Donkeys at Clondanagh Cottage, Ireland

The Donkeys

Donkeys

Some of the donkeys on our farm

Clondanagh Cottage is in the heart of East Clare on a 40 acre Donkey Farm. The donkeys spend most of their days grazing the fields around the house. Their stables are close to the house. In 2009 6 foals were born. If you are lucky enough to be staying with us at the time you may witness this first hand. Indeed one foal was named, by Dorothy's children, after a guest who was staying at the time!

Young Donkey

The donkey is properly known by the Latin name Equus asinus. They are also known as the ass, sometimes called a moke (originally by Welsh gypsies), a burro by Spanish-influenced Americans, and as a cuddy by some Scots. Sometimes in Ireland they are called assel or moke.

Donkeys are related to horses and ponies, which are naturally native to lush grasslands, prairies and steppes. However, donkeys are adapted to the marginal desert land, so their food needs are less.

Donkeys

Due to their physical characteristics, particularly at the shoulder, donkeys are slower and less powerful than horses, although they do have an initial turn of speed over a short distance.

In the wild, donkeys live further spread out from each other than horses. Hence they have amazing voices, which can carry up to two miles, and of course their delightful ears which are bigger than horses' so they can more easily hear a distant neighbour.

foal

There are still several types of donkey living wild in various places in the world:

The Kiang in India and Nepal
The Onager in Mongolia, Turkestan, Iran and Syria
The Somali wild ass in Africa, which has zebra-like striped legs
The Nubian ass, also in Africa, which has a shoulder stripe and a dorsal stripe, forming the famous cross. (The domestic donkey often also displays these markings.)

There are also feral donkeys living in places such as the Mohave desert, in the south-west USA, where they thrive. These are not truly wild animals, but descendants of domestic donkeys that have escaped or been set free.

Wild donkeys stand between 10 hands (102 cm) and 14 hands (142 cm) high. Most domestic donkeys are in much the same height range. However, a miniature donkey is under 9 hands (91 cm) when adult. At the other extreme, the American Mammoth and the French Poitou donkeys can stand up to 17 hands (173 cm).

Domestic donkeys come in a wide range of colours: from black to white, through every shade of grey and brown, even pink, which is correctly known as pale strawberry roan. They also come in broken colours, bi- and tri-colours being very popular as they are rarer.

Donkeys can be very long lived. Donkeys of 60 years old have been recorded, but normally a 40 year old donkey is looked on as being elderly.

donkey lady