Tonight I found a ticket on my car and was exasperated, what did I do wrong now?
But then I read it and it said "Someone hit your car, please come to the police station."
This is the second time this has happened. Amazing - there are always notes, no hit and runs. I saw a panel off on my car, but it's nothing that cannot be banged back together with a fist, I think.
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I have a concern about donkeys. I hope that anyone out there with a donkey can advise me. I have a hard-keeper, old horse who needs all the hay/grass he can get. So he gets hay free choice.
I've heard that donkeys are air ferns, they're adapted to living on sparse brush, so access to free-choice hay might cause obesity and even a fatty liver disease condition. I would hate to have to separate Baasha from his donkey 12 hours a day for feeding purposes. I will use a grazing muzzle on the donkey in Spring/Summer because our field is so profuse.
Do people commonly feed donkeys hay? That UK site said they feed straw instead. If they feed hay, how much? How are donkeys fed, who live with hard-keeper horses?
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Hopefully on an unrelated topic....
Some Americans from our Chicago office are visting our office and one brought a bunch of candy: Skittles, Reeses Pieces, Reeses cups!!, and Starburst. My boss and I ran up those stairs so fast, AMERICAN CANDY!!!
Then I had to come down and scold the girl who brought it. I said, "You have to tell us first, the Americans in this office. The Germans might like this candy, but they don't MISS it like we do!"
American food is in general, way worse for your health than other lands' food. 2% milk is 1.5% here, for example.
I didn't eat too much candy - but I stowed it away so that I can ration myself over time: ) I also brought some Skittles home for Baasha and my man. At first Baasha let them drop out of his mouth, and then he said, "Wait, I remember that taste!"
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17 comments:
Yes, donkeys are air ferns. It's been a challenge for us keeping their weight reasonable and Finessa developed founder last year -- on a diet of grass hay, one carrot in the morning and a half handful of sweet feed mixed with a tablespoon of pelleted vitamins! So, now they get no vitamins and no carrots. We do feed them out with the other horses but since they are lowest in the herd order, they don't get to pig out. They get 1 flake per day (they are miniatures), divided up into a couple or three feedings. We don't have any hard keepers. I think if you feed a grass hay or other low protein hay in low amounts you will be fine. I felt mean at first when we cut their hay way back, but they are still plenty heavy. I was told to remember that they are desert animals, used to living on scrub and shrubs. That helps me. If Baasha guards his food, you should be fine. If he lets them at it first, you might need to give him some of his feedings away from the donkey.
Maybe put Baasha's hay in a net where the donkey can't reach? Is he a mini donkey or a regular sized one?
Also, I have a good friend who moved to Leverkusen from the states, she's got a KILLER homemade reeses cups recipe. I should probably send it your way. c:
annette, oh dear. stressful, but honest answer for me. baasha has never guarded food from anyone. he is the lowest of the low. do you have any tips for me on how to introduce the two of them, that might help? i know he's afraid of donkeys, and i plan on separating them at first, but is there anything else i can do? i would sure hate to have to separate the two every day. but maybe a grazing muzzle would help? you said one flake per day? oh my goodness gracious. how tall is a miniature? bellis should be 11HH. i envy people who do not have hard keepers. *sigh*
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eryn, putting baasha's hay in a net would inhibit his ability to eat, and i need to speed it up, not slow it down. i honestly do not know the difference btwn a mini and a regular donkey. bellis should be 110 cm.
leverkusen!?!? i drive thru there twice per day, but you already know that. please provide the rezept!
I don't have a LOT of donkey experience but from what I've observed & heard from others donkeys tend to be a bit submissive to horses, so Baasha may indeed end up being the dominant equine.
George, our mini donkey, has always been turned out with the horses on grass. This year however he and Rootbeer (the pony) will have very limited grazing as they are both too fat.
When on hay George gets the same as the horses (its a mix of crested wheat & prairie wool with a bit of alfalfa).
Something to keep in mind for the winter months, donkeys have a harder time with cold than horses do. Make sure Bellis has a nice straw bed to keep warm :) (shavings don't provide the warmth that straw does)
Along Eryn's suggestion - if the pony is small enough, or Basha tall enough, what about putting it into a trough style feeder/into a higher hay rack with a tall tub underneath that catches the loose stuff and is deep enough the donkey can't get to it?
Lytha, I think Eryn's comment was to suggest that if Baasha was enough taller than Bellis, they the haynet (one of the older style, with BIG holes) could be put high, so Bellis couldn't reach it. But it seems to me that Baasha is not that big himself, and 11 hands probably isn't considered a mini, not enough smaller that Bellis for it to work...
A grazing muzzle would slow down hay consumption too, but you kinda hate to have her wear it 24/7, I'm sure.
