practice Donkey 101 & 102 Video On Demand if you need personal coaching sign up in my store at Donkeywhisperer.com under Donkey Trainer. I am here to support all of my students worldwide. I want you to keep your donkeys in their forever home.
Donkeys are not horses with long ears, the ears back can mean I am happy to see you, thinking, or anger. Please learn to read the eyes not the ears. Donkeys have photographic memories. Donkeys evolved from the desert. Donkeys are seriously into self-preservation. Perhaps you are new to donkeys and at first your donkey was quiet and nice and then all of a sudden the donkey started getting pushy. Donkeys can canter like a horse, trot, and walk like a horse. But never think a donkey is a horse as they are not a horse a donkey is a donkey.
Donkeys ears can go back, forward, the flying nun or one forward one back. This does not mean the donkey is angry every time. We must learn to read the eyes, body language. Our donkeys come running to say hello with their ears back as they are thinking. When playing or fighting ears are back. Learn to study your donkeys eyes. Learn signs of relaxation and stress and more.
Never give a treat when the equine is pushing you to give it. Give the treat when they are relaxed and have earned the treat, calm and respectfully. My horse must turn her head away from me to get a treat this helps her think before trying to bully the treat out of my hand. Lot’s of ways you can get your timing ready to teach the equine to receive the treat use your creativity to plan ahead and teach them to accept the treat. All of my equine come to me when called without a food treat. Our donkeys and horses get the physical, mental and emotional treat of me loving on them, brushing them, talking to them, picking their hooves and taking them for a walk.
Donkeys cannot kick or bite you if your timing is great, they are looking to see if you are a leader or a follower. Each time you are with your equine you are the human leader, you have the human mind put your cell phone away, job away, kids away and just be in the moment with your equine. I say “You must be plugged into your equine to stay safe and be a great leader.”
Equine are gifts from GOD be grateful for them as each day is indeed precious and fragile.
Select OUR STOREto order E-VIDEO Training and our custom fit donkey soft yacht rope halter/lead lines, long lines, riding reins.
GOD bless you and your family two and four-legged!
1. Most important – Please don’t beat me or punish me for being slow and not moving fast enough, unlike the horse I can think all the time. If I overreact understand I am stressed.
2. I enjoy being talked to, brushed, and loved on when I am sure you will not hurt me. I will not eat if stressed. I am a donkey, donkeys are seriously into self-preservation.
3. I learn differently from the horse I am a visual learner. I learn by watching from an honor horse, mule, or another honor donkey or you doing something with me standing and watching at a safe distance. Please walk away from me with scary new things and let me come to you on my time I am scared of new things and need you to slow down.
4. I prefer clean water, warm water in the winter and low sugar, protein hay as I gain weight fast I was created to live in the desert.
5. I am really smart please do not leave me all alone, give me a companion I prefer a donkey but will take a horse or mule.
6. I need my hooves trimmed just like the horse.
7. I need my teeth taken care of just like the horse. I need a vet check once a year.
8. Please feed me at least two small meals a day when I am on a dry pasture and never feed me alfalfa hay or grass clippings.
9. I like to play with toys, orange traffic cone, feed bowl, or jolly ball I am smart and get bored easy just like you.
10. I am special GOD gave me a cross on my back and I am the only animal in the bible GOD gave the ability to talk.
Donkey Whisperer Farm ® On-Line Learning Is The Leader For On-Line Education Worldwide!
Teach your donkey to have social skills and manners via Donkey 101 & 102 Video On Demand. Use our soft yacht rope donkey halters with matching lead lines to speed up your donkey’s learning time.
Teach your donkey to follow you as a fair leader, not a treat dispenser, bully or abuser. Melody Johnson trains the owner or caretaker on how to scan the donkey for stress, relaxation, and naughty behavior and get your donkey excited to learn and follow you as a leader.
Teach your donkey to have excellent manners and act like a partner for the basics while standing for the vet, farrier, and traveling to new places. Call your donkey and watch your donkey run to you, stand and not leave you! Donkeys are intelligent, donkeys train the owner to do exactly what the donkey wants to do and nothing more.
