Donkey and calves

[Bill Elliott]

Not sure which forum to put this under but....I have a 4 year old "John" that has been with the cows since he was 6 months old. Thus far have had no "real" problems...this is my 3rd calving season, previous two the donkey left the calves alone. This year however he has been a royal pain. He is constantly trying to separate the calves from their mom, chasing them, stomping at them..almost treating them like dogs...This is creating a good deal of stress with the cows. For the time being I have put the donkey in another pasture. Has anyone experienced this before? Is it a problem? Should I not worry about it and let them sort it out? Thanks and cheers, Bill

 

[TXBobcat]

I would not keep a male (intact) donkey with cattle. There may be exceptions, but for the most part they are too aggressive. We had a Jack with our cattle and he was harrassing the cows, biting their legs and neck. We got rid of him pretty quick.

 

[TheBullLady]

If he's aggressive now, he won't be any better after you've gelded him. You'll just be throwing $$ at him at this point.. sell him before he kills one of your calves.

 

[Gale Seddon]

Bill, you did the best thing by taking him out of the cows' field. Jacks (intact male donkeys) usually cannot be trusted with calves...they are VERY strong, can pick up a calf (or other animal) and easily kill it! We have three jacks, and two of them can be pastured with cattle; the other one will run a cow right over (through) the fence.

But any donkey (jack or otherwise) living by itself is going to be a very unhappy animal, so if you like this donkey and want him as a pet, do him and yourself a favor and have him gelded; then, when he's healed from the surgery and the hormones are gone, consider getting him a gelding or jennet buddy. They're herd animals, same as cows, and need company. They're smart, loving animals, but some of them just can't be with other livestock.

 

[dj]

Isn't there a difference between a Jack and a John?
Maybe this animal is already gelded? Maybe becoming a cranky ol'man and won't change his ways.

 

[aplusmnt]

Bill there has been some other articles about this you can search for. But from what I gathered from them it does not always happen but it can happen with horse, Donkey and Mules. We have a Female Mule that goes crazy when a new baby is born, I would never let her in same field, she just has that crazy look in her eyes.

John is a term that i believe is used more for a Male Mule but think people also call a Gelded Donkey Johns also.

 

[jersey lilly]

I've never heard mules or donkey's called Johns, always a Jack or a Jenny, but that's neither here nor there. We had a small donkey (gelded) in with our herd for a while, he did fine for a few months, then one day seen him grab up a new calf by the scruff of the neck, like a dog would carry a pup and he took off runnin to the backside of the pasture with that calf in his mouth!!!! Needless to say we took off after him, and shortly removed him from the pasture. He belonged to a friend of ours that was moving and hadn't gotten his fences up yet. Called him and told him what happened and he said, "Haul him!" so he went to the salebarn.

 

[TheBullLady]

Donkey's are funny.. we've had our share over the years. Never had a jack because we were always told they didn't do well with cows, but have had three geldings. Two didn't get along with the cows and calves, one right away, the other after a period of time. The last one is the only one that worked, and we got him from a fitter that used him to halter break calves.

 

[aplusmnt]

I've never heard mules or donkey's called Johns, always a Jack or a Jenny, but that's neither here nor there. We had a small donkey (gelded) in with our herd for a while, he did fine for a few months, then one day seen him grab up a new calf by the scruff of the neck, like a dog would carry a pup and he took off runnin to the backside of the pasture with that calf in his mouth!!!! Needless to say we took off after him, and shortly removed him from the pasture. He belonged to a friend of ours that was moving and hadn't gotten his fences up yet. Called him and told him what happened and he said, "Haul him!" so he went to the salebarn.

Most common Terminology I have ever heard was Jack and Jenny's for Donkeys and John and Molly for Mules.

 

[LonghornRanch]

Jacks are worthless and a pain in the @ss. (pun intended) Jacks will bite the tails off of cows/calves. Only use Jennys for yote control. I have a couple of Jenny's, part of my program. I put them in a pasture with a couple of Longhorns, the Jenny's learn pretty quick to "steer" clear (pun intended) of cattle.

I just got two puns in one post! ;-)

 

[Medic24]

Have had huge yote and dog problems here over the years, and the addition of a Great Pyreneese, and Llamas haven't worked well for us, but we got two donkeys, one intact, one gelded, seems to do the trick for us.

Perhaps we are lucky, as they came from another farm with cattle, and so far, other then territorial issues during feeding times they do what they are supposed to do with no problems.

Nice thing about it was, they were cheap to buy, seems like cheap to keep. and if a problem develops, a cheap haul, or cheaper bullet to fix it. :cboy:

 

[Old Dog/New Tricks]

I've never heard mules or donkey's called Johns

Maybe he's in a different line of business :!:

I can tell you how to stop this "JACK" but the "Animal Rights Prople" Won't ilke it - Takes some time and a few bucks - - It's better than shooting or other stuff and far more Humane but the Quacks can't see it that way.

Buy or Barow an Electric Dog Collar - make a strap so it fits the Jacks Neck - Grab a Beer and sit out by the barn or under a tree and teach that Smartass "What For" :!:

Do't know how big you field is but a Pellet Gun can do the same thing and be more fun - - or teach your(a) dog to stop this - - My dogs made me alot of $$$$$ doing jobs like this for me that outers will pay for

If it a new habit I'll bet 3 or 4 lessons will do it but leave the collar on him for a few days just in case :cboy:

 

[Lammie]

I raise miniature donkeys and our herd sire became a real threat to our calves this year. Have not had that problem with him before. We ended up fencing him off separately from everyone else. I got a call from a neighbor that he was chasing one of the calves and biting him. No way can I put up with that. He will just have to live by his little old self.

 

[LonghornRanch]

Problems with Jacks??.... is not a question of "if".... it's a question of "when". Even gelded Jacks get mean in time, it's the nature of the beast.

 

[A6gal]

Don't have any experience with donkeys, but I do have experience with horses and I can vouch for keeping them seperated. I've caught two different geldings on different occassions harassing cows and calves and even had a mare try to take a newborn calf away from it's momma! It is best to take the side of caution and keep them seperated.