Donkeys are not horses with long ears; donkeys are donkeys.
Donkeys evolved from the desert. Please think about what is in the desert for food, sagebrush, bark, roots, sticks, and dirt, but no green grass or green brush. Yes, even green brush can be high in sugar. Donkeys love to dig for roots. The donkey’s diet is tested hay low sugar and protein, testing at 10% or lower in sugar and protein with portion control. No grazing is needed with healthy meals; create a Donkey Track for exercise, connecting back to the shelter for water and shade. Donkeys are not waterproof; donkeys need shelter, clean water, and salt with minerals. If you use pine pellets for bedding, add water as donkeys will eat the pellets, and they can expand in their tummy, giving them colic.
Donkeys love to grab the neck of another donkey, bite, rear up, play tug with a jolly ball, leapfrog. Donkeys roam together, eat, drink, and sleep together. Donkeys bond for life with another donkey or even a human they trust. Donkeys are genuinely emotional and intelligent beings; always provide another donkey for your donkey to live with. Pair donkeys up fairly, size and sex matters, geldings with geldings and jennies with jennies. Size matters. If the donkey is way bigger, he or she can hurt a smaller donkey, and trying to keep the diet healthy is challenging. If you have a baby male donkey, please find a veterinarian experienced in gelding donkeys as he can breed his mother. Jacks (stallion horse world) can kill a baby donkey or smaller animal. Please keep breeding to the professionals who provide registration paperwork and keep the breed healthy.
Health Care:
Donkeys need their hooves trimmed regularly to ensure they are not afraid of the farrier and keep them healthy. The farrier should come to the farm every six weeks in the spring and summer and seven in the fall and winter. The veterinarian should come to the farm for spring shots; the minimum shots needed are west nile, rabies, and tetanus; dental exams prevent colic. Give your vet fecal samples before worming twice a year, spring and fall. If you are not a regular customer with your veterinarian and farrier, they will not come in an emergency.
Donkey is not pooping:
Donkeys that are constipated are at risk for death as this is a serious sign of colic or an intestinal health issue. Call a veterinarian asap as colic is life-threatening. Donkeys are stoic meaning they hide pain, by the time they show us pain they have been in pain for some time.
Ears Back:
A donkey’s ears lying back do not have the same meaning as a horse. Please learn to study the ears of your donkey as the ears back can have different meanings; happy to see you, thinking, playing, or angry. Again, examine the eyes of your donkey, not their ears.
