# Tell me about your donkey experiences



## TennesseeMama23 (May 10, 2006)

I know some people have had donkeys kill goats. I know some people successfully have donkeys and goats together.

I want to know what makes the difference. If you have had a goat killer donkey, how old was your donkey when you introduced it to goats? Was it a jack/jenny/gelding?

IF you have a donkey that does great with goats, how old was your donkey when you introduced it to goats? Is your donkey also a pet that can be handled as you wish?

We have a new 6 month old standard jenny that was weaned 2 weeks ago. We put our goats in with her yesterday and she laid her ears back and started chasing them. We hurried and separated them. Dh put her back this evening and she chased them some. The goats are all now sleeping together in the shed, with her standing back away from them. She seems to only chase one when they separate from the rest.

She seems too aggressive toward them. From what I read, a lone weanling jenny should bond with them.

We got her for a pet, not guardian. We don't plan on them being together all the time, but need to have them together sometimes.

She is mostly gentle with us, she leads great, picks her feet up, likes petting. Only bad thing is she is mouthy and wants to get my hands in her mouth, I thump her nose and don't let her. She is mainly my 8yo dd's pet and the donkey is exceptional with her.

I want her to bond with us AND tolerate the goats.

Donkey Dynamics are complicated, I've learned.

I've posted all about her in the equine section, but thought I'd get some goat people's thoughts on donkey/goat situations.


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## Cannon_Farms (Aug 28, 2008)

do you have a couple of cattle panels? it helps if she can be close to them without being in with them. Just like any new animal all has to establish a pecking order and the jenny needs to have their respect for them to listen to her, however there is a fine line between earning respect and being to aggressive.
As far as her thinking, they are little beast un worthy of her company and shes still holding out for other equine company, she still will need some time.
I have had a total of 5 donkeys here, first one was great with every one but the buck, and at the time i had no way to seperate them and one was going to kill the other so i put them both up for sale and who ever sold first the other stayed and the donkey sold first, i was really attached to him, he was a full Jack.
second donkey came here while i had formentioned jack as an urgent rescue, she was fostered by a guy who passed away and his daughter refuses to give her back, but shes an awsome guardian.
3rd donkey a jack again, guy swore up and down he was good with goats, a week into the pasture he was picking up my big saanen doe and tossing her up in the air and trying to stomp her.

then i bought a jenny and a mule mare and the mule was too pushy with feed so she lives with a friends cows, and the jenny is starting to bond with the goats, but i kept them penned up next to the goats for a week before i turned them out and i believe thats what helped every one out.


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## TennesseeMama23 (May 10, 2006)

Do you think I should leave them together (assuming she isn't too violent with them tomorrow) for several weeks before I move her somewhere else? Just to get her used to them before she gets too old and even more dangerous?

Our plan WAS to keep Donk in with our new horse that will be here in 2 weeks. But she, in my opinion, needs to be able to get along with the goats in case I need to have them together. Or will she go through this again (meanness) if I separate them and put them back together? The goats will mainly share a fence line with the horse and donkey, but I don't like her attitude towards the goats and feel like she needs to learn while young to get along with the goats.

I guess what I'm asking is, will once she gets used to goats will she always get along with goats, or must she live with them forever to get along with them?

We turn the goats out most of the day to browse in our 100 acre field behind our house, but Donkey will stay in the pen, so it'll be daily introductions....


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## steff bugielski (Nov 10, 2003)

A few years ago I took in a border donkey. Full grown mini gelding. He went right in with the goats never a problem. A few years after that we got a young female mini she also went right in and never a problem. She had a foal this spring and he thinks he is a goat. They all are friendly towards people. I would not have it any other way.
All must follow the rules... there are only two here.
We have goats, sheep, llamas, alpacas, pigs, donkeys, turkeys, geese, ducks, chickens and a yearly calf. They all live together.

Rule #2 - Every body gets along
Rule #1 - Every body loves me.


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## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

What I'm seeing in the answers is that each donkey has a different personality, and the success of your donkey is dependent on *her* personality.


