Donkey being aggressive toward other donkey

[usserys]

I hope someone has some suggestion! I saw where someone had suggested the website www.lovelongears.com and I do plan to check it out. Thought I would check here first.
I have never had a donkey so all of this is new to me. I have a friend who gave me two donkeys - one a regular size female and the other a mini male. We got the female first as the male does not like to be caught, so even though they were pastured together it was several weeks before we could get the mini. I might also say they were best friends at their other home.

The female donkey was just so loving when she got here - and she loved attention. She was gentle and easy going. When we got the mini there didn’t seem to be a problem until we tried to bond with him. He was a rescue and was skittish when he got here so I began to try to gain his trust. He was not abused previously so there was no issue there but I think he was not as used to human interaction as the female was. Everything was going ok until the female seemed to resent us trying to interact with the male and she would run him off. She is definitely the head and doesn’t seem to want to share any of her attention. I have not seen her being aggressive when they are in the field alone together nor when they are eating together. He does seem to want to bond with us but we don’t know how to handle the other donkey. Any suggestions?

 

[Baymule]

Donkeys sure are notional. I had a jack donkey and a horse gelding that hated each other-if I was around. Otherwise they were best friends. Go figure. Donkeys are brilliant smart, smarter than people it seems sometimes. LOL This will take time and patience. Can you pen the jenny up separately? Or at least pen the male? Then you could shower her with attention, then spend time showing him that you are not a monster that east little donkeys, then back to her, reassuring her.
One question, is he a jack in full possession of his testicals? If so, she may be coming into heat and is aggressive. If he is a jack, get him gelded as soon as possible.

 

[Kusanar]

Ok, sounds like she is resource guarding, which is the exact same behavior as a dog being food aggressive or attacking if you get too close to his favorite toy. In this case, you are the toy, and the male (Jack) is the one getting too close.

Donkeys behave a lot closer to dogs than to horses in that all animals are fight or flight animals and horses will run first and fight if trapped, donkeys will fight first and run if that doesn't work.

I agree that you should pen her up separately so you can handle both safely. Do you have stalls? If you have stalls or 2 fields that share a gate, toss a feed pan in one of them, put a little grain (like a handful) in there and let the female (Jenny) run in there then shut the gate, you can now safely work with the jack in peace and she will go willingly because she gets a treat.

 

[usserys]

Thanks so much for your input. He is gelded and right now they share one pasture with no way to separate them. My son does plan to build some feed stalls and a connecting pasture but that doesn’t help for the moment but I can at least look forward to when it happens!! 😆

 

[Kusanar]

Thanks so much for your input. No, he is not gelded and right now they share one pasture with no way to separate them. My son does plan to build some feed stalls and a connecting pasture but that doesn’t help for the moment but I can at least look forward to when it happens!! 😆

Ok, can you tie them? That is, are they trained to be tied? If so, plant a post in the field (don't use a fence post in case it gets broken or pulled out) and tie the female up, same idea, take some gain out there or some treats, catch her, love on her some, take her to the post, tie her up, give her the grain or treats and leave her there while you work with him. Once she learns the drill, she should be happy to come to you to be tied up knowing she will be loved on and given treats.

Never forget, her behavior in chasing him away while you are in the field is dangerous, not for him, but you could get caught in the middle and flattened, kicked, bitten or any number of things. Please be careful. My horses and I have a deal where if I am a certain distance from them then fighting and playing is not allowed so I don't get squished, they can do what they want on the other end of the field but not right up on top of me.

Edit to add.. oops, I misread and thought it said he wasn't gelded... ignore the last paragraph... Reading while working isn't always great...

Also, do you want baby donkeys? Because if you don't geld that male that's what you are going to get. I'm not someone that thinks that all uncastrated males are dangerous or bad (I have a stallion myself) but I would not recommend that someone that isn't experienced with horses or donkeys have ungelded males especially with females around. A well trained (and training never stops, the person that handles daily needs to reinforce that training daily) stallion is no harder to handle or more dangerous than a gelding, but someone that doesn't know how to train and isn't familiar with the body language and behaviors of the species can get into some really bad trouble really fast.

 

[thistlebloom]

Is it possible to get some livestock corral panels (4)? That would be the most secure and easiest way to separate IMO.
I agree that you won't make progress until they can be separated.

 

[Simpleterrier]

I had a jack that was all there and two young stud horses they were best of friends. Then I went and got the horses gelded and I broke them to ride. And it was a drag out fight from then on. The jack would get out and start a fight Everytime. Or the gelding would get out and run over and fight. I got rid of the gelding. Then got rid of the jack. He loved his attention and I had two small kids. Jack's don't forget nothing and they seem to enjoy the fight.

 

[Baymule]

Cowpanels make an instant pen. Gosh, I love those things! Half a cow panel and some clips makes a gate!