We welcomed 2 mini donkey geldings ( 3 & 4 years old) this past Sat. Nice boys at first and now things have gone south.
One of them, the one who seemed to be low man in the pecking order of the two has started trying to bite.
We're not new to donkeys but this is a new issue for us.
First, I noticed he seems to have a bit of difficulty eating his hay. On Monday I picked up a bag of 12% protein pelleted horse feed. I always fed this to my other donkeys. 1/4 cup, 2 X a day.
I noticed that he loses feed when he's eating. Just like a horse would do when they need their teeth floated. (I've made an appt. with an equine dentist). Possibly its an issue with baby teeth but I'll find out.
This was also the day the biting started. My husband was reaching over the fence scratching his butt when he swung around, ears pinned and tried to bite.
Since then the behavior has gotten worse each day with him actually coming after me tonight when I walked in the barn with their hay.
Now I'm just sick with stress and worry about what I'm in for tomorrow morning. I won't hesitate to give him a good crack and go psycho on him but I'm going to hate doing it. Plus, will I scare the other one who isn't a problem?
Could tooth problems be making him crabby? Should I stop the feed?
One of them, the one who seemed to be low man in the pecking order of the two has started trying to bite.
We're not new to donkeys but this is a new issue for us.
First, I noticed he seems to have a bit of difficulty eating his hay. On Monday I picked up a bag of 12% protein pelleted horse feed. I always fed this to my other donkeys. 1/4 cup, 2 X a day.
I noticed that he loses feed when he's eating. Just like a horse would do when they need their teeth floated. (I've made an appt. with an equine dentist). Possibly its an issue with baby teeth but I'll find out.
This was also the day the biting started. My husband was reaching over the fence scratching his butt when he swung around, ears pinned and tried to bite.
Since then the behavior has gotten worse each day with him actually coming after me tonight when I walked in the barn with their hay.
Now I'm just sick with stress and worry about what I'm in for tomorrow morning. I won't hesitate to give him a good crack and go psycho on him but I'm going to hate doing it. Plus, will I scare the other one who isn't a problem?
Could tooth problems be making him crabby? Should I stop the feed?