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## Cannon_Farms (Aug 28, 2008)

yes, my neighbor had a jack, he tried to ride the cows:shocked: and so he got ride of it and got a jenny, and she stole calves and the calves starved to death because the heifers couldnt get near their babies:awh:

Jacks are not the typical ideal animal, if you think about it would you put a stallion in there? the best farm animals have had their testicles removed. I think jennys are idea however they are know to steal babies or stomp them (any sex of donkey) because they are something strange. As a word of caution, separate any does about to kid until a week or two after they kid and some introductions can be made.

I run a donk in the inside and a dog on the outside as ive had worse luck with dogs and my goats than the donks and my goats. the llama was cute but useless


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## yarrow (Apr 27, 2004)

we have two mini donkeys ... A jenny & a gelded young jack... Evelyn is fine around the goats.. she mostly ignores them.. Howard however is a naughty teen-ager. He is fine in with the bucks, but even gelded likes to flirt & pinch the does when they are in heat ... he LOVES to see the shetland sheep fuzzbulls run and will pester them half to dead given the chance (also pulls wool if he can reach them thru the fence). The donkeys are here only as pets & lawn mowers. Howard is a love bug... everyone who comes to the farm ends up hugging and petting on him.. He & Evelyn live for peppermints. We have LGDs for protection. So, the donkeys spend their days up in the side area near the house.. when the goats/sheep come in for the night....the donkeys get turned out... The LGD and the donkeys really enjoy each other and spend a lot of time together. 

susie, mo ozarks


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## petaddict (Apr 10, 2009)

I bought a 4 year old pregnant jenny this summer. She was shy around people but in a short time I won her over. One week after I got her she had a little boy. The mom had been with goats before, so I was told (but not at the farm I got her from). I believe it because they get along wonderfully. It did take some time for them to get used to each other in the beginning. The goats were afraid of her and she let them know who was boss by swinging her head at them like she was going to bite them. I never saw her bite though. If I'm able to I'll take a video and post it on here of the donkeys with the goats. Both donkeys (the foal will be gelded in a few months) have bonded with my 2 wethers, one in particular. It's adorable to watch them interact. He stands on a big wooden spool and paws the Jenny's back. She keeps moving to different positions to have him scratch there. I can tell she's enjoying it. She even lets them sniff and nibble her ears unless they get too rough. The wether and the foal will hang out in a tiny stall and nudge each other's faces. That's what I want to catch on video. They're even pretty good at eating side by side. 

We haven't had kids yet with them so we'll have to work that out this spring. Good luck. I hope it works out for you.


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## suzyhomemaker09 (Sep 24, 2004)

It is all really a matter of personality and temperament.
See the guy in my sig pic....he was a fully intact jack when we got him at 2 years of age...when my does started cycling there were problems...he injured a doe by biting her tail. no killing behavior or anything but he did cause harm. We immediately scheduled his gelding...have never had any problem since.
He lives in my pasture with goats, both standard and minis ( was a mini_mancha on his back in the pic ) usually a beef calf and my poultry.


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## Creamers (Aug 3, 2010)

You best chance of success is to get mares or geldings, get very socialized donkeys that have been raised around goats and are very people friendly.
My two minis, though they aren't much for guards, are gelded and WOULD NEVER hurt a goat - they are very social with the goats. They do try to kill small dogs - lol!


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## steff bugielski (Nov 10, 2003)

A few years back, I had a goat kid in the barn as usual. The kids typically stay inside for a few days. This one must had fallen out of the barn into the pasture, not sure how. But my Mini gelded male donkey stood over the kid and screamed till I went out to see what was wrong. We had a Steer in the pasture at that time and the donkey was protecting the kid from the steer. As the kid would take a step so would the donkey keeping the kid under his belly the whole time.


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## TennesseeMama23 (May 10, 2006)

Just an update:

I've left all the goats (including babies) with Donkey since I posted this. They are all friends now and you can tell they like each other. I looked out yesterday and one of the babies was playing (biting and pulling) with Donkey's tail and jumping all around her, walking under her belly. Later I saw donkey eating at the hay bale and another baby on top of it jumping all round Donkey's face. 

She hasn't shown the slightest bit of aggression towards them since those first couple of days, they are all happily getting along.


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## petaddict (Apr 10, 2009)

That's great. Did you take pictures or videos?


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