WHAT ARE DONKEYS GOOD FOR?

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By Abigail Curtis LAST UPDATED OCT 25, 2018
Donkeys can be stubborn, but they are also intelligent, attentive animals that are good draft animals, guardians for other animals and more.
A visitor to the Gaughan's Berry Farm in Caribou, Maine, feeds Wilbur the donkey
on Thursday. | Anthony Bruno
When small-scale livestock farmer Rose Rapp first got donkeys seven years ago, she hoped they would guard her flock of sheep from predators.
What she didn’t expect was that she would quickly start to love them for who they were, not just for what they could do for the farm.
“I always enjoyed horses, but at the same time, I always found them to be incredibly high maintenance and flighty,” the Morrill, Maine, a woman said recently. “That’s not what donkeys are. They’re really cool. They like to hang out with you, they like to go on walks with you. They follow you around. My farrier said, ‘You know, Rose, you basically have long-eared dogs. Grass-eating dogs.’”
In short, Rapp is one of the Americans who have discovered that donkey ownership is for them. Donkeys, a member of the horse family, have been domesticated for around 5,000 years. They have long been used as pack animals and for draft work in agriculture and more, but these days, some folks are deciding that the donkey’s intelligence and attentiveness are making them suitable as pasture pets, as a guardian for livestock and sometimes as a companion for horses. Donkeys may have a reputation for being obstinate and noisy, but that is far from the whole story, their fans assert.
“Donkeys can be incredibly stubborn,” Rapp said. “The difference is, if you create a relationship with them that’s based on respect, they will do just about anything for you.”
How to choose a pet donkey
Rose Rapp with her pet donkeys at Farmetta Farm in Maine. She and her husband Wes Soper decided to close down the farm because of challenges in the business and their personal lives. | Gabor Degre
According to the American Donkey and Mule Society, people should be choosy about selecting their pet donkeys. An intact male donkey, called a jack, is not the right choice for a pet, they said. Jacks can be too rough on livestock and have been known to kill the animals they are meant to protect.
Get a jennet [female] or gelding, and if you do not really have a lot of prior horse/ equine experience, you probably want to start with an older animal, before you go through the joys of learning about donkeys and babies at the same time!” the society wrote on its website.
The group also urged people interested in donkeys as livestock guardians to get a mature animal that is at least three years old, as younger ones are still growing in both mind and body. Standard, not miniature, donkeys are recommended for guard duty.
Rapp said that her donkeys have been great guard animals.
“They protect the flock from coyotes and foxes. They’ll crush their skulls,” she said. “They’ll either stomp with their front hooves or kick with their back hooves. If a coyote’s too close, and it gets in the way of those back hooves, they get crushed.”
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