Thinking about buying a mini donk

[Rachel]

I have never owned a donkey of any sort but recently I've become interested in them. Next week I'm moving my 5 miniature horses to a new pasture and I've been told there may be coyotes in the area. Would it be helpful to put a donk in with the horses? Several people have told me to get either a llama or a donk just to be safe. It's just a coincidence but on Wednesday I visited a farm that had 3 mini donks for sale and of course I just loved them! The one I really like is a weanling jack that if I did get I would have cut in the spring. Do you think this would be a good idea? Would a jenny be better? I really only want one. HELP!!

 

[jdomep]

From all of the information I have read minis should not be used as guardians.

A Miniature Donkey will not make an appropriate "guard donkey". It is generally believed that since donkeys are not particularly fond of dogs, that they are naturally good guard animals for sheep & goat herds. The truth is that a Miniature Donkey is no match for more than one dog at a time and sadly there have been too many reports of Miniature Donkeys being mauled and killed by neighborhood dogs. Standard size donkeys may be able to fill the role as a guardian donkey, but not Miniature Donkeys. from http://neighsandbrays.com/donkey_advice.html

Someone wanted to buy one of mine to guard cattle from coyotes and I said no...

 

[MeadowRidge Farm]

I have my mini donkeys and even though they were not bought as a "guard animal" they have turned out to be fantastic! I would agree that if a pack of dogs or coyotes came into a pasture to attack..a mini could not hold them off, BUT..in my case..we had a 350 to 400# black bear walking the fenceline for weeks, it was my donkeys who would always alert us and the neighbors that he was in the area, by there braying, when he did come strolling out of the woods and walk the fence line my donkeys all stood there ground with him, and went right up to the fence and brayed so darn loud I swear they heard them in the next county :bgrin He backed off, every time (of course we had the gun ready too) BUT what I am saying is if it woudnt of been for there braying we would of had no way of knowing when he strolled out of the woods. Anytime any animal comes near the pasture that dont belong there they will stand guard and bray up a storm. They even chase our barn cats out. My lab will walk along the fence, and the donkeys follow, making sure she dont venture into there space. I do have cattle panels and ranch fencing so my dogs cant get in anyways. We live where there is alot of wildlife, and have never had any problems. We also know there are coyote packs in our woods, but when they start howling at night..my donkey start braying. My donkeys alert me of anything out of the ordinary. They have even beat my equipage system when a mare started to go into labor. I wouldnt be without mine. I have had so many offers to sell them, but they are here for good. If you need to get a guard donkey..by far the standard size is the best, but just remember not all donkey make good guards. Corinne

 

[JumpinJackFarm]

They are great guard animals depending on their personalities??

And you would be much better off getting two...not only for the fact that Donks like to be with other Donks...but I think their guarding instinct kicks in more with protecting their Donkey buddy's. I am sure they feel more brave too confronting danger.

My one yr old Jenny is the protector of the pack...and when she confronts anything.. the others stand behind her and follow her lead. It is very interesting to watch. She is also teaching Zepp to take the lead with her...he stands right by her side now when they feel danger.

LOL...the last few weeks it's been a buck and 2 doe's .... I think they are practicing

:

 

[jayne]

I rescued a standard (but smaller sized) donkey and she turned out to have a donkette in the oven. I wouldn't get rid of these girls for anything. Those two definitely keep the coyotes out of the pasture. They also let us know if ANYONE steps foot on our property, including driving into our driveway or walking past on the road. I think they are in charge of the neighbors too, because they bray when someone comes up to either of their places too, and they're not even that close!

They also have some things that I'm not too crazy about, but you have to take the good with the bad, I guess. They want to stomp almost anything. My chickens, if they wander into their field, and my sweet old dogs are fair game to them too. So I have to be careful with them. They also bray when the county fire siren goes off, which cracks me up...like we couldn't hear it without their help.

If you decide to get one or two, remember that if your horses haven't seen donkeys before, there may be a little panic. They smell, look and surely sound different than anything they've seen before. When I got my donkey, I put her in a stall for a couple of weeks to tame her down (plus she didn't want to leave as she was warm and safe and had endless hay, which was the opposite of where she came from). So I brought the horses into the barn to meet her and there sure was a lot of snorting, but they settled down pretty quickly. The first time she brayed in the barn though...WOW....all the horses put their heads down, their ears back and pinched their eyes shut. It was so funny. They all live together in the pasture now and I've even seen mutual grooming , so things must be fine between them now!

Good luck with your decision. I can't imagine living without a donkey or two now!

Jayne

 

[JumpinJackFarm]

Jayne... I enjoyed reading your post

:

Yes, when they are on the "defend" they'll will stomp anything :no:

Abbie is our only Donk we have ever had that does NOT like dogs!!!!!

