calf breaking donkeys

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hardenblu2

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Dec 10, 2009
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Looking for info, need info on the halter system and any info on breaking the donkey or teaching the donkey to break a calf.
 

knabe

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Does,the price of the donkey offset selling the problem calf and getting a broke calf or paying someone to do it that specializes in calves with people problems?

 

hardenblu2

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Knabe, the price of most of the donkey's I have scene have been from 50 to 350 so price isn't really the problem. It would seem finding the right size and temperament is the problem. I have always broke our calve and have broke two out of three this year and if I don't find a jenny I will get the third calf broke also however I had a wrist injury in Aug. that required surgery just got back to work New Years weekend and my hand strength isn't 100 % yet. The calf isn't a bad calf he just knows I cant stop him when he decides to go. I don't mean to offend anyone and don't want a mean animal to use, just looking for info.
 

Boot Jack Bulls

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The best donkey we had we bought from a draft horse breeder. He used the donkey to break his Clyde colts to lead so he already knew the drill. Did an awesome job, but you definitely have to monitor the situation since things can get ugly fast. One Angus heifer we used him on would just throw herself on the ground and lay there as a means of protest. Not a huge deal, but she would lay there all day if you let her and the donkey had no chance to get to water or feed. Also had one end up with a bloody nose. She tried to beat up the donkey and he won with a well placed kick to her face. Her attitude got a major adjustment, but she also couldn't show for a good long while until the swelling went down!
 

knabe

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Look up breaking the hind end videos with horses

There's a few videos on you tube halter breaking calves too.
 

RankeCattleCo

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I've also kinda been wondering this... can you teach a donkey to break a calf? Drag it, be a bully?  We've got plenty of donkeys as my aunt owns a petting farm and there's always extra donkeys, but my problem is is that they may be "to nice" to break a calf.
 

MCC

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RankeCattleCo said:
I've also kinda been wondering this... can you teach a donkey to break a calf? Drag it, be a bully?  We've got plenty of donkeys as my aunt owns a petting farm and there's always extra donkeys, but my problem is is that they may be "to nice" to break a calf.

The only way you can find out is to tie them together. Every one we have ever owned we bought at the horse sale for between 50 and 100 bucks. Didn't have any idea if they work or not. The only one that didn't was one we borrowed that was to busy trying to breed the calves. Some, naturally ,will work better than others.
 

hardenblu2

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RankeCattleCo said:
I've also kinda been wondering this... can you teach a donkey to break a calf? Drag it, be a bully?  We've got plenty of donkeys as my aunt owns a petting farm and there's always extra donkeys, but my problem is is that they may be "to nice" to break a calf.
    Hey Ranke, I found a video on youtube last nite. The ol boy had a saddle type system and he left about five feet between the donkey and the calf.  The way he had the saddle on on the donkey it had a strap in front of the front legs, under the chest and around the ass and it didn't move. looked like it would be easier on the donkey. 
 

doc-sun

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we used a leather strap (4" to 6" wide) with a snap sewn in it that buckled around the donkeys neck and snapped to a poly/chain halter on the calf.  red foley was great at getting them to lead anywhere attached to him,  but you still had to get them gentle and people broke.
 

Freddy

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IT looks like most of these people have had little experience with breaking calves, DOS-SUN had some good advise ,not trying to be smart but I would NEVER use a donkey ,pooor disposition for this job....A BURRO is what the TEXANS always use and my dad saw this 50 some years ago
using the strap like DOC-SUN described ....I have had one since then and have tied them onto 2 year old bulls right out of the chute , never really had one hurt any thing ,always watch them for the first week or two ,they are good intertainment for the youngsters and back when we had a hay crew ....
There as good a hired man if you have cattle to work as your gonna find ...Don't   look for a big one ,minatures that are young are as good as you can find , women are the closest thing to being as stubborn & bull headed as a bURRO .  Usually founder from eating with the calves, so keep their feet trrimmed because you can ruin them if you don't, they don't seem to overeat or get sick ....First ONE I had was FESTUS given to me for wedding present ....present one is DUKE and they were glad to get rid of him, he would get out of corral and go kill the neighbors minature horses ....
We casterated him shortly after getting him ,he was a little rough on 3-4 month old calves so I put him on some bigger ones and he has been great since then ...we use a double thick strap about 3 inches wide with 2 prong buckle . and it has a good D-RING  and we tie them not over two foot
apart ,don't want them able to go behind the Burro ,keep them on one side of him....SENT A COUPLE PICTURES SO YOU KNOW WHAT i MEAN BY A BURRO ......

