We've all seen them, they're some of the most common questions in new donkey message boards and social media groups: breeding and reproduction in donkeys. These typically take the form of one of the following:
Is my jennet pregnant/how can I tell if my jennet is pregnant?
How do I prepare for a new baby?
Should I geld my new jack?
Should I breed my [insert animal here]?
My fence failed/animals got out, my jack may have bred my jennet, what do I do?
Can I house my jacks together?
My jack is acting aggressive, will gelding him help?
How long do I keep my new gelding apart from my jennets?
These questions can all be a bit overwhelming to new owners, especially those who have purchased an animal from an auction, sale barn, or kill pen and have no information on the animal's history. But no worries! All these questions have answers, and we're here to help.
"Is my jennet pregnant" or "how do I tell if my jennet is pregnant?"
The most conclusive way to determine a pregnancy is via ultrasound or blood test. However, it's important your vet be familiar with donkeys, as some blood tests such as Pregnant Mare Serum Gonadotropin (PSMG) cannot be used in donkeys, and others, such as Estrone Sulfate tests may give false negatives in late stage pregnancy. Your vet may therefore choose to do both blood tests and imaging to determine of your animal is bred, and how far along they are.
Of course, there are other visible signs your animal is pregnant. A large belly is the most apparent, but a belly can also be the result of parasites or poor nutrition, or a large belly may be hidden under fat pads in the case of obese animals. A milk-filled udder, generally known as "bagging up" is a good indicator of late stage pregnancy and impending birth, but edema and some parasite or fly issues can also cause swelling of the mammary tissues. A lopsided or moving belly typically indicates the presence of a foal as well.
"How do I prepare for a new baby?"
A few steps can be taken to ensure you are ready for a new arrival:
Work with a vet. Vaccines will need to be administered to the jennet prior to foaling to ensure mom and baby are as protected as possible from disease. Your vet can also give you nutrition recommendations to support a growing foal and pregnant or nursing jenny. Most importantly, it's essential to have a relationship with a vet in case something goes amiss with the birth or shortly after. Vets typically do not wish to respond to emergency calls from people who are not established patients.
Study, study, study! Look up all you can about foaling from reputable sources such as American Association of Equine Practitioners, and various veterinary schools. No, it doesn't need to be specific to donkeys, horse foaling is similar enough to help you avoid common pitfalls such as what to do when your foal is not up and nursing in the proper timeframe, and when to call the vet.
Have supplies and a basic foaling kit on hand. Lists for what to stock in a foaling kit can be easily found online. If your jennet is due to foal in the winter or if there's a chance of cold weather, make sure you have purchased or acquired a foal saver blanket. The middle of the night in a snow or rain storm is not the time to be trying to acquire a way to keep a new baby warm. If you end up not using it you can always resell it.
Prepare your foaling space. Whether this is a stall, paddock, or pasture with a shelter, make sure they have an area that is safe from predators, AND other donkeys. Donkeys will routinely kill new foals that are not their own, especially if in a confined space. Make sure there is shelter from inclement weather, and dry areas. Ensure there is safe fencing and water containers. Little legs can often get their owner into trouble by tripping and falling into fences and water troughs, and this could result in the death of a newborn foal. Ensure there is ample space for the jennet to labor and move about once the baby is born. It's not uncommon for new mothers to step on their babies and break legs, or kill the babies if the mothers do not have enough room to safely return to their feet after foaling. This is typically a problem in enclosed barn stalls. If you are mostly in sand, as many of us are in Arizona, be sure to put down ample bedding straw so your jenny doesn't ingest too much sand while cleaning and drying her foal.
"Should I geld my new jack?"
The short answer? Yes.
If you are a new owner, and are asking this question of a message board, the reality is you are likely not equipped at this point in your ownership journey to safely keep a jack, nor evaluate it for breeding suitability. The best thing you can do for you, and your donkey, is to geld them. There are, however, some considerations to when and how you geld your jack:
Work with a vet who is familiar with donkeys. The two main concerns when gelding jacks are that donkeys react differently than horses to anesthesia, and donkeys have a more substantial blood supply to the testicles, making them more prone to bleeding. A vet knowledgeable in donkeys can correct for both of these realities to ensure a safe procedure. A vet will also likely want to ensure your animal is up to date on all vaccines prior to gelding, and may choose to use the time under anesthesia to complete other needed healthcare activities such as hoof trims and dentals.
