We have been breeding donkeys for over 20 years now, and I have been focused on blacks and ivory’s for 10 years. We just love these gentle creatures, and first and foremost, it is important that they go to loving homes where they will be well cared for.

While I am trying to produce specific color, I breed for conformation, and a balanced, correct donkey first. Our donkey herd consists of most all colors which include many jet blacks and some golden dark ivory’s.

I have learned that there is still much to learn about donkey color genetics. Although I would love to create a buckskin donkey, I have yet to find the gene that can produce it in donkeys. My focus with the ivory’s now is to create ivory donkeys that do not carry the Dun dilute gene. It is my opinion that many, if not most, ivory donkeys carry the Dun gene. So one of my goals now, is to have a black jack and black jennet that carry the ivory gene to produce an ivory foal. Until we can send in a hair sample from an ivory that tests for Dun, that is the only way to be sure that you have an ivory that does not carry the Dun gene. (That genetic test is probably years away.) That way if this ivory donkey was bred to a black donkey, you could not get a gray foal. There is also something going on with the genes, that make some ivory donkeys darker than others. I have several that are a golden yellow as opposed to the creamy beige of others. What color factors that are playing a role in these donkeys are unknown, and will probably remain that way until the DNA of the donkeys is mapped for all of the colors. I have retained many of my black donkeys, some of who carry a copy of the ivory gene for sure as they have an ivory parent. Many others may carry a copy of the ivory gene as ivory is in their pedigree, but unless they produce an ivory foal bred to an ivory, there is no way to know for sure if they carry the ivory gene without a genetic color test for the gene.

The blacks remain somewhat of a mystery too, as some of my blacks are a blue black in color and barely fade from the sun. I have heard them referred to as “true blacks” but again, until there is genetic testing we will not know for sure what is going on.

Please feel free to call (734-498-3590) or email me anytime to talk about my donkeys and my breeding goals. I pride myself on being honest, and will give you as straight an answer as I can.