A Delicate Subject

Dont feel bad. Its common for the scrotal sac to be empty and furled up like a butterfly" s wings for a few days. The actual testes may not descend from the omentum for a coupla weeks. From the pics you posted I was saying it was a jenny and it was only after you said that she is a he did I get the picture. NOW, IMO it IS damn important to have him gelded when his "boys" descend. DO this early (maybe some of the A2K vets will give their opinion). Weve found that the sooner we castrate our ram lambs, the less aggressive they can turn out if we keep them for wool stock. We only keep a small number of full rams and we keep them in pastures fairly distant from the ewe herd. An un castrated livestock can be really mean and jacks have been known to do some damage . This was an opinion of my AMish neighbor who has a brace (team) of jack mules to do work. All his are castrated and I can walk into the fields and they come around like a bunch of well behaved kids.

Our red cattle includes one bull and he can be a real pain. I usually just drive out to his pasture area cause if Im not watching if Im doing work in the field, he will come charging up and then at about 10 feet away hell just suddenly stop and turn around in a circle just to let me know that hes a toughy. Ill usually smack him on the rump and thats our litle "power" game.

Un castrated stock can be agressive and can cause some concern for safety if you have little kids around. Dont be afraid just be in charge and dont let him walk over you. Id make sure the mama understands that you are the boss also. Still, castration would be my suggestion when his testes descend.\\

Several years ago, Mrs F got nailed by a big suffolk ram that we rescued from a "hobby farm" . I had to take her to the hospital as she was driven head first into a board fence . She needed stitches in her upper shoulder and had a black eye and a sore rump. She wa really sore for several days and I had to endure an embarrassment of being interviewed by a domestic violence counselor who had no clue about farmers and barnyard safety issues.

suuuure she did! Tell the truth... she got outta line and you gave her a wuppin.

I thought male mules were sterile?

Donkey horse cross is mule... yes?

Yep.

They're sterile, but it seems that their temperament is (positively) affected by castration.

THey are mostly sterile (about a tiny few pwercent are non-streile). HOWEVER, thay are sexually active. They get the same "urges" and have testes that produce semen (just shooting blanks mostly). They are castrated juast to render them more docile. My neigbors mules are all geldings and they are ike a bunch of big puppies. They can get friasky but they wont chase you down to bite you in a love induced rage.



When I took Mrs F to the hospital, I was interviewed and then she was interviewed by a sociual services spec who began with the assumption that I had beat up my wife. They had no other model with which to work. The doctor had to reconstruct the wounds on my wife to see that she was nailed in the butt and then was thrown forward into the fence. The whole thing leveled out when they interviewed us both separately and realized how well our stories matched . Im sure the social services person was unconvinced but hey, if they save one woman from a beating, I can take the inconvenience and embarrassment.

Dr. Odom is coming out Wednesday to give JJ a tetnus shot and check him and momma out really well. That is, if he has stopped laughing by then.

I am now trying to learn about mules. One good thing, it seems you do train them pretty much the same way you train a horse so that means I don't need a special trainer for the little guy.

I will definitely get him gelded the second the vet tells me it is time. I am really hoping, that since mules can bring calm to a herd of horses, JJ might calm Hank down some. Right now, it's just JJ and momma in the pasture. Mac will be home this weekend. I'm going to gradually bring everyone back home now that the baby has finally gotten here.

I am curious about something though, why is it difficult for a female donkey to get pregnant from a stallion? I read a little something about that but it didn't go into all that much detail. So, it seems most mules come from a male donkey and a mare?

And the offspring?

Mules are also really good protection. Weve been trying to find a mule or a sicilian donkey to act as protection for the sheep. QWe have a growing coyote problem

Farmerman,

Where do you live if you do not mind my asking?

hehehe.

what do you mean is it possible

you JUST saw it happen.

LOL good point

I live in S Central Pa in S LAncaster County . We live in AMish Farm country, lots of mules around us.

The mating of a donkey female does happen but not often due mostly to the size differences . The offspring is then called a "hinny" not a mule. Hinnies are somewhat smaller in general and kinda look like Morgan Horses with curly hair. Ive never seen a hinny and only heard of them from my neighbor who said that theyre not worth anything for either work or draught. Look up "hinny" and see if theres anything to be said

It might be a good thing there aren't too many hinnies around. Um, they are not what I'd call very attractive. The head almost looks like that of a cow! But, I guess the fact that they are rare might make them desirable to some.