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- #11
TXFarmGirl
Loving the herd life
Will do, thank you!
We are new here, we have a baby Mini Donkey!
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- #12
TXFarmGirl
Loving the herd life
Here are some pictures of his very first nail trim/file. The man only filed a tiny bit off his hooves. It was hilarious though, he didn't do well standing up, so we lifted his 2 front hooves up, and gave him his bottle, he loved the milk so much his back legs started to collapse. Eventually he was fully laying out on the ground, lol, but that position seemed to work rather well!
(Some of the pictures look like he is in weird positions, and he is, but he is perfectly fine!)
(Some of the pictures look like he is in weird positions, and he is, but he is perfectly fine!)
Looks like you're supporting a drunken donkey... 
I see your turkey had to come over and check things out... 
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- #14
TXFarmGirl
Loving the herd life
Yes, Holland(the Turkey) has to be apart of EVERYTHING we are doing! This time he was a little confused about what was happening to his friend...lol. He is such a great turkey, he protects all of the the kids baby ducklings and chicks, and gets worried when the momma Duck or chicken sits on her babies.
RollingAcres
Herd Master
Guess your turkey didn't want to miss out on all the fun!
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- #16
TXFarmGirl
Loving the herd life
Guess your turkey didn't want to miss out on all the fun!
Nope, he does not miss out on any fun!!!
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- #17
TXFarmGirl
Loving the herd life
What "Companaion" should we get for Donkee?
We originally planned on possibly getting another baby mini donkey female to be his friend, but we can't seem find a female for sale in East TX that's is like under 4 months old. We broadened our search to a mini donkey, a mini mule, or a mini horse that is a yong female.
We have rescued 5 baby Nubian goats in the past that were practically dying from a farm. We bottle fed & raised them until they were full grown, then returned them to there farm. Myself and my kids absolutely LOVE Nubians, so now we are considering getting him a baby Nubian goat friend.
So, with all of that being said, do you think he could bond to a goat/would like a goat? Or does he need an equine friend?
We originally planned on possibly getting another baby mini donkey female to be his friend, but we can't seem find a female for sale in East TX that's is like under 4 months old. We broadened our search to a mini donkey, a mini mule, or a mini horse that is a yong female.
We have rescued 5 baby Nubian goats in the past that were practically dying from a farm. We bottle fed & raised them until they were full grown, then returned them to there farm. Myself and my kids absolutely LOVE Nubians, so now we are considering getting him a baby Nubian goat friend.
So, with all of that being said, do you think he could bond to a goat/would like a goat? Or does he need an equine friend?
Bunnylady
Herd Master
Whether your donkey will do OK with goats is hard to predict. Some seem to like them, others like them as sports equipment.
The fact that he's so young might work in your favor; growing up with them makes it more likely that he'll be good to them.
I'm curious - why are you limiting your search to female equines? To me, that's just asking for a headache. Y'see, most of the males equines I have known didn't seem to know they were geldings. A few were "dead from the waist down," but most were at least interested in the girls; some of the worst injuries I've seen have been from geldings fighting over mares. And just because he's fixed doesn't mean he doesn't try; when the girlfriend was in season, she'd have bite marks from him mounting her. Two geldings will "horseplay," which means they may get dinged up too, but boys can be great buddies. Besides which, a gelding would probably be cheaper; a lot of folks see a "walking uterus" when they look at a female, and charge more simply for that reason. (I'm not kidding about the "walking uterus" part. I have a miniature horse mare that has some major conformation flaws, but I have had people who owned stallions or jacks approach me about breeding her. I'm like, "yeah, she's cute, and has a personality to die for, but why would anyone want to risk cursing another animal with that body?!")
Good job on making his first trim a positive experience. I have a mini mule that I have to assume had a lot of unpleasant experiences before I got her; with their amazing memories, it takes forever to get past that. Some people will grab an ear and twist it as a means of restraint; I have never, ever done that to Betsy, but after 10 years together, she still occasionally ducks if I touch one of her ears. It is so much better to take the time at the beginning to train them right, rather than to try to undo the mistakes later, when they are stronger than you.
