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| The following is my recommendation for feeding, breeding and maintaining donkeys. It is a recommendation only and should not be considered professional advice. Author is not a veterinarian and accepts no responsibility for any ill effects that could occur as a result of following this guide. It is always recommended to consult your local veterinarian or an equine specialist (preferably one with knowledge of donkeys). ~ jar ~ |
What's so special about breeding donkeys? They have been doing it all on their own so why should people get involved? . In order to manage donkeys professionally and properly we should learn about what makes them unique. The utmost importance should be placed on not only the safety and health of the animals being bred but on the handlers as well. The breeders thoroughness and attention to detail is what will help determine whether the breeding program will be safe as well as successful in the long term or not. You should have a safe area set aside for in hand breeding. Usually will be the jacks pen. It should have good soft footing and solid boards or panels (no wire fencing). Outside distractions should be kept to a minimum.
When the jennets are ready they indicate they are in heat by mouthing (opening the mouth wide and making exaggerated chewing motions while laying back the ears as well as posturing and urinating frequently). This is love language to the jack, letting him know that the lady is interested. The first time the uninitiated person is confronted with a mouthing jennet is usually very startling, as they don't know WHY she is behaving in such an odd way. Mares certainly don't mouth like that. Horse foals, however, do this bubble gum chewing behavior to adult horses. This mouthing gesture might have evolved to be some sort of submission signal from the jennet to the jack to inhibit his natural territorial aggression.
Mares can be identified to their heat cycles with a teaser (usually a pony stallion) or by ultrasound by a veterinarian. They normally don't show heat signs of urination and winking (blinking of the vulva) unless talking with a male of their own kind (mares often will not show signs of heat to a jack). Often a teasing panel is created so that the teaser stallion and mare can talk with each other over a barrier but not interact or injure one another.
The jack should be led in calmly, and should be controlled safely in hand. A nose chain or even a stud chain ran through the mouth should be used. Also a muzzle to keep him from biting. If he suddenly got out of control, at least with a muzzle on he couldn't not grip or do any permanent damage with his teeth either to the jennet or handler. Whether the jennet is put in breeding hobbles is a personal choice of the breeder. It would be recommended that all mares are either put in hobbles or a breeding chute since it is not natural for them to stand for male of a different species and they could seriously injure your jack.
The jack should be allowed to mount only when he is dropped and ready, sometimes this can take a long time, as jacks seem to need time to ponder and think about what they want to do. Trying to hurry them along does not work. He should not be allowed to rough up his potential mate (a jack has to two basic drives: to mate and to dominate. As a handler you must learn to recognize which behavior is manifesting itself and how to respond appropriately) and should be a gentleman at all times.
There are several good horse breeding management books out that can
certainly go over the nitty gritty details of safe breeding management
and details of breeding. Cleanliness, safety and not contaminating
your jack, jennet or mares is what determines the fertility and long term running
of your breeding operation:
For technical information: Breeding Management & Foal Development by Equine Research (order through your local book store)Heat detection is not usually a problem with jennets, they are usually very evident and can be quite the hussies - demanding attention from the jack, geldings and even other jennets. You will see like cows, that jennets will mount each other if no jacks are present. There are jennets and mares that are silent, that do not show heat and these will test your powers of observation. You should also have your jennets or mares examined and ultrasounded by your veterinarian, especially after one or two heat cycles have produced no pregnancy. It's only by his examination that you can determine whether the jennet is ovulating or not. Some can go through a heat cycle but will not produce a viable ovum or have an existing infection and continual covering will just contaminate her and possibly ruin her fertility for life. Continual breeding will not make her pregnant if there is an existing problem.The Donkey Breeders Handbook, which can be obtained through the American Donkey and Mule Society / HeeHaw Book Service, PO Box 1210, Lewisville TX 75067 *(972) 219-0781, fax (972) 420-9980
Requesting a uterine biopsy and culture is a very practical and money saving regimen. If your jennet is infertile, it's better to know this prior to spending non-refundable money on shipping, boarding or even breeding fees. This testing is also not outrageous to ask for jennets coming in to be bred to your jack. You are first of all protecting your jack and your farm, you eliminate possible infections and chance of contamination of equine venereal diseases from a dirty jennet. Why risk ruining your jack on a jennet that might be infertile anyway?
If you are taking your jennet to another farm ask if Coggins testing (EIA) is required for all animals entering the premises. If they do not require it, then maybe you shouldn't entrust your jennets life (and the rest of your stock at home) with a breeder that doesn't value his own stock or is ignorant of the danger. You should also require this on animals coming to your property regardless if you are in an area that hasn't had an outbreak. The mobility of animals traveling now a days, location is no longer a safe bet.
]n hand vs. pasture breeding There are many breeders that pasture breed. They let nature take it's course, and it's agreed that it is less labor intensive and more natural for all involved. But the jack will cover the jennet more frequently on his own (normally in hand breeding will cover her every other day until the jennet or mare is out of heat), leading to more chance of contamination, more chance of the jennet or mare being roughed up and injured and of the jack getting hurt. If more than two jennets or mares cycle at the same time, there could be a chance of one being ignored in lieu of the jacks favorite. Also if the jennet or mare has a foal at side, the horror of jack attacking a foal is always there, it does happen. If you have outside jennets or mares, it is very foolish to just turn her out with a herd of strange animals. You want to be able to protect your breeding fee's and return the animal in the same condition as they were presented to you (hopefully pregnant though). There is no control or safety with outside animals with pasture breeding. If you are interested in shipping cooled semen, your jack needs to be pretty consistent with in hand breeding to be able to collect and get the semen flown out on time. That is why training the jack to breed in hand is so important. It protects everyone, the jennets, mares and the jacks and one can easily pinpoint breeding dates more accurately. In hand breeding can be worth the extra effort as it will protect all your assets.
1996-2007 by Jeanine A. Rachau.