Donkeys - Anything I need to know? :P Inherited Two I think

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Tierra

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As some know, we went to look round a house last week. The place appealed to us as its a renovated farm with stables and grazing.

When we nosied around the stables, i found two donkeys sharing one box. Very cute; a lil boy and a lil girl.

Ive always liked donkeys but admit to being pretty clueless about them. Myself and my OH were discussing the option of going and adopting a small pony from a rescue place, as a companion for jack when we move. While i do intend on looking for a youngster, thats not anything i want to rush and Im not keeping him on his own.

So.... the agent called about half an hour ago; asking my OH if we wanted two donkeys in with the sale of the house. Fiance of course said yes
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Anything i should know? :P We have plenty of grazing so barring awful weather, they'll be out a few hours every day.
 
They love eating straw, and as previously said, they need access to shelter all the time due to not being waterproof! And take good care of their feet, they get thrush easily if on wet bedding and mud, and seedy toe too! Oh, and they love ginger nut biscuits!
 
First page i found was from redwings stating that providing all are kept correctly wormed and vaccinated (which of course they will be), then its ok.

Anyone got any experience of keeping them together? Im pretty sure the first time one brays, jack will nearly die, but im hoping he'll adjust
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There are 2 shetlands that happily share with 2 donkeys near me. And our feed shop has a donkey living out with a couple of their ponies. My mare always drags me over to say hello to the donkeys! My old gelding was terrified of them though, and despite seeing them nearly every day never got over his fear, which made for some 'interesting hacks
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Didn't someone on here keep their horse with a donkey last year? I think it was KJFIN, so might be worth PMing her
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The offer has been accepted but we're waiting for 100% confirmation from the bank. We wont know for sure til tuesday (the waiting is horrible)

Im hoping they'll make decent enough companions for jack although im slightly worried now tbh! :P
 
The first time my mum's (very brave and bold) horse met a donkey that we looked after for a few weeks she was so scared she tried to climb out the back of her stable when we unloaded him LOL

They were fine in the end but we only had him a few weeks. The first time I heard him bray I though he was having some kind of fit as they work up into it!
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Oh poor jack
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i dont think hes going to be happy about my plans for companionship
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Get him the rescue pony as well... and a goat whilst you're at it
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Sounds like a fabulous place you're getting.
 
Donkeys make lovely companions, so if your horse will accept them you won't need another equine. My boy used to be afraid of donks but he gets on with his donkey companion like a house on fire!

Lungworm is not a problem any more if they are all properly wormed. Donks aren't waterproof as others have said so they will need a shelter or rugs. They also like to browse as opposed to just grazing so will tidy up your paddocks for you! They will need their feet trimming every 6-8 weeks, and a dentist visit once a year and oat straw is a nice treat for them.

Hope you enjoy your donks and feel free to PM me if you have any questions.
 
They will need 'carpets' and these can sometimes be expensive as donkeys tend to be funny shapes (or possible that was just ours!)

Watch them for impaction colic - ours was a nightmare and was always suffering - we found cod liver oil and prunes helped to keep him 'regular'

As long as you worm correctly then I don't see the lungworm as a problem. Our donk lived with the ponies for 3 years and we never had a problem. Their feet are different to horses so make sure your farrier is happy trimming donkeys feet.

They are great animals and I'm sure once Jack has met them he will be fine. Some horses do have a donkey phobia - its great fun when you are at a show with your donk - we sent the sidesaddle class at Great Yorkshire flying when Johnny started braying!!!
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Awww poor Jack. He will get over it though, only took ours about half an hour before they were all happy.

I liked looking after him, he was just a baby at the time and so sweet
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Everyone loved him, they even held a donkey class at our little RC show one year so that he could go!
 
I used to be on a yard with a couple of donkeys, that grazed out with ponies. Mine had never seen donkeys before we went there but accepted them without any concerns - and believe me if there was ever an overbred pony that needed no excuse to explode she was it.
 
I'm a pretty recent donkey-owner too - I had great help from HHO member Donkeymad, and from the Donkey Breed Society forum that she administers.

I too was worried about lungworm but Equest wormers deal with it and I gather it's not the problem it used to be. My two horses had never been with a donkey before but they bonded within a few days, were never scared of him even when he brayed, and now treat him like a pet!

As has been said, they're not waterproof but mine is well rugged up (www.dinkyrugs.com has great rugs) and doesn't bother with his shelter. He does like ginger biscuits!

He was a colt when I got him - but we had to sort that pretty quickly as he showed very 'stallion-like' tendencies even with humans ...

Good luck!
 
Oh that sounds much more positive! I was starting to get a little bit panicy
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Im kind assuming that he will be scared of them, but also assuming that he'll get used to them tbh
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They seem ideal for jack because horses bully him like crazy and, atm, hes always turned out alone - it got to the point where he was injured more than not when in company and i just cant cope with that.

I'll most likely get them a couple of light weight turnout rugs to solve the wet problem and im hoping my current farrier will be more inclined to keep shoeing jack if he gets some extra cash for trimming the donkies
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Thats what im hoping. I know it sounds awful to keep him on his own, but in the space of 3 months he had a punctured tendon sheath, staples in his hind leg, concussion (after being chased and eventually, quite literally, falling on his head) and nearly lost half his tongue after another horse bit it.

Hes 16 now and i cant have him beaten up all the time. Hoping these two might be the perect solution all round
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I'm sure he'll soon get used to them. We just kept our horse and donk separated for 24 hrs with electric fencing and then turned them out together - no problem. Sorry to hear about your horse being bullied, I think donks would be ideal for him.

I bought a 4ft Masta foal rug for our donk and it fits him perfectly and was only 35.00. Just a pity it's bright purple - poor boy!
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Tierra, if you have any questions please feel free to contact me. bertie's_mum, don't feed oat straw, it has too many calories for donkeys, feed what straw. Shires Typhoon rugs fir donkeys extremely well, but not the other shires rugs. I personally found a Foal Masta rug too short, but they all differ.
Too many othe points to mention right now, but Lungworm is NOT a problem with donks these days.
Also Tierra, as has been mentiones, I run the Donkey Breed Society Forum board and you will always get good help and advice there, plus information from the main part of the website. www.donkeybreedsociety.co.uk
 
The riding school where I helped as a child had a donkey. It lived with a group of ponies / horses although it had one particular mare that was his friend. He used to be tied up inside with this mare during the working day (the horses were stalled by day at weekends) and he would sometimes give rides. He lived for years dear old chap - he loved oranges.
 
I've kept a donkey with ponies for 21 years, as long as you worm regularly lungworm shouldn't be a problem. They will def need a shelter or rugs, as they get really waterlogged if out in the rain. Would think your boy will accept them as long as you introduce him gradually. Murph is a real bully in the field but lets the donkey do anything, he (the donkey) frequently bites Murphs knees!
 
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