Miniature Donkey

The American population starts with one shipment. In 1929 the stockbroker Robert Green imported six jennets and one jack from Sardinia to New Jersey, and nearly every miniature donkey in the United States descends from that import and the few that followed. The first American-born foal was named Christopher Columbus, out of the imported jennet Miranda by the jack Impheus.

Later importers, August Busch Jr. and Powel Crosley Jr. among them, widened the base. The Miniature Donkey Registry was formed in 1958 and is now operated by the American Donkey and Mule Society, and the National Miniature Donkey Association followed in 1990.

The work was not the whole story even in antiquity: Poppea, wife of the Roman emperor Nero, kept a herd of jennets to produce milk for her baths.

Small is the standard, not just the look. The breed allows a maximum of 36 inches at the withers, with around 34 typical, and adults weigh 200 to 350 lb.

Gray dun with a dorsal stripe, the classic donkey cross, is the most common color; black, brown, sorrel, white and spotted all occur. Some animals stand slightly cow-hocked, which the Conservancy notes as a way the small frame distributes weight.

Docile is the Conservancy's word, and novice is the experience level it lists. Sociable is the reason they succeed as companions.

The exception is the usual donkey one: an intact jack is not a novice's animal, whatever its size. If you are not breeding, buy a gelding or a jennet.

They are kept as companions now rather than for work, and they are good at it: long-lived, sociable, and easy around children when handled properly. The Conservancy's other listed use is driving.

What they are not is livestock guardians. The Conservancy is explicit that they are too small for the job.

Grazing kept deliberately poor, because rich pasture founders them, and hoof care on a schedule.

Another donkey for company. A single donkey kept alone is the mistake the pet framing invites.

The irony is where they now stand. The breed is close to gone in its native islands and imports are difficult, so the North American herd is a large part of what is left of it.

The Conservancy lists the breed as Watch, with 10,000 to 15,000 in North America and numbers increasing, while the Mediterranean populations keep declining through crossbreeding. Watch is the good end of the Conservation Priority List, but it is still on the list.

This is exactly where buyers get caught out. A miniature donkey is livestock, not a pet with a shorter feed bill, and the care list above does not shrink because the animal did.

Registration runs through the Miniature Donkey Registry at the American Donkey and Mule Society. The number that matters on the certificate is height: 36 inches at the withers is the ceiling, so ask for a mature, measured height and the papers, not a breeder's estimate off a foal.

Buy two, or buy one into company. And count the years: a well-kept donkey can live past 30, which is longer than most of the plans people buy them with.

Recent sale prices on HoofnHorn, where there are any, are further down this page.