Good morning everyone,
I have a questions and was hoping people here with more donkey experience would maybe be able to help me out. I'm the owner of Simon, the extra furry donkey (still no signs of shedding). I've noticed that for the last three evenings when I bring him into the barn in the evening he seems to be breathing harder than his usual. I can see his notrils puffing and his chest moving at twice his usual. He felt a little sweathy the first evening so I hosed him down a bit. By morning he seemed fine. THe same trend has continued, he's acting perfectly fine though. We took his temperature which is at 100.2F, seems to be in the normal range of a young donkey, high end, but normal.
Now the obvious would be that his coat is thick and he's adjusting to our unusually warm switch to summer, but I dunno, it hasn't been that hot and the barn is quite cool in the evening.
We are getting the vet out this week for vaccines for everyone anyway, and if it's just his long hair then I have no issues with shaving him. I've been interested in what his coat will do naturally so I'd like to avoid this if it's not the problem, even for another few months until we're into the really warm weather.
I've looked into resperatory issues, but again, he's not sneezing, coughing or anything else unusual just "puffing" more than ususal.
Any advice would be great.
thx,
sam
I have a questions and was hoping people here with more donkey experience would maybe be able to help me out. I'm the owner of Simon, the extra furry donkey (still no signs of shedding). I've noticed that for the last three evenings when I bring him into the barn in the evening he seems to be breathing harder than his usual. I can see his notrils puffing and his chest moving at twice his usual. He felt a little sweathy the first evening so I hosed him down a bit. By morning he seemed fine. THe same trend has continued, he's acting perfectly fine though. We took his temperature which is at 100.2F, seems to be in the normal range of a young donkey, high end, but normal.
Now the obvious would be that his coat is thick and he's adjusting to our unusually warm switch to summer, but I dunno, it hasn't been that hot and the barn is quite cool in the evening.
We are getting the vet out this week for vaccines for everyone anyway, and if it's just his long hair then I have no issues with shaving him. I've been interested in what his coat will do naturally so I'd like to avoid this if it's not the problem, even for another few months until we're into the really warm weather.
I've looked into resperatory issues, but again, he's not sneezing, coughing or anything else unusual just "puffing" more than ususal.
Any advice would be great.
thx,
sam
