Questions on breeding Mules....

[Latika]

Hey everyone,

I am fairly new to the forums, have been frequenting the mini horse forum mostly

A few months ago, I had a crazy idea to buy a mini donkey female, and breed mini mules from my Mini horse stallion. But I want to do a bit of research before jumping straight into it!

Firstly - what are the word terms for donkeys & mules? (ie, stallion mare gelding etc) - As I said, I am very clueless when it comes to them!

Secondly - is there much of a difference between putting horse over donkey as opposed to donkey over horse?

Thirdly - is there any additional info that you think i should know? are their any medical conditions I would need to be aware of, or faults i should look for when buying a female? I wouldnt have a clue how to recognise conformational faults in donkeys, is it very similar/ or same as horses?

i am not looking to purchase at the moment, just wanting to learn a bit more! Here in Western Australia Donkeys are not very common, especially miniature donkeys, so i really dont have anyone else to ask these silly questions to!

Thanks in advance for any advice & information! :grin:

 

[CheyAut]

I am CERTAINLY NO expert. But I did do some investigating of my own on just this...

When you use a female donkey and a male horse, the cross is called a hinny, vs a mule from the other way around. Mare donkeys are Jennets or Jennys (Someone correct me if that's wrong) and males are jacks. I'm still unsure what to call my gelded donkey? LOL

It is much more difficult to get a hinny than it is for a mule. First, not all stallions will cover a donkey. Second, the reason the baby from them is sterile is the differing number of chromosomes. I BELIEVE the donkey has less? ANyhow, it's easier for the jack to get a mare pregnant vs a stallion and a jenny due to the different number... If I'm right that horses have more, it's better when the mother has more...

That said, I"ll try for a hinny anyhow But if I don't get one, I won't be surprised.

And if I said anything wrong, feel free to correct me!

I'm a newbie to donkeys, I've had Earl for a little more than a year, he's my gelded one. And then I got Karma not too long ago, she's my female. I think they're great pets, thats' why I have them... along with my mini horses

Jessi

 

[minimule]

Jessi is right. A cross with a male horse to a female donkey is called a hinney. They are much harder to get because of several issues. One is that most stallions won't cover a jenny. They smell differently and it takes a very special stallion to cover one. It is also harder for a jenny to conceive with a stallion because of the chromosome issue plus the body temps are different (at least I've heard that).

As far as faults, you look for the same kinds of things as you would in a horse. The overall animal should be well balanced and well put together. Straight legs, backs, good shoulder/neck tie in....

Corrine on here has a stallion that will cover jennys successfully. Hopefully she will come on and answer some more questions for you.

 

[MeadowRidge Farm]

Everyone has been right in there answers. I do have a mini stallion who will cover jennys without a problem and he settles them usually on his first try. But its really hard to find a stallion that will breed a jenny, and actually settle them. Its much easier with the opposite breeding~~ for mules, which is a mini jack to a mini horse. Another point with stallions to jennys is that about 95% of the time the jenny, if she is settled, will abort the foal. I havent had any problems with any of the jennies we have bred aborting or my stallion refusing to breed them, but out of my 7 mini stallions~~ he is the only one who will even come near a jenny in heat. :bgrin Frosty just loves his jennys

: Mules and hinnys are both sterile. As far as how they look ~~ alot of times even really well seasoned mule people have a hard time telling the differance. But a hinny does have a more horse -like face and a mule a more donkey -like face. If you look down thru the post, I posted one not too long ago on a close up of a hinny and Shawna posted one of her mules... Good luck with your stallion. Corinne

 

[Latika]

Thanks Guys, that atleast gives me something to go on, and if I go ahead and try atleast I wont expect too much!

My stallion has only served 2 mares so far, and has never seen a donkey, so who knows what he would think of one. I am still keen to go ahead (one day), and if he wont serve her, then I'll go from there. I dont think their are many mini donkey studs in Australia at all, well atleast not many advertise (and i probably dont know where to look either!)

So are female mules & hinny's & male mules & hinny's Jenny's & Jacks also?

 

[minimule]

An intact male donkey is a Jack

An adult female donkey is a Jenny

A young female donkey is a jennet

A female mule/hinney is a Molly

A male mule/hinney is a John

I've heard people refer to a gelded donkey as a john as well but I don't know if that is the correct term.

 

[Latika]

Thanx minimule!

Last thing I want to do is approach a stud with the wrong terminology! they'd never sell me a donkey!! haha

After reading a few posts on donkeys, I am really looking forward to doing this! even if it doesnt work out, I think having a donkey around would be nice.

Growing up we had a standard size donkey gelding, he ran with our big horses (we had over 20) he was adorable and used to play with my dog! (well my dog thought it was playing... I wasnt so sure!) We all loved having him in the herd.

Thanks for all your help! maybe soon I wil be able to post about getting a new Jenny! :bgrin: (

: dont tell the other half!)

 

[MeadowRidge Farm]

Latika, we're really good at secrets on here :bgrin we wont tell the other half.

: I sure hope your stallion will accept your mare, that would be so nice for you...and if not you get to go donkey shopping! Thats always so much fun.

: Corinne

 

[Latika]

:bgrin another question!

If you breed a male mule/hinny, even though it would be sterile, does it still act like a real boy? would you still have it gelded or do they have no male hormones at all?

Meadowridgefarm! I will have to be careful! I will end up having to buy a jack for my jenny if my stallion wont serve her, then I will have just have to expand and get more! LOL At the moment I dont have enough room to get a donkey yet, but hopefully soon I will have my own property and be free to get as many little critters as I want!

: :bgrin

 

[MeadowRidge Farm]

... :aktion033: That sound like a good plan you have going there! My hinny johns are Ohhhhh~~~ lets just say walking hormones, until they are gelded, definitely act like real boys! :bgrin Snickers has been gelded for 1 year and he still think he is Mr. Studmuffin! :bgrin . Snickers was 3 years old when he got gelded, the others were yearlings. It really wasnt until the summer when Snickers turned 3 that his hormones REALLY kicked in. He was always a very good boy and never got any aggression towards any of my mares or people, but I have been told if they are left intact they can become mean and very aggressive towards people and animals. Mine never have, but mine also get doses of daily attention. Snickers is great as a "teaser john" :new_shocked: always lets me know when I have a mare in heat. (Snickers is in my avatar-a headshot of a dark bay)Corinne