Boys with the girls

[julieb]

[SIZE=12pt]Ok all of you seasoned donkey folk....i have been told that if you would put a young jack in with the girls that they will pick on him :no: ..Now my question is if i would buy a gelding would the girls pick on him??

: i wouldn't want anyone picking on anyone :no: or harm to come to anyone....Thanks in advance

: [/SIZE]

 

[PaintedPromiseRanch]

Julie i would have to say there is no one answer for this... i think, like any equines, it depends on the herd and on the personality of the new member. we have had many changes over the years, and some go well, and some don't. for instance when we first brought Bella home, a mini mare, apparently she had never seen a donkey before, because even after being penned next to them for over a week, when first put together she WENT AFTER my donkey girls... in fact Betty Lou still has a scar on her nose from being kicked. so we separated Bella for a while longer, and eventually they were all fine together - in fact Bella was even bred by our jack and had a mule baby. on the other hand, my newest little guy walked into the pen, was mobbed by everyone but didn't react, and settled right in from day one, best friends with everybody.

 

[MeadowRidge Farm]

Julie, its the same as with horses, some work out being put together and some dont. You really cant answer that question till you try it. I have a friend who has to keep about 5 dry lot areas, because it dont seem like any of his horses and donkey get along. Someone is always picking on someone, and he has had a few where he had to call the vet out from "the picking" so now he has 3 to a lot and everyone is a happy camper. Alot of times a new one will get picked on from the others until a pecking order has been established, once that happens all is well. We have that going on with a new 13 month old black angus bull right now..he's in with about 10 heifers, we just bought this bull and he is so "thin" compared to our big fat heifers,

: and they just push and bully him all over, but by next spring when hes there size they sure wont be doing that :bgrin , today is the first time they left him eat with them. We just got him on Friday, but in a few days things will quiet down. Corinne

 

[julieb]

Julie i would have to say there is no one answer for this... i think, like any equines, it depends on the herd and on the personality of the new member. we have had many changes over the years, and some go well, and some don't. for instance when we first brought Bella home, a mini mare, apparently she had never seen a donkey before, because even after being penned next to them for over a week, when first put together she WENT AFTER my donkey girls... in fact Betty Lou still has a scar on her nose from being kicked. so we separated Bella for a while longer, and eventually they were all fine together - in fact Bella was even bred by our jack and had a mule baby. on the other hand, my newest little guy walked into the pen, was mobbed by everyone but didn't react, and settled right in from day one, best friends with everybody.

[font=Comic Sans Ms][SIZE=12pt]Thanks Susan........so matter if i get a jenny or gelding it may be the same response with my fillies?? Just a time period for everyone to get adjusted

: Poor Betty Lou :no: [/font[/SIZE]]

Julie, its the same as with horses, some work out being put together and some dont. You really cant answer that question till you try it. I have a friend who has to keep about 5 dry lot areas, because it dont seem like any of his horses and donkey get along. Someone is always picking on someone, and he has had a few where he had to call the vet out from "the picking" so now he has 3 to a lot and everyone is a happy camper. Alot of times a new one will get picked on from the others until a pecking order has been established, once that happens all is well. We have that going on with a new 13 month old black angus bull right now..he's in with about 10 heifers, we just bought this bull and he is so "thin" compared to our big fat heifers,

: and they just push and bully him all over, but by next spring when hes there size they sure wont be doing that :bgrin , today is the first time they left him eat with them. We just got him on Friday, but in a few days things will quiet down. Corinne

Thanks Corinne, Auuuugh :no: that must be hard to watch :no: hope that bull fattens up quick

:

 

[PaintedPromiseRanch]

yeah Julie, no matter who the newbie is, there may be a period of adjustment. we usually handle it by keeping the new one separated from the herd by "just" a fence (i.e., no space in between), so that they can interact through the fence but if one needs to "leave", it has that option... Bella is the worst problem we have had, and a few extra days solved it. Ozzie was our easiest newbie, he slid right in like a piece in a puzzle

:

just try it, and watch them carefully when you first try putting them together so if you need to step in you can do so... that's all you can do! like CeMom said, sometimes they just have to sort things out - you just want to make sure no one gets hurt.

and yeah, poor Betty Lou - you could tell she was just so BEWILDERED to be treated like that - she really had no idea what was going on or why, and she knew she hadn't done anything... so she got a bunch of extra lovins. but that didn't take the scar away... so it's just a reminder for us to be extra watchful until we are sure everything will be ok.