Your donkey is mourning, quite normal under the circumstances.

That being the case, if there is no other "buddy" on the farm for him, a goat would be a good idea. However, do NOT just put the goat with him. Find a way to house the goat for a good week so they can get used to each other through a fence. Your donkey may just end up killing the goat if you dont. They should bond nicely because your donkey is longing for friendship. What's more, the little one you are getting will acclimate to goats very nicely.

I must warn you though, some donkeys/horses will not tolerate goats. It is a personality thing, but his mourning & companionship needs will go a long ways towards changing that.

One other thought: You donkey may try to ride a doe goat when she goes in heat. I would stick with a wether (fixed male) so it won't be an issue.

I'm sorry for your loss
Brendasue

I have often noticed like a horse with a donkey,a goat with a donkey,I would imagine either one would help .To be his new buddy,Im worried about my 2 ,I have 2 females the two are never more than 2 feet apart,one pees the other pees,But ?I like to see the same species,I saw a horse by himself in a pasture,can you imagine how lonely he is?

Awww ... I'm so sorry for your loss. I can't imagine losing one of my 3 mini donks.

I'm sure his brother is mourning ... how tough this all is on you. I don't know anything about goats, but it sure is worth a try ... like brendasue said, even to be in the barn but separated would probably help!

Did the one you still have get a chance to sniff over the dead one? Those who are not allowed to sniff the dead one seem to take the whole thing much harder. Animals know "dead" and may stay with the body for a while, but eventually will move off so you can bury or dispose of the other animal.

We always let the others check out the dead one, they settle things in their own mind and go off to eat. We have seen some who were NOT allowed to check their companion of many years, go into colic from fretting and then the owner lost BOTH animals. Really a heartbreaker.

Do keep an eye on the one left, make sure he is drinking enough water, eating a little. This is so you will notice if he seems too disheartened and gets colicy. Water intake is your biggest problem with both winter cold and his being depressed, he might not drink enough for his good health.

Christmas is only a couple weeks, so I believe I would wait on getting the goat. You may not enjoy having a goat, they can get into everything and out of all containment! Then you would be faced with having to get rid of him as well.

Colt will be there real soon to be his buddy. And I would suggest letting the two donkeys know each other with a wall between, not just turning them out together!! The week of time is a good length, then turn them out together if they have gotten along fairly well over the wall. Maybe a halter and rope on the older donkey, for a bit of control while he sniffs the colt over. You NEED to be able to get them apart if things don't work out!!

Is the older donkey gelded? Might be a BIG consideration if you get a male colt, and they are both intact!! Jack may want to fight and not be friends with the competiton.

I am going to say it is too cold to geld the colt, in a Z5 area right now. Probably too cold to geld the Jack too if he is still intact. They could be friends over the paddock fence until they were gelded in early spring.

Sorry about your lost donkey.

Thank you all for your help.My donkey is doing well. We did leave them together over night so he could come to terms with the loss. We have been spending alot of time with him. Breaking up the routine we had with him- into something differant. We plan on putting up a fence between them until they get used to each other. My older one is gelded.Any and all info and help will be listened to. Thank you

Jennybog, so sorry about your donkey, that has to be hard. Sounds like you are doing everything possible to help him through it. I don't know anything about donkeys but wanted to lend my support!

Animals DO mourn. I've seen several of my cats mourn; I've seen my cats hold a vigil over a failing loved one. My late dog Jake mourned not having his master here (my DH) while he was in Iraq. It was crazy because my oldest son also went to Iraq and Jake was already heart-broke. It is funny who will be friends around the farm or home. Some of the critters just take to each other. I have a 3 legged cat who got attacked by a dog x 2 while she was trying to eat his food. The people who had her decided to put her down rather than fix her, which was becoming quite expensive and the 2nd time we really didn't know if she would be functionable. Ha! She was! I took her home and she is a great part of our family. Good luck!!

I read an article over the weekend says donkeys will take on buddys pretty quick,Now a friend of mine had mules they had little goats in with them.The goats would jump up and stand on mules backs I guess it made them mad one day the owner saw the mule grab the goat by the back and slam it on side of barn.Almost killed it.

We brought home a baby donkey last saturday. He is from the same father of the donk I lost.He is AWESOME!!!!
My other donkey the first night wasnt so thrilled but after he heard the baby bray a few times he is taking to him nicely. We have them in stalls next to each other. We put up fencing on the out side of the corral for the baby so they can be together without full contact.Next week we will start walking them together.We are all healing well. Thank you for all of the supoort.Merry Christmas

Aww ... what a great Christmas present for everyone!

Hope they are getting along wonderfully!

My longears ... last winter ..

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