My best advice is to learn all you can, especially about driving. A ridden animal is (potentially) dangerous, but a driven animal is dangerous x 10, because they have that cart rattling behind them to scare them, with it becoming a projectile that they can drag into and over any people or objects that may be in the way. On the plus side, this is a donkey, so he has less of a flight response than a horse does. Best case scenario is that you find a trainer to teach both the donkey and you how to drive.
Bottle-raised equines are notorious for being obnoxious; without a mother of their own species to teach them manners, they have no respect for anything. Since you now have a halter, you can start on some simple things like walk, whoa (probably the single most important lesson you will ever teach!), back, stand. He's a baby, so keeping the lessons short and fun is important, but teaching a habit of obedience is important, too. Find ways to expose him to all sorts of different stuff. Donkeys are very smart, and like to think for themselves, so be prepared for him to insist on looking for a bit before moving forward on something new.
I must congratulate you on your success so far with your adorable, fuzzy baby. It's not uncommon for foals to just give up and die without a mother; what you've done so far is a major accomplishment!
The fact that he's so young might work in your favor; growing up with them makes it more likely that he'll be good to them.I'm curious - why are you limiting your search to female equines? To me, that's just asking for a headache. Y'see, most of the males equines I have known didn't seem to know they were geldings. A few were "dead from the waist down," but most were at least interested in the girls; some of the worst injuries I've seen have been from geldings fighting over mares. And just because he's fixed doesn't mean he doesn't try; when the girlfriend was in season, she'd have bite marks from him mounting her. Two geldings will "horseplay," which means they may get dinged up too, but boys can be great buddies. Besides which, a gelding would probably be cheaper; a lot of folks see a "walking uterus" when they look at a female, and charge more simply for that reason. (I'm not kidding about the "walking uterus" part. I have a miniature horse mare that has some major conformation flaws, but I have had people who owned stallions or jacks approach me about breeding her. I'm like, "yeah, she's cute, and has a personality to die for, but why would anyone want to risk cursing another animal with that body?!")
Good job on making his first trim a positive experience. I have a mini mule that I have to assume had a lot of unpleasant experiences before I got her; with their amazing memories, it takes forever to get past that. Some people will grab an ear and twist it as a means of restraint; I have never, ever done that to Betsy, but after 10 years together, she still occasionally ducks if I touch one of her ears. It is so much better to take the time at the beginning to train them right, rather than to try to undo the mistakes later, when they are stronger than you.
My best advice is to learn all you can, especially about driving. A ridden animal is (potentially) dangerous, but a driven animal is dangerous x 10, because they have that cart rattling behind them to scare them, with it becoming a projectile that they can drag into and over any people or objects that may be in the way. On the plus side, this is a donkey, so he has less of a flight response than a horse does. Best case scenario is that you find a trainer to teach both the donkey and you how to drive.
Bottle-raised equines are notorious for being obnoxious; without a mother of their own species to teach them manners, they have no respect for anything. Since you now have a halter, you can start on some simple things like walk, whoa (probably the single most important lesson you will ever teach!), back, stand. He's a baby, so keeping the lessons short and fun is important, but teaching a habit of obedience is important, too. Find ways to expose him to all sorts of different stuff. Donkeys are very smart, and like to think for themselves, so be prepared for him to insist on looking for a bit before moving forward on something new.
I must congratulate you on your success so far with your adorable, fuzzy baby. It's not uncommon for foals to just give up and die without a mother; what you've done so far is a major accomplishment!
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- #19
TXFarmGirl
Loving the herd life
Thank you so so much for all of that wonderful information! We are taking him to our church trunk or treat Saturday, so hopefully that will help get him used to more people & cars. We've also been asked to bring him to a Christmas parade, so that might help familiarize him with a few more things. We were mainly searching for female equine because we thought he would fight with other males.
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- #20
TXFarmGirl
Loving the herd life
Donkey and partner in crime, the "Mule", update:
They are both doing well, they are slowly getting sweeter, calmer, more gentle, and obedient. They are a work in progress, but well worth it.
They are both doing well, they are slowly getting sweeter, calmer, more gentle, and obedient. They are a work in progress, but well worth it.
