donkey genetics... does anyone know...?

[Mojo Chick'n]

Ok, here's the poop -

I have a spotted mini jack, he is gorgeous - he is also one of the most obnoxious creatures I've ever owned. This is probably why he was such a bargain when I bought him.

My two mini jennies have the spotted gene, but are not spotted (well, one has one spot, so I suppose technically she qualifies, but not really, IMO.) They are mother and daughter - the mother has two full sisters who are spotted, but somehow she came out dun colored.

I have a small standard jack who is black (and absolutely gorgeous and sweet) that I could mate them with, also.

My question is, would there be a chance of the babies coming out spotted if they mated to Blackjack?

To be honest, the rest of the donkeys (I have 9 total) cannot stand the spotted jack - and he's been in with them for many months, but not a full year. I have him in "jail" in a corral because my one jenny just had her baby a week ago and he was being aggressive. The rest of them are quite happy and peaceful this morning (as opposed to the usual mad frenzy to hurry and eat breakfast and then get away from him. he has food issues, to boot

so he tries to eat out of every single dish, chasing everyone around in circles til they have snatched enough here and there to satisfy themselves.)

He isn't a bad donkey, unless he is interacting with other creatures (the calves have to kept in a seperate pasture, also, because he obsessively runs back and forth on the fence and tries to get in to them - for what reason, I don't know, but it doesn't look friendly). He is ok with people, you can pet him, play with him, he is trained to pull a cart (although we don't have a cart or a harness). Maybe he was alone at his last residence and just has no idea how to socialize?

I wanted a spotted mini jack for a long time, and I was hoping he would fit into the other mix here. Maybe I need to get a younger one who can grow up more with the rest and who I know how he was raised. (the spotted jack was 3 years old when I got him).

so, any ideas on the spotted gene passing down if only one parent has the gene?

meri

 

[lasergrl]

The spotted gene is dominant. They either are spotted or they arent. they cannot be spotted or carry the gene without a spot. You have one spotted and one non spotted jenny. Bred to black jack you could get either two solid babies or one spotted and one solid. It doesnt matter how much white there is on the parents you can get anywhere from one spot to extreme spotting in the babies because the spotting pattern is unpredictable in its expression. Breeding two extremely spotted parents you can still end up with a baby with just a small spot or you can get extreme spotted. Its impossible to say. You can get rescessive colors pop up too like red ect.

 

[Mojo Chick'n]

Quote:
Thank you

My "spotted" jenny is mostly a pale strawberry color (red gene).

Well, that is good to know - I was not sure if it mattered with "Mama" because she is dun colored. I know my younger mini jenny had a spotted father, so I guess that's where the spot came from.

this is Mama and Butters (the spotted younger girl) when Butters was only 4 months old. Her fluffy is all gone now, and she is the more reddish color overall with a spot of white in her mane and a couple of spots on the legs down by her feet.

This is Blackjack - his fluffy is almost gone, also (just a few cling-ons on his tummy) he was 9 months old in this pic - he is now almost two years old.

This is TeaCake the small and obnoxious. He was sort of dirty in this pic, too - we had just gotten him.

eta one more pic of Butters as a baby because she was so cuddly

meri

 

[Haviris]

It's true, you have to have spotted to get spotted! I have a spotted jack, he's only been used to make mules and out of two foals, one's spotted and one's solid!

Should be 50/50 on solid, 75/25 on spotted. Not sure if they can be homozygous.

 

[lasergrl]

http://www.geocities.com/moredonkeys/spotgenes.html

 

[Blackbird]

Is it even safe to breed a standard male to a mini female? I'm just curious, I don't know much about minis.

I have a standard black jack that has a few stray pure white hairs on the neck,back, and mane. I know his sire was pure white and his dam was also black. If he was bred to a white jenny, or a black jenny, what could the outcomes be? We're having him gelded in about a month so it doesn't matter, but I'm quite curious about this.

 

[Mojo Chick'n]

Quote:
I wondered about that myself. Blackjack is not much taller than Mama (they are almost the same size, Mama is a larger sized mini - upper end of the height scale, Blackjack is a smaller standard, lower end of the scale) but Butters is smaller, it was her that I got TeaCake (the spotted jack) for in the first place.

My neighbor bred his two dun standard jennies to a spotted mini jack (taller mini) and he got two spotted babies - one is almost totally white - it is unique looking, only has a small black spot on it's leg.

However, putting a standard jack onto a mini mother - well, I'd be slightly worried about it. He may be small, but not as small as Butters, and if the baby is larger, it might be hard for her to carry to term.

eta - I had a jenny who was black with the stray white hairs - I believe they call that Frosted. We sold her to a neighbor, so the two blacks I have now are all black with light points - no frosting in them.

meri

 

[Mojo Chick'n]

Quote:
Thanks - saved that to show hubby later.

 

[Blackbird]

Ok, I was just wondering. I know for goats you shouldn't breed a large male to small female because they can have a hard time birthing. Even if the male is stunted, the offspring won't be. Thanks for clueing me in.

Maybe your spotted mini would be nicer if he was gelded; once you finished using him. I'm really looking forward to having our jack gelded because he's a big meany and I'm hoping it will improve his attitude.

 

[Mojo Chick'n]

Quote:
If it comes to gelding him, I'd rather sell him to someone who wants to breed him. He is pretty, just agressive to the other donkeys.

When we got him he had a few other issues. I have no idea how he was raised, but we pretty much tamed out most of his other faults (except the food issues and socializing with other animals) and I believe his being so aggressive is a dominant jack thing. If that were all it was, I might consider keeping him in with a few jennies in his own pen to save the full on fighting. But with his other faults, well, he might not be worth keeping.

One of his other issues we tamed out were his biting and shoving on humans. He just has this "I need to dominate everyone" thing going on, I guess. Now he still will lean on you, but it isn't such a fight to stand upright when you're with him, now.

Personally, I think whomever had him before had him by himself in a pasture and didn't socialize him with any animals or humans much at all. I don't blame him for his faults, but I don't want to put up with them, either, if there is someone else willing to work further with him. I just do not have time to spend on it at this point.

He's come a long way with our working with him, and he is probably ready for someone less experienced with donkeys to handle. He doesn't bite anymore, and if he is the only one getting food, his food issues are next to nothing - it is just other animals he thinks he needs to fight for food. I am not really sure how to get past his other issue of being aggressive with other animals.

Of course, if someone wanted him as a pet, he could be gelded and might settle down a bit.

meri