I know it's a pain (we have to do it with little RT in the summertime, to give him his Senior mush) but if you have time in the morning before you both leave for work, could you let Baasha eat by himself for at least an hour (or two) before you put Bellis in with him for the day? Then, separate them again for a few hours in the evening?
Ideally, he'll take the upper hand, and protect his own food. Wouldn't it be nice for him to be in charge of someone else for a change?
A guy I know has wooden feeders in his stalls. The top opening is almost chest high on the horse, but the hay is down near the bottom, which is almost ground level. The front of the feeder slants in toward the wall a bit so the horse's knees don't hit against it. The trough may even have openings on the bottom so the chaff falls out. Maybe something like this would be tall enough that Baasha could get his head in to eat, but the donkey might be too short. Donkey could eat what Baasha drops! (but you may not want him eating the chaff as that has the seed heads in it.)
My husband volunteers at a museum that has a donkey. The donkey just foundered because they were feeding it alfalfa and grain. He's on small amounts of grass hay now. (and he should be fine)
You may need to use a grazing muzzle year round, which will limit how much hay he can consume.
Lytha, I swear, your Baasha needs my Boo as a companion. Boo is like Baasha. He shares his food.. If I feed these two without seperating, Caesar eats all of his, and then most of Boo's to..:/
So, they get seperated..
Tara
I cannot read your posts lately without hearing Shrek's voice saying, "donkey!" hahaha
Donks are very easy keepers. I would suggest a grazing muzzle pretty much year round then. I boarded/worked at a stable that used mini donkeys as t/o partners for the new horses while they adjusted to the grass. most of the horses had never seen a donkey b4 let alone getting turned out with two! we never had a problem and would just throw the new horse in with them. the donks would be chased for a few min because they always refused to stop and let the horses check them out. once the horse checked the donkeys out they were NBD and hay/grass became more important.
you gotta stop worrying. This is gonna work out just fine. if some adjustments need to be made you'll figure it out when you come across them.
Baasha is going to be so excited to have a friend, he's not gonna care how big it's ears are or if it makes funny noises ;)
You are such a good mommy! :o)
Bells will do great with you! Its not like you are going to throw her out in the pasture and forget her!
11H is most likely a standard donkey, normal sized, but on the smaller side. She sounds like she is about the size of the shetland pony we had.
You will figure it all out!!
This website says she is mediterranian. Learn something every day!!! LOL
http://www.lovelongears.com/about_donkeys2.html
Have fun!!
I am learning a lot about donkeys by reading your posts and the comments!
And as far as the candy goes, I remember having to make special trips to the American food store every once in awhile to get my "fix" of common American junk food when I lived in Sweden. lol.
I dont know much about donkey except I have 2 neighbors with donkeys and they are turned out on grass with thier horses and not real fat, but of course our grass is not very lush. How exciting, should be fun having a donkey around too
Lytha -
I used to have a gelding that was "the lowest of the low". It's hard to describe just how low on the pecking order he was. I finally had to completely separate him from the herd and I threw him in with the ranch's ponies - two gentle ponies, both about 10 hands.
The first day the ponies picked on him.
The second day the ponies picked on him.
The third and fourth days the ponies were letting him eat with them.
The fifth day I had to separate my gelding from the ponies, because he had finally discovered he was bigger than they were and was using his newfound power to completely terrorize them. My sweet low-ranking gelding turned into a evil, horrible, cruel dictator once he finally got his hands on a little power. Of course, that was probably just my gelding's response, as he had socialization issues.
Also, I know this is the case with mules - I don't really know about donkeys - but for some strange reason I've never met a mule that outranks a horse. They buddy up strongly with a horse and may take on that horse's rank just by hanging around them, but if left to their own devices they tend to be bottom of the herd.
Anyways, all this to say that Baasha probably won't be bossed around by the donkey, at least not after the first bit. And who knows? Maybe he will guard his food, once he realizes he can.
Led Zeppelin is a standard donkey and about the same height as yours. He gets free choice hay and grass. I haven't had a problem with his weight. The difference may be that he's a jack (not gelded) and plays hard . . . so if he were less active it might be different. All I feed him is a vitamin/mineral supplement mixed in a tiny handful of oats so he will eat it. :) When you get your new horse you'll have to pony your donkey so she'll get plenty of exercise hehe won't that be cute?? I'm sure she will be fine. Try not to worry too much (which I totally understand because I'm a total worry wart too).
Such a good mommy sharing your precious candy with Baasha. I'd have to think twice about sharing it with anybody. lol.
I know nothing about donkeys but I think you should wait and see. Advice- don't worry about things that you can't do anything about and nothing has even happened yet.
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