Just got a miniature donkey. Seeking care advice.

[dcphotos]

So we got a miniature donkey. It belonged to a friend of my wife who is now no longer to care for him because of illness, and she had offered to let us take it some time ago anyhow as we have 6 acres of grass for him to graze on.

He is an escape artist. He was getting into the woods so we have built a corral behind our barn to keep him in during the day, it will eventually be about an acre but it's a small space right now.

Anyhow, questions. We have some grain he gets, and he eats grass and hay. Is there any other kind of feed he would like?

Should we have a brush and brush him like they do with horses?

Any advice would be helpful.

 

[tiffanyh]

Im sure there is plenty of other feed he would like, but not any other that he really needs.

You can brush him, he may not need it but it may be good for you to have some bonding time with him.

Does he have a companion?

 

[dcphotos]

No he doesn't have a companion. From what I've read online they do better in pairs, but for now he is the only one we have.
We have a great dane that really wants to be his companion. The dog is actually bigger than the donkey. But the donkey tends to get aggressive with the dog, he isn't so much into the bonding aspect.

 

[Bunnylady]

I don't own a miniature donkey, just half of one (the other half is miniature horse). Every bit of advice I have ever gotten about feeding donkeys and mules (especially the miniatures) says to skip the grain entirely, just give them grass and/or hay, and precious little of that. I can vouch for the fact that a miniature mule can get fat off of little more than air! Most people will warn you about the risk of founder from overfeeding (as with horses), but there is another problem that horses really don't suffer from. Donkeys will develop these weird looking fat pads along the crest of the neck and on their backsides. For some reason, those fat pads are almost impossible to lose. I have seen a (standard size) donkey that was ribby thin, that looked like she had a catcher's mitt inserted under her hide on both sides of her butt. The crest of her neck had fallen over and slumped to one side. As you can imagine, she was one sorry sight, both fat and thin at the same time!

As they say, an only donk is a lonely donk, which might be part of the reason this little guy keeps trying to get out. But then, my mini mule Betsy has the wanderlust too, only she likes some company when she goes exploring. One time, she kidnapped me so she'd have a companion on one of her jaunts! Minis sure are characters, congrats on yours!

AND

 

[dcphotos]

I think I am going to look into getting him a companion after I finish the fence and refinish one of the stalls in our barn that will become his permanent stall.

How about those blankets people put on horses in the winter? Do we need a mini one?

 

[patandchickens]

Heartily second the "stop the grain" recommendation. It's just asking for trouble.

Companion would certainly be a good idea.

A properly-set-up (many aren't!) frequently-tested hotwire or two added to your existing fence, running at least 3,000 v, will take care of the escaping problem (at least, insofar as you test the fence daily and the power source does not conk out).

I suppose there may be a mini donk somewhere on the planet that needs a winter blanket or turnout sheet. I have never met it. The other 99.99999%, to which yours surely belongs, are FINE nekkid as long as they have some shelter and you have the ability to put them indoors (in a stall or barred-off shed or something) if there should be an illness problem or some such.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[dcphotos]

Well that's all good to know. I don't see the electric fence happening, but we do have a dog fence. Do you guys think a shock collar would work?

I live in Alabama and it only gets real cold a few weeks out of the year so I guess he will be fine with that.

 

[patandchickens]

Do you guys think a shock collar would work?

NO NO NO NO NO. And don't even TRY it. Please! When equines panic, Bad Things Happen. It is TOTALLY DIFFERENT from the very localized easily-interpretable shock from nosing a hotwire, to which equines usually react constructively (at least if it is introduced correctly so they become trained to it).

I don't see the electric fence happening

You can get a perfectly serviceable plug-in charger for like $50 plus maybe $25-50 worth of insulators and wire, or there are similar-priced battery-operated units if you have no electric service near the paddock... it is worth thinking about for the future, or doing now if you at all can. Remember that the more times the donkey gets out, the better he gets at it *and* the more dedicated to *trying*. The SOONER you make the fence truly 100% donkeyproof, the EASIER it is to make it
100% donkeyproof

I live in Alabama and it only gets real cold a few weeks out of the year so I guess he will be fine with that.

Oh yes, very definitely you don't need clothing for him, especially if there is some sort of shelter he has access to during long deluges of rain.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[dcphotos]

Well I paid a lot more than that for the dog fence so I figured it would be costly. I may look into it, but he hasn't gotten into the woods since I built the fence he has now. I still haven't finished it either, he is going to have a little over an acre to himself when I get it completed, and he will have 6 acres when we are at home and let him out to roam around. He has a horse stall in our barn also, so shelter is good. The stall is one we were using to store tools and equipment since it has a door with a hasp and lock. We have another stall that is full of junk, we are going to clean it out and set it up first class, so he should be living rather well as far as donkeys go.

 

[dcphotos]

I am now thinking dairy goats would be great friends for Pinot the Donkey. What do you guys think about that?