New donkey, any advice?

[Irisshiller]

Thanks, I'm glad to hear that! I was wondering if she was getting too much fat along her neck. Donkey and horse abuse is rife here especially in Arab/Bedouin villages. I've heard many horror stories This man from rescue organisation Pegasus is my hero! http://www.eng.pegasus-israel.org/

Fortunately Layla didn't have to suffer all that as far as I know. Wish I knew where she came from! Anyway we love her <3

 

[Irisshiller]

I think she is definitely untrained though. Maybe she was used as "weed control" (there are some half-wild herds around) because she didn't seem to know anything really! I seem to have accidentally trained her to be haltered and tied, because I just assumed she'd be familiar with that! She didn't know how to lead, just stood there looking confused until I coaxed her forward with a treat. Now she knows "come", "whoa" and "back". I suppose she also hasn't really been groomed because she doesn't seem to understand it and doesn't like it much - I have to tie her and she keeps trying to step away from me. But she puts up with it and now also puts up with having her feet cleaned.

Now it's starting to get hot and I realised she does not like getting her feet wet! I tried to put some sort of fly spray on her legs and she was very unhappy with me. So I've decided that's going to be my next project - getting her used to water! Although it might not be a good idea if she starts getting into the duck pond, lol.

I'd like it if we could ride her at some point, but I'm waiting with that until she gets cleared by the vet. I tried it once and had to jump off in the middle of a rodeo-worthy buck Anyway I'm not planning to ride her myself, I'm a bit too big, but for the kids it would be nice.

It's very nice to have a sounding board here about my donkey training efforts and advice! I kept hoping to find a "more experienced person" to help me, but unfortunately I've now realised that person is me, lol! Surprisingly for a kibbutz (agricultural community) nobody seems to know anything about donkeys and nobody rides horses. There are some people from town who stall their horses here but I don't see them much. So I am relying on myself and helpful people like you!

 

[Baymule]

If her crest (top of her neck where the mane grows out) is getting fat, cut back on her feed. The crest can get real fat and fall over. Then no matter what you do, she will always have a broken crest-it will never stand up again. Donkeys are, as you well know, desert animals and don't put on a layer of fat under the skin like many other animals. Rather, they put on fat deposits in several places, the crest being one of them. They get fat pones on top of their hips and alongside of their backbone. Extremely obese donkeys will look lumpy.

This link has a picture of a fat donkey
https://www.bensonranch.com/articles/five-things-every-new-donkey-owner-should-know/

I found some more pics.

 

[Baymule]

I over fed a jack donkey I used to have. He started looking lumpy and I realized what I had done and put him on a limited grass hay diet. It sure didn't make me popular with him and it took months to get the fat off.

 

[Bunnylady]

I have seen donkeys that were so thin, their ribs were showing, but they still had those thick crests and lumpy butts. That may be where excess calories get stored, but the donkey's ability to access those stores is poor. It is better for the animal not to develop them in the first place.

 

[Irisshiller]

Wow, that doesn't look good! I think Layla is ok but we will cut out the rabbit food anyway. I checked, it has 17% protein so maybe that's too much for her! It'smostly made of alfalfa I think. Anyway she doesn't get much, just a few handfuls as a treat, but maybe it's better to use something else. She loves all green stuff anyway

 

[AClark]

If you can look in her mouth, you can guesstimate how old she is.
If she's only 2-3 she'll still have caps - baby teeth. Age 3-4 is when the last incisor comes in.
At around age 7 they get the hook, that last incisor gets a curved in spot to the back of it. At 10 the Galvaynes groove starts on that last incisor, it's just a groove starting at the top of the last incisor. Halfway down is a 12-13 year old horse, and by age 15-16 it will reach the bottom of the incisor. If they are over 15-16 you start looking for their teeth to slant forward for lack of a better term.

 

[misfitmorgan]

One of our friends rescued a donkey from a crazy guy...she was like a walking skeleton. Now she has a whole different problem...her neck looks exactly like the second picture @Baymule posted. We told him hey she is way to fat and he said she isn't fat she is unique

Same problem with a ram suffolk a guy bought at the 4H market. The ram is so overweight over his spine is sunken in 2inches, he called us 2yrs in a row to shear him and we told him look this ram could drop dead he is so over weight. The owner says " i hardly feed him anything just pasture and a tiny bit of corn" meanwhile he says the same thing about the goats and to get them out of the barn....he gave them a "small treat"....a 5 gallon bucket of shell corn

 

[countrychick95]

Any update on your Layla? I am enjoying reading this thread, and just realized it is almost a year old! How are things coming?!