Choose the correct weather. Most vets will caution against gelding in the peak of summer. Flies are a bigger problem, bothering incisions and causing stress and discomfort to your donkey, and hot weather causes blood vessels to dilate and increase their bleeding risk.
Consider a veterinary hospital or clinic. Especially if your animal is older, or there is a reason you must geld your donkey in the summer, you may consider having the procedure done in a clinic setting where there are greater support staff and materials available, as well as possible climate control.
"Should I breed my animal?"
The short answer? "No."
As with the question above, there are many reasons we say this, the primary being if you have to ask the internet, you aren't ready for this part of your ownership journey. However, there are several more reasons:
Overpopulation. As with most pet species, there are far more animals than there are good homes. A donkey can live 45+ years, do you have a plan to keep this offspring in good care for 45 years?
Bloodlines and conformation: is your donkey of breeding quality? The answer, for minis and mammoths especially, is typically no. There are quite a lot of conformational flaws in sizes at both ends of the spectrum that do not need to be continued on. Additionally if you don't know your animal's bloodlines and history, you have no idea what type of congenital defects it may carry.
Have they been evaluated as breeding sound by a veterinarian? This includes not just conformationally, but also have they received a clean bill of health free from any sexually transmitted infections? These types of illnesses can be especially prevalent in animals who went through a sale barn.
Do you have funds to cover an emergency situation and a vet or clinic available to assist with any sort of foaling issues? If not, it's much safer to not breed.
Are you willing to risk your jenny? As with all pregnancies and births, there is a mortality risk for the jennet and foal. This is, once more, especially true in minis and maiden animals. If you aren't willing to risk losing your animal, don't breed them.
My fence failed/animals got out, my jack may have bred my jennet, what do I do?
Whether your fence failed, someone else's fence failed (don't forget, donkeys can and will breed through a pipe or rail fence, and will breed animals of wildly different sizes. Jennies and mares have been known to lay down to be bred by much smaller males), or you simply brought home a new donkey that was housed with a jack at the previous location, such as a communal pen at the sale barn, what do you do if you are concerned about an "exposure" but you don't want a foal? Or even if you don't want a foal right now, or a foal with that jack? No worries, you can call your vet and they can prescribe or administer an injection of lutalyse to end early pregnancies. It's well tolerated, inexpensive, and when done early will typically not produce any identifiable aborted tissues. A dose of lutalyse for any jennies from a sale barn is often a good addition to any intake protocols for rescues, too.
Can I house my jacks together?
Possibly, it depends on your jacks, your management, and the rest of your herd. As with the questions above, if you're asking this question hopefully you have an appointment to geld your jacks, but in the interim there are some situations where you can house them together, and some where it is safer to separate them.
Obviously, separate them if they are fighting or playing aggressively enough to cause injury to each other or pose a danger to you.
They may be fine together if they are bonded or grew up together. They may need to remain separated if they don't know each other and are both trying to be the dominant animal.
Generally you will have more trouble with jacks if you have jennies on the property. A property with only jacks and geldings may allow for jacks to coexist more peacefully with one another.
Be sure you have strong, tight fences if you are housing jacks, and plenty of room for them to get away from each other if needed.
My jack is acting aggressive, will gelding him help?
It won't hurt, and there's only one way to find out if it will help. An aggressive jack is both dangerous to people, and not in possession of a temperament that should be passed on through breeding, so he should be gelded if he is physically strong enough to do so. After gelding it will take several weeks for the hormones in his body to find their new equilibrium, and he will also be in discomfort from the procedure, so it's best to wait a couple weeks for him to heal, and then employ a trainer to help you communicate safe and acceptable behavior to your now gelding.
How long do I keep my new gelding apart from my jennets?
You just gelded your jack, he can go out with the jennets immediately upon his return from the vet, right? Wrong. Sperm can travel from the epididymis for up to two months from castration. To ensure your now-gelding doesn't breed your jennets you should keep them separate for eight weeks. It's also kind to keep your newly castrated gelding by himself for a couple days to ensure he's healing well. Just don't forget he still needs movement to help the surgery site heal, so hand walking is a good choice of activity.