It is my greatest fear of our dog "Hope" getting into the pasture when we are not home and she can't crawl through the fence fast enough whe Abbie comes charging. She normally stays out as she has gotten a taste of what Abbie likes to do. But just the other morning she followed me out to the pasture ( I had NO clue she was behind me) from going through the barn with their morning grub.

Oh MY!!!! the girls saw Breakfast with a dog complication

Let's just say... I don't think she will follow me anytime soon.

It must have been a sight me trying to keep between 3 Jenny's ...1 lil Jack & Hope

Hope was untouched ... thank God

: but she came soooo close. :no:

Be so careful with your Dogs & Donks

So funny about the Horse & Donkey encounter .... LOL... I am sure the horses think the Donks are a little off

:

 

[MeadowRidge Farm]

Teri, your right, it funny to watch just how they go about doing there protecting and guarding. With the bear incident , my jennys all went right up to the fence and would literally run along with the bear braying there BIG hearts out..its THERE pasture and NOTING is coming into it as far as they are concerned, .while my hinnys kept the mares at the opposite end of the dry lot..which is about 40' behind our house and next to the barn. The hinnys wouldn't let those mares out of "running range". I wish now I would of camcorded it, but I was to busy keeping a eye on what was going on, and hoping we wouldnt have to do the 3 s's to the bear (shoot, shovel, and shutup, which we didnt) The DNR told me donkey are about the best you can get. About 3 yrs ago, a friend who lives about 9 miles from me had a arabian killed by a bear. We do the best we can to protect our animals but nothing is going to be 100% positive. My donks will stomp anything in the pasture too, but yet protect foals like they were there own. YUP~~~ a few really good donkeys are definitely worth there weight in gold. My neighbors even put up with there braying...it alerts them as well, to watch there calves. This past summer we had bear in our back field which is about 15 acres behind our pasture area, they played and moved on down to our creek, drank, and went on there merry way. Never stopped to check out any of our horses or cattle, and the cattle were actually in the same field with them, but my donkeys did do there loud and impressive bray ...I guess to let them know they were watching... :bgrin who knows..but its working, and I wouldnt be without mine. Ce

 

[Chico]

My P.J. has a guard donkey attitude. He runs up to and along the fence when a coyote passes by. The horses stand next to him and the three do the foot stomping thing. Mac watches but he hides behind the pack. Once P.J. chased 2 or 3 coyotes down our street with the idea to get them. He's a sweet but tough little guy. I would never expect him to be a guard donkey however. He's a little guy with a big attitude but he couldn't stand up to a pack of coyotes on his own. I do have the idea he would try though. With their trusting/childlike hearts, they're just not good to be guard animals in my opinion. Oh, Mac's bray used to scare the horses. They couldn't believe how loud he could be. Now, they appreciate him as the dinner bell. Mac "sings" when it's time to eat and the horses have learned his "singing" is a good thing

chico

 

[MeadowRidge Farm]

If there is a PACK of dogs or coyotes, I really dont think any animal that is intended to guard would stand a chance. Donkeys are not bred to be guard animals some just have more of a guarding instinct in them then others. ( I have 4 out of 6 that will) I honestly do think its there extreamly loud and LONGGGGGGGGG bray that scares the cr*p out of any intruders, and the way they run the fenceline acting like they are 100 times there size. I have two here that could care less about anything, but they will chase the cats and stomp at them. Donkeys should never be bought with the whole idea of having them to protect a herd only. Corinne

 

[Rachel]

Thanks everyone for your help. I've taken in everyone's advice but still haven't decided for sure what I'm going to do...still weighing some options.

 

[Emily's mom]

:new_shocked: Wow!

I have never seen animals around our place not even a deer! Heard a few snorts from the horse and ears perked.

Not sure what my donkeys would do, do not want to find out!

Great stories with happy endings :aktion033:

 

[iluvwalkers]

[SIZE=14pt]got here late but my 2 cents...i think if you were looking for an alarm a donkey might work but to protect, my opinion is no, for many reasons. Nikki [/SIZE]

 

[Shari]

Donkeys are loud and bray...if you have close nieghbors it might not be the best thing.

Even standard size donkey's can be taken down by predators. At the old farm.. the farm down at the base of our hill.. had black faced sheep. Their large standard Donkey was taken out by a cougar and half of it eaten, along with two of the sheep killed.

Seen and heard of too many mini and standard donkey's getting killed because of predators.

To keep ones animals safe...good fencing is a must. If one wants to go the Large Standard donkey route make sure it is at least 4 years old...because baby donkeys can run the animals they are in with to death because they want to play. Jenny or a gelding that has been gelded for at least 5 months is best. They can protect against a dog or a coyote but no way can they hold their own against a pack or cougar that wants something to kill.

Remember too not all Donkey's will guard,,, some are scared of things like my Ella.. who will stand there and have the runs when the Elk show up... to others that will kill other animals.

Saying that... donkeys can be a lot of fun and most are very people friendly!!