DON'T pay any attention to strap on him now because mind got lost and this is a make shift eal that broke in a couple days .....
 

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hardenblu2

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Freddy said:
IT looks like most of these people have had little experience with breaking calves, DOS-SUN had some good advise ,not trying to be smart but I would NEVER use a donkey ,poor disposition for this job....A BURRO is what the TEXANS always use and my dad saw this 50 some years ago
using the strap like DOC-SUN described ....I have had one since then and have tied them onto 2 year old bulls right out of the chute , never really had one hurt any thing ,always watch them for the first week or two ,they are good entertainment for the youngsters and back when we had a hay crew ....
There as good a hired man if you have cattle to work as your gonna find ...Don't   look for a big one ,mi natures that are young are as good as you can find , women are the closest thing to being as stubborn & bull headed as a burro .  Usually founder from eating with the calves, so keep their feet trimmed because you can ruin them if you don't, they don't seem to overeat or get sick ....First ONE I had was FESTUS given to me for wedding present ....present one is DUKE and they were glad to get rid of him, he would get out of corral and go kill the neighbors mi nature horses ....
We casterated him shortly after getting him ,he was a little rough on 3-4 month old calves so I put him on some bigger ones and he has been great since then ...we use a double thick strap about 3 inches wide with 2 prong buckle . and it has a good D-RING  and we tie them not over two foot
apart ,don't want them able to go behind the Burro ,keep them on one side of him....SENT A COUPLE PICTURES SO YOU KNOW WHAT i MEAN BY A BURRO ......

DON'T pay any attention to strap on him now because mind got lost and this is a make shift eal that broke in a couple days .....
Hey folks, thanks I am trying to find one and turned down a couple minies, I may need to go back and get one.
 

herfluvr

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A burro is a smaller donkey.  Theya re the same species.  We wouldn't trade ours for anything.  We use a girth around the neck and tie the calf not more than 2 feet from the donkey.  And they do founder if fed too much so be aware of that are pron to thrush in thier feet if left in a wet pen too lang.  Hope you can find one. 





 

MCC

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LAMAR,CO
IT looks like most of these people have had little experience with breaking calves, DOS-SUN had some good advise ,not trying to be smart but I would NEVER use a donkey ,pooor disposition for this job....A BURRO is what the TEXANS always use and my dad saw this 50 some years ago . Quote from Freddy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burro

Maybe a few of us have had a little more experiance than you might think.
 

doc-sun

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Jan 21, 2009
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MCC said:
IT looks like most of these people have had little experience with breaking calves, DOS-SUN had some good advise ,not trying to be smart but I would NEVER use a donkey ,pooor disposition for this job....A BURRO is what the TEXANS always use and my dad saw this 50 some years ago . Quote from Freddy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burro

Maybe a few of us have had a little more experiance than you might think.
You may be good at surfing the history of a burro, but I'll bet you have never hooked too many neckstraps to a halter.
 

Freddy

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hEY ,i'M NOT SO SMART THAT IF WHAT i SAID IS WRONG WILL SURE APOLOGIZE ,an maybe they  are different in different areas  ,to me  donkeys are darker in color more brown ....never had any one in this AREA  call them anything but BURRO ...
 

MCC

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doc-sun, I would hook more of them up If I didn't have to surf the net.  (thumbsup)
 

olsun

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I am not trying to be a smart ass, pardon the pun, but I have raised donkeys and dealt in them for more than 30 years. All so called donkeys are members of the ass family. In other words, they are all the same species.They come in 3 classes according to height. 36 inches and under are considered miniatures. 37 to 54 inches tall are called standards, and over 54 inches are called Mammoth donkeys. The larger standards and the Mammoths are used mainly to cross with horse mares to make mules of various sizes and uses. Burro is a Spanish term for donkey, and usually refers to the smaller standard donkey. Many times burro is the term used to mean wild donkeys. These smaller standard donkeys make the best calf and colt breakers. Donkey lovers seem to not like the term stubborn, they are likely to refer to this trait as being very smart. By that they mean that a donkey is too smart to do something he isn't sure of too quickly. I personally call them just plain stubborn. That stubborness is what makes them such good calf breakers. orry to be so long winded, but I hope this helps a little. Earl
 
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