Farm Animals

DONKEY

We have two DONKEYS at the farm: 

Jake and Buddy

Jake is a 14 year old Standard Donkey. He is a big, strong guy and loves broccoli and cabbage leaves for snacks. Jake likes to be scratched on his neck and side but please don’t touch his mouth! He might think little fingers are carrots!

Buddy is a Miniature Donkey.  He is only 2 years old and is very friendly.  His best friend is Daisy.

Christopher Columbus brought the first donkeys to the new world in 1495.

Donkeys are used as guardians for sheep, companions for horses, farm work and riding.

Donkeys have many wild cousins that live in the western part of the U.S. The word “burro” is used west of the Mississippi and the word “donkey” is used to the east.

Donkeys come in many coat colors, but most  are gray with light muzzles and eye “rings”. We all have long dark eye lashes. Some donkeys have a cross on their backs.

A male donkey is called a Jack.

A female is called a Jennet.

A baby is a foal.

 I have a raspy, brassy voice: Aw-EE, Aw-EE!        I can be very loud at feeding time.

 

Facts about Donkeys: 

Donkeys ears are MUCH longer in proportion to their size than a horse’s. The necks are characteristically straighter and most donkeys and all zebras lack a true wither. The croup and rump are also a different shape in the donkey and it’s hybrids, lacking the double-curve muscled haunch. The back is straighter due to the lack of withers.

The mane and tail in the donkey are coarse. The mane is still and upright, rarely laying over, and the tail is more like a cow's, covered with short body hair for most of the length, and ending in a tasseled switch. Donkeys do not have a true forelock, although sometimes the mane grows long enough to comb down between the ears toward the eyes. Because the mane is stiff and sometimes flyaway, many donkeys, especially show stock, wear their manes clipped short or shaved close to the neck.

The ass was domesticated by the Egyptians about 4000 BC; it is more surefooted than the horse, which makes it better on mountain trails. It also lives longer than the horse—generally from 25 to 50 years. The African wild ass can run up to 50 km/h (up to 30 mph).

In the United States the donkey has been used as a beast of burden and for the breeding of mules, which are hybrids produced by mating mares and jackasses (see Mule). Small donkeys, or burros, played a major role as pack animals in opening up the western United States.

Information provided courtesy of the American Donkey and Mule Association.