GOD bless you and your family two and four-legged!
Take a look at my new riding reins “Romal Split SOFT YACHT ROPE with 30 Spanish knots, a large popper. NO SPURS REQUIRED TO TRAIN the donkey, horse or mule to ride. 🙂 Select Our Store to order. Handmade in the U.S.A.
Donkeys evolved from the desert. Donkeys living in the U.S.A. are being overfed and fed the wrong foods. Once the neck crest breaks over nothing can be done to repair the neck. Insulin resistance, laminitis, and soon death. If you rescue a donkey with this abuse, get a donkey vet fast. You can save this donkey’s life. Diet changes everything in most cases, test all of your hay, equine analytical lab in the USA to ensure 10% or lower in sugar and protein, no grain, create a donkey track, clean water, salt, and portion control with a slow feeder.
The donkey must live on a dry pasture or paddock for the majority of their life. If we feed the wrong foods such as alfalfa hay, apples, pears, cookies, oats, bread, or munching all day on grass, brush, and trees we will see this in our donkey’s neck. Not to mention death. Death comes next as the donkey evolved from the desert, the donkey was created to live on low sugar/protein hay, clean water. Round bales for the donkey will cause this too! Hay should be measured and controlled as the donkey evolved from the desert.
Laminitis is a condition in which there is inflammation in the laminae of the foot that connect the pedal bone to the hoof wall. This can progress to rotation or sinking of the pedal bone within the foot. The cause is not fully understood and many factors are involved but obese animals are more prone to develop the disease.”
Equine Metabolic Syndrome: Overweight donkeys often develop a fat, crest neck and fat pads around their tail base. When this occurs the donkey can develop a metabolic disease known as ‘Equine Metabolic Syndrome’. This causes insulin resistance and increased levels of blood glucose (blood sugar) in the bloodstream. In equids, this can lead to recurrent episodes of laminitis or founder. This disease involves inflammation of the white lining or laminar junctions of the feet, extreme foot pain and difficulty walking and chronic abscesses. In severe cases, this is death for the donkey.
Hyperlipaemia is a condition in which triglycerides (fats) are released into circulation which can result in organ failure and death unless treated rapidly. The early signs of dullness and reduced appetite can be difficult to detect. Hyperlipaemia can be triggered by anything that causes a reduction in food intake e.g. stress, transport, dental disease.
Causes of hyperlipaemia
A number of risk factors have been identified as contributing to this condition. It is known that a female donkey is at higher risk than a male, especially when there are high energy demands such as if she is pregnant or lactating. Overweight and obese animals are at higher risk than those in average condition but even thin donkeys are at risk. Donkeys that have lost significant weight in the preceding weeks should be monitored carefully as they are at a much higher risk of developing this disease. When managing your donkey’s weight, care should be taken not to crash diet as this will put your donkey at risk.
Stress will cause a donkey to reduce its feed intake and can be brought on by many stressors such as:
Pain
Removal or death of buddy
Diet Change
Transport
Living With Another Animal Who Is A Predator
Bad weather
Sickness
Forced To Live A Life With Constant Stress And Abuse
Action Plan To Lose Weight – DO NOT STOP FEEDING THE DONKEY.
Build Pastures made to exercise, a track
Thyro-L can help along with tested hay low sugar/protein, no pasture and brush to eat and portion control.
Ask your vet to do blood work insulin resistance or Cushings
Have the equine vet dentist come out and examine the donkey’s teeth yearly. Fecal sampling spring and summer.
Engage in an exercise routine
Take Your Donkey For Walks
Make Sure Your Donkey Has Toys and A Buddy To Play With
Clean Water, warm clean water in winter and cool clean water summer.
Test Your Hay 10% Or Lower In Sugar and Protein – Measure for portion control.
No treats, sweets, bread, alfalfa, oats, vitamins or supplements are needed. Do give lose free salt with minerals.
All equines are herd animals, but donkeys are especially bound by strong herd instincts. Donkey’s are considered “Species-Specific” which means they prefer to be with their own kind.
