Meet Onyx

Onyx is our little boy donkey who was born yesterday, March 20. We had no idea that he was on the way. His mother, Willow, came from our local shelter, the Animal Rescue League of Iowa. She came to our farm with her gelded son, Springfield. When we got them, they had been in foster care for a little while after coming from a bad place.

Donkey gestation is 12 months, so we didn't know, and the shelter didn't know, that she had been bred.

We did notice lately that she was looking a little rounded, but we though she was just hogging the alfalfa hay.

We *presume* Onyx is a Sicilian donkey (miniature) like his mother, but since we don't know who the father was, he might be a mix.

Onyx has really soft, silky fur. He feels kind of like a rabbit!

Willow is being a great mother and she is very protective of Onyx around the llamas and goats. She is also nursing well, which is a relief, because we don't have any donkey colostrum in the freezer!

Onyx will be nursing for several months, and we will most likely geld him in a year when he is mature, unless we find that he is desirable from a breeding standpoint, in which case we might sell him to a donkey breeder, but only if we approve of their operation. There are a lot of unwanted donkeys around, and we don't want to contribute to that problem.

Apparently (Jayryunen told me so!) all black donkeys are a bit rare, especially without a lighter colored nose or belly. Onyx might shed his baby coat, so we'll see how it all turns out over time.

He's adorable! Doesn't it amaze you, once you see them outside of mama, that just 1 day ago they were *inside* mama? All those legs somehow folded up into a neat little package.

I just love him! Different, rare? Oh man.. that's my favorite! I love the pics.. Just love it.

He is a cutie patooty! Born with a winter coat. Isn't nature amazing?

Plot, plot, plot, plot.......Hey ZZ, are you zoned for livestock?

I know.. Krystal was just saying "I need a diaper for it. I get my own truck in a month and I can list it as a co driver" LOL

Also.. there are a couple of dogs here that He could practice making a goal with! Kickball donk?

Thanks all! Yes, it does amaze me that he was a little package inside Willow. I fail to see where all those legs went when he was in there! I think if I had looked down her throat, I would have seen one! LOL!!

He sure has a winter coat on, and in the sun, he'll be warm and toasty with that dark color. I keep wondering if I can spin donkey fur! :-)

ZZ - he's running already, we saw him do it this morning. He has a cute little trotting pace. It's very fetching.

Will be waiting for video! LOL

He's a doll!

Oh my goodness! What a little cutie!! I am with the others...How did that fit inside of her??? WOW! Black...pretty. I think Krystal needs one ZZ.

Awwwww.. Joker and Foster say..Welcome little brother!!!

Awwww....Beadmom they are gorgeous! Thanks Joker and Foster - head scritches to both of you. Onyx sends donkey snuffles!

LOL Sewin.. she was telling me she could stop at the truck stop and let her donkey out to go to the bathroom and graze.. LOL

Why not??? People take dogs on trips!! hehehe Size may complicate things but nothing that cant be over come.

He's a fetching fellow, for sure. =0)

You might not want to wait a year before gelding (if you do). Donkeys can get pretty studdy pretty quickly. I had one I cut a 4 mo., he was just too much to handle. And I'm glad to hear you don't want to add to the surplus donkey problem. I know you'll only keep him as a stud if he's an asset to the breed: well conformed and with a nice personality. =0)

My dad always said, a good stud will make a great gelding. LOL

Your place is justing bustin' at the seams with cuteness...
Jay

Jay - thanks for the tip. The vet said his testicles would not drop for about a year, and he can't geld him until they drop. We will be on "testicle-watch" and as soon as we see them, we'll call in the vet. I looked at his "teeth" yesterday although he currently doesn't have much for teeth - just teeny ones. His top and bottom mouth ridges are perfectly aligned though.

