A Tough Decision

Our breeding jack, GJR Popcorn "Pops"

The animals that live on our farm are more than simply livestock, they are pets that we connect with and become familiar with their personalities. They all have very individual and unique personalities and feelings.

It has been incredible to watch how our donkeys relate to and interact with each other. Donkeys will often form very tight bonds with another donkey and some of the pairs are inseparable. We had a donkey pair and one of the donkeys ended up tragically passing away. It left their friend depressed and sad and it was not an enjoyable thing to witness.

The brown donkeys, Cocoa and DeeDee were buddies and then Cocoa passed away with foaling complications.

This sad donkey ended up foaling the following spring and I had the thought that the only way she was going to cheer up was going to rehome her with her foal and give them a complete new start. It worked! They are now as happy as can be and the change has made all the difference.

I write this story to illustrate how important it is to tune in to the needs of our animals and pay attention to their feelings.

We bought our jack, Popcorn, when he was about five months old and we were so excited to have him join our herd as a prospective breeding jack. As time went on, I wondered if he would have what it took to be a breeding jack, simply because he would never rough house with the girls; a typical behavior of male donkeys. When he was two, we put him in with one gentle jenny and he definitely knew what to do! We continued to breed him and his babies were absolutely stunning! The foals were amazing but Pop's behavior was not. As time went on, I noticed that he was becoming more and more frustrated and somewhat aggressive.

We do not keep our jacks in with the main herd of females but we keep one or two jennies in their pen to keep them company. Even though Pops always had a companion in with him, he was never content. He would constantly pace the fence in aggravation.

At one point, his gate latch was left undone, resulting in him getting out of his pen. He ran to our other jack stall and began fighting with him through the fence. Our other jack ended up getting his tender nose torn up pretty bad which had to be stitched back together by the vet.

The more I watched Pops the more I realized, he doesn't want to be a breeding jack. He isn't mean but he is trying to communicate to us that he is miserable. It isn't worth it to keep an animal in tact just because they throw beautiful babies if that animal is unhappy.

After finishing the breeding season this year, we made the decision to have Pops gelded. He too, will need to be rehomed and given a new start. I feel like this will make all the difference in allowing him to lead a happy life and that is the most important factor when it comes to our mini donkeys.