This is why two is a magic number. Two donkeys mean health, happiness and longevity. It has been shown that a single donkey, living alone, is more likely to suffer from psychological and physical health problems than two donkeys living together.
So, if you want less vet bills, less worry, a happy donkey and a healthy donkey, well, two is the magic number!
Jennies (female Donkeys) display signs of estrus or heat cycle with an open and shut mouth, spit, known as mouth clapping, as well as increase braying. She will allow other jennies to mount her or will mount other jennies. This behavior is seen in cows (female heifers) also.
Select Tallest Mammoth Donkey Romulus is 12 years old and has been measured at 17 hands (68 inches, 173 cm) from hooves to withers, two inches taller than the former tallest donkey, Oklahoma Sam. Romulus weighs about 1,300 pounds (590 kg). Romulus and Remus are American Mammoth Jackstock donkeys, the world’s largest donkey breed.
Breed: American Mammoth Title: World’s Tallest Donkey Height: 68 in (172.72 cm)
If hitting a donkey (or any animal for that matter) produced positive results there would be very few naughty or dangerous donkeys. Hitting does NOT work, in fact, hitting your donkey only makes EVERYTHING worse and you, the human, lose every time!!
Hitting a donkey creates a huge disconnect between you and the donkey. The donkey simply moves into a deeper state of indifference, distrust and resentment. And take our word for it, donkeys will remember if you have been cruel, unfair or a poor leader.
We have never met a donkey that was inherently mean and hateful! Donkeys that are simply naughty are usually frustrated that they are not being heard. Donkeys are continuously communicating with us and telling us how they feel, what matter s to them and what they are fearful of. Donkeys will always give us a warning, the question is are WE listening?
Donkeys that bite, kick or strike are in psychological pain, physical pain or a state of heightened fear. They don’t need a ‘strong hand’ or a ‘good whipping’ they need a human that understands herd mentality, donkey psychology and knows how to listen, be patient and is a confident leader.
Even in severe cases of being kicked or bitten always walk away! Don’t escalate the situation by striking back. If you react by hitting or kicking your donkey you are the only one that is going to get hurt (we have seen people break their hands and their toes). Regroup and make a plan. Don’t go back to your donkey until YOU understand donkey psychology, how to build mutual respect and the basics of natural, non-resistant horsemanship (donkeymanship).
The bottom line is: Learn, become a good leader and watch your donkey respond with respect and a willingness to please you.
Because donkeys are herd animals and are ‘species specific’ their happiness meter increases dramatically when they are paired with another donkey or in a donkey herd. Happiness equates to improved psychological well being and physical health which means fewer behavioral problems and veterinary bills for owners. It is a win/win for both donkeys and their owners/guardians.
But, what happens when donkeys become ‘herd bound’?
Because many donkey owners/caretakers don’t spend time socializing and interacting with their donkeys on a regular basis their donkeys bond and become attached to their donkey companion or herd. Inevitably, when it is time for their donkey to leave their partner or herd the donkey panics, becomes stressed or misbehaves. We have seen far too many disasters when a donkey must be separated from its partner and one or both donkeys are plunged into hysteria. Being ‘herd bound’ is extremely dangerous for both the donkey and the owner!
As donkey owners and guardians we must be able to separate our donkeys and attend to them individually. At some point all donkeys will need to be separated, even temporarily, due to an abscess, illness, injury, diet change, medicating or for the farrier or vet.
Being ‘herd bound’ reflects on the owner NOT the donkey! Donkeys naturally migrate toward the leader of the herd and the strongest member for companionship. There is a natural hierarchy in herd psychology and as with all herd animals donkeys have a strong instinct for safety and survival. If your donkey does not consider you the leader of the herd or his/her partner you cannot expect your donkey to feel safe in your presence. You must be a leader worthy of your donkey’s trust and respect.
The solution for a ‘herd bound’ donkey is your time and patience. Learn to be a leader. Prove to your donkey that he/she can look to you for safety and natural herdsmanship.
You must be logged in to post a comment.