I will admit I know next to nothing about donkeys but I do know that a stud foal of the horse variety is born with his testicles dropped and will stay down for up to 2 weeks. You can have them gelded in that 2 week window. We would have had Tug gelded but he was born in June and the flies were bad so we didn't want to take a chance with him. We are fortunate he does not act studdish at all. One testicle has descended and I check him every few days or so to see if the other has dropped. As soon as it does we will geld him. He is very well behaved but we won't be using him as a stud because we have no idea what his bloodline holds. His Mom was bred when we bought her and the previous owner did not know what she was bred to.

now claire.. all those spinning classes you have been taking and you don't know by now you can spin dryer lint! Why of course you can spin that little cuties fuzz, you might have to mix it with something.. but what the hay.. wait.. don't mix it with hay.. thats a mess.

Hey! Onyx neeeeds his fuzz, don't you be havin' no designs on it. =0) It's part of his ravishing good looks!

Glad to hear his bite's good; so many donkeys really don't have a good bite. I've seem 'em as much as 1/2" off, both over and under. And either little donks are real different from Mammoths or your vet doesn't know a lot about donks... which is not at all unusual, most don't. So I'll let you know... donks tend to have a bit more bleeding, the vessels to the testis are bigger, so make sure the vet ligates well. Hosing the surgery site down once or twice a day afterwards will help with the swelling, and hand walking him for 30 min. every day the first few days afterwards will also help with the soreness and swelling. They usually don't need any more care than that.

Here's the really funny thing... my donks seemed to like the 'high' from the anesthesia... especially Shenanigans. Instead of standing still and letting it wear off he wanted to walk around and bump into things (we did the surgery in a round pen). We tried to hold him still, but if you've ever tried to hold a donkey, you know how that goes. He just drug me around. He even tried trotting, the silly galumpf. The vet had never seen anything like it. She said either horses stand still, all spraddle legged, or they thrash and scare themselves. Shenanigans really seemed to be enjoying himself. LOL

Maybe they've developed a 'likkered-up' gene from eating fermented agave down there in the desert?

I've heard of pigs having a high ol' time on rotten apples...
Jay

Newsflash! Onyx video posted here!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kPaJb1chSk

Fran, I'm sure as the weather warms up he won't be needing all that fluff!!! LOL!!!

*Sigh* We used to have one horse out of 40 in the horse ministry that was nuts about.....wormer. He would beg and beg and try and lick wormer off the other horses etc....

Ginger

Super cute! Love the big floppy ears. And the wagging tail.

I could watch that all day! He is soooo cute! I can't wait till he's running around starting trouble.. LOL

Thanks ZZ, about the time he's starting trouble, I'll drop him off with Krystal!

Thanks Karbear! His ears are huge! It looks like they came out too big for his head. He is such a cutie!

Okay.. had to change this..

No they cannot haul... ah hum... a donkey..



This message was edited Mar 23, 2009 7:50 AM

Oh ZZ, he's very small, nobody would notice! ;-)

I made a smart remark.. you know.. the other word for donkey as in going fast.. Hauling Donkey??

Guess ya had to have been there.. LOL
Being a comedian in text is just so hard..

Hauling Jacka$$...
It's what they're called, it's in the Bible, why do we think it's a dirty word?

Just cause some folks can't haul their backside off the couch and they flatter themselves they are like a jacka$$.... when really they're only lazy.

=0)

I had the same problem with the "B" word. When I started showing my female dog it was hard for me to use that word. Later My boss get up set because I called her a "B" and boy was she one. LOL

LOL So true!

MOst people we call JackA$$es are an insult to the species...

Ginger

It's soooo important to keep the species straight when one uses terms...
for example, I might call my neighbor a shiftless, lazy, drunken, thieving waste of protoplasm, but I would never call him an a$$... My donks are a far more decent addition to the planet...

=0)

LOL cross-posted, great minds run in the same rut...

This message was edited Mar 23, 2009 3:15 PM

Yes I never call anyone a "B" it would insult the poor doggies. LOL

So C, scratched your a$$ today?

=0)

I kissed mine before I left town...

That could be some new drunken Irish bar game!!!!

Ginger