Are donkeys the right animal for you?

coat because i'm so smart [Music] hi everybody my name is victoria schroeder and i'm here with chip at the long hop donkey shelter today we're going to talk about a very common question that we get all the time are donkeys the right fit for my family it's over here check out my notes right here hi so in this video we're going to go over a few different things that you should know about donkeys before thinking about adding them to your family donkeys are companion animals a lot of people like to get donkeys as a horse companion and in some cases that is okay if the donkey has never really been around other donkeys and they do have a preference of horses over donkeys but in most cases donkeys like to be with other donkeys and they should be with other donkeys they thrive together they play with each other they eat together they provide emotional support to one another they protect each other from predators and that is what's best for them if you're thinking about adding a donkey to your herd start thinking about adding two donkeys to that herd once they're bonded they don't want to be apart from each other and should not be separated the separation of a burro bond can cause serious emotional distress that could get them to stop eating or become lethargic and that could be a serious health problem and a very expensive vet bill once you know you're ready to add two donkeys to your herd the next thing is figuring out if you have enough space for them we recommend at least one acre of fenced pasture per equine that you own that is so that the donkeys can stimulate some grazing it does not mean that their grazing animals and should be on pasture 24 7. they usually end up overweight and with laminitis issues having the fence crowd like the one you see in this video attached to their barn is best for them so that they have access to the barn 24 7 and they can remain in the corral where there's no food if you have a loafing shed big enough for your horse that may work for your horse but it may not be enough space for donkeys if the weather is bad enough the horse is gonna try to go inside of the loafing shed but most of the time the donkeys will feel a little bit intimidated to go in there and will not even try donkey's coats are not permeable so if they get wet they have a high chance of getting sick if the temperatures are really low having an extra loafing shed or a stall or an area where the donkeys can actually go in and stay 100 away from the weather is best another really important thing to know is if your horse likes donkeys a lot of horses have never been around donkeys and they are different animals they have different personalities different instincts and they react differently also they have different needs the way that you care for a horse is different than the way that you care for your donkey i know that failure trims seem pretty similar but the way that you trim a donkey is different i did a video on that a few weeks ago so you should check that out first for adopters that are looking for a horse companion we usually have them bring their horse here just to see how their horse deals with all of the donkeys at long hopes it makes us feel good that the donkeys get along with the horse and it makes it easier for the horse and not so stressful donkeys need a lot of attention they miss you if you're gone if you're too busy to spend a few hours every day with your donkeys then they may not be the right fit for you they also need enrichment they need toys they need something to keep them occupied while they're inside of their paddocks all day if they get bored inside of their paddock it's very common for them to start biting your barn or trying to play with something that you may not want them to get into and they may even figure out how to get out of their paddocks a lot of people like to get one donkey and put it as a guard with other livestock they sometimes put them with goats or sheep a goat or a sheep or a pig are not adequate buddies for a donkey a donkey's not going to be able to practice sexual behavior with a go or a llama or a sheep or a pig a donkey should always be with at least one other donkey together they would be great guards they could guard a lot of other livestock always remember though that they have different nutritional needs than your cows or goats or sheep and so making sure they have a paddock in their own chorale and barn it's going to be really good for their well-being donkeys will not get rem sleep if they're alone the only time that a donkey gets rem sleep it's when it lays down and the only way that they'll do this is if they feel safe to do so they feel safe when there is at least one other donkey that's keeping watch for any predators while they're taking a nap a well-rested donkey is going to be a great guard for you but the only way that you're going to achieve this is if you have a pair of donkeys owning donkeys is a very important and long commitment donkeys can live up to 50 years you have to be able to lift and carry bales of hay that could weigh up to 30 pounds you have to ask yourself can i bend over can i carry 30 pounds can i push a full wheelbarrow through a paddock full of snow and not only can you just do it but can you do it every day for more than 10 15 20 years the best way to find a good fit for you is thinking about your age and the age of the donkey since donkeys can live up to 50 years and they're very sturdy animals meaning they don't really get sick very often if you get a donkey that's 15 years old they still may have 15 20 25 years left of life where they would still need all of this care every day the best thing is finding an animal that can live the rest of its life at home with you donkeys also need medical care just like the rest of the pets at home do they do need vaccinations deworming and they need hoof care at least every 10 to 12 weeks a lot of people forget about this but just like your dogs at home need a dental every few years donkeys need dentals too at least every two years feeding them providing them water and even giving them attention is not necessarily enough keeping up with that medical care is going to ensure that they live really healthy lives and as i mentioned before if anything were to happen where you no longer can take care of your donkeys and you need to re-home them making sure that they received the medical care all those years is going to make it easier to find them a good home it's really important to make sure that the entire family is committed to adding donkeys to your herd if only half of the family wants donkeys and the other half is not really convinced it may be a good idea to have a few family meetings before you decide to take the next step having the whole family on board is going to make it easier to divide the workload between all of you to take care of your donkeys donkeys are easy keepers for the most part but it is possible that they'll have an emergency at least once in their lifetime and you have to be prepared for that bit bills especially emergency visits are not cheap are you able to financially support the needs of your donkey even on an emergency so you've decided you want donkeys now and you can do most of their care but if you have neighbors that live really close to your home they may not appreciate the loud praying at two in the morning or the smell of their manure piling up if you live in a covenant or an hoa they may have very strict rules that will not allow you to have donkeys there or they may have rules that allow donkeys but be aware if the donkeys are an issue for your neighbors you may be asked to get rid of them if your neighbors have their dogs running around the donkeys that may not be a good fit dogs resemble coyotes and coyotes are one of their predators so donkeys usually don't feel comfortable around coyotes and they usually get very nervous and scared taking care of donkeys is a big responsibility and you have to make sure that you have enough time to do it every single day i hope this video gave you a good insight to decide if donkeys are the right animal for you you know you can always reach out to us with any questions please subscribe to our channel to never miss another donkey video i hope you guys have a brave all day you

Channel: Longhopes Donkey Shelter

Views: 69,549

Rating: 4.9288888 out of 5

Keywords: iMovie

Id: _9uAhZ5-wDc

Length: 9min 51sec (591 seconds)

Published: Sat Dec 05 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/Tech-52]

Short answer, yes, long answer, yes.

[u/blufsh77]

Thank you for the amazing insight! Had no idea!!

[u/Beneficial_Jelly_465]

Excellent informative video to give them a good healthy long life. My neighbor has one donkey that has lived alone for at least 20 years. He is very old. How does he sleep? I feel so bad for this donkey now. Is it too late to get him a younger donkey partner? Or another older donkey buddy? He isn’t even my donkey so I don’t even know what I could do.. do you think the donkey would want my love and attention?

[u/fermat1432]

Chip is such a sweetheart!