Hinny: The result of a horse stallion mating with a female donkey. Hinnies are less common than mules and there might be subtle differences in appearance. Size: Varies greatly depending on the stallion and mare. It can range from 91-172cm.
Mules and hinnies have been used as pack animals for centuries. Although they excel at this type of work, they also can serve other purposes. Because of their smaller size, hinnies are commonly bred with miniature horses, creating an adorable pet for horse lovers.
Hinnies are less popular because people think they have bad attitudes, and it can be more difficult for a jenny to conceive and give birth. Donkeys also tend to have longer gestation periods than horses, and the size of the stallion is important for the health and safety of the jenny (and the foal).
You're right, a horse and a donkey can have babies together. A male horse and a female donkey have a hinny. A female horse and a male donkey have a mule. But hinnies and mules can't have babies of their own.
Fertility, sterility and rarity
According to most reports, hinnies are sterile and are not capable of reproduction. The male hinny can mate, but the emission is not fertile. Many have no sperm in the emission, others have sperm that is not motile. That said, there have been a handful of cases of female hinnies foaling.
Most hinnies (female donkey×male horse) and mules (female horse×male donkey) are sterile with few reports of equine fertile hybrids. The main cause of this sterility is thought to be a meiotic block to spermatogenesis and oogenesis.
A male horse and a female donkey have a hinny. A female horse and a male donkey have a mule. But hinnies and mules can't have babies of their own. They are sterile because they can't make sperm or eggs.
In late April, Laura and Larry Amos discovered that a mule called Kate had a newborn foal. The Amos family runs a wilderness outfitter and owns a large herd of mules.
Breeding: A donkey bred to a donkey produces a donkey. Donkey jacks are crossed on horse mares to produce mules, while the opposite cross (stallion x donkey jennet) gives a hinny. There are few pure breeds of donkey in the United States, where they are known by their sizes and types.
Usually, it's the male donkey (jack) mating with a female horse (mare) to produce a mule, which can come in either sex. Less frequently, a male horse (stallion) will mate with a female donkey (jenny) to produce a hinny, which also come in both varieties.
Both hinnies and mules are fantastic workers, and hinnies tend to have as much if not more endurance when compared to mules. However, it would seem that stallions are not often bred with female donkeys, which is why there are far more mules used on farms than hinnies.
Most documented cases of mules/hinnies being fertile have been in the female mule (molly/mare mule). A majority of male mules/hinnies are castrated, but one case of a fertile hinny producing live, mature spermatozoa was documented at Texas A&M in the 1950s. Also, mare mules have been used successfully as recipients.
Personality and temperament
Hinnies are generally friendly and gentle, making them a popular choice among equestrians looking for a disciplined, easy-to-train companion. They are comparably slower. But, on the upside, they tend to be more careful.
Hinny – offspring of a female donkey (jenny) bred to a horse stallion. Gestation length – 365–376 d (can vary between 340 and 395 d). Lifespan – donkeys can live into their 30–40 s.
Mule: The result of a donkey stallion mating with a female horse. Mules tend to have the head of a donkey and the extremities of a horse. Hinny: The result of a horse stallion mating with a female donkey. Hinnies are less common than mules and there might be subtle differences in appearance.
A hinny's ears are shorter than a mule's, his mane and tail are thicker and longer and his hooves are rounder. Hinnies differ from each other more than mules do, from being almost identical to a horse, to being mule-like or nearly indistinguishable from a donkey.
A jackass is just a male donkey.
This derives from the male donkey's nickname "jack" paired with the original donkey terminology "ass." Female donkeys are called "jennies" or "jennets," but a female ready to breed is known as a "broodmare."
A cross between a zebra and a donkey is known as a zenkey, zonkey (a term also used for donkeys in Tijuana, Mexico, painted as zebras for tourists to pose with them in souvenir photos), zebrass, or zedonk. Other names also include zebadonk, zebret, and zebronkey.
A zonkey, a cross between a donkey and a zebra, seen in Colombia. Mix a zebra and a horse, and you get a zorse. Swap the horse for a donkey, and you have yourself a zonkey.
Having an extra chromosome can cause all sorts of problems in other species, but this abnormality doesn't hinder the mule much except when it comes to reproduction. Most mules do not produce viable eggs or sperm, and are therefore rendered infertile.
For example, mules are born when a male horse mates with a female donkey. This produces a genetically distinct creature, a mule, which happens to be sterile as a species and so incapable of reproduction. By our first definition of life, therefore, we cannot classify a mule as alive.
One big difference between a donkey and a mule is related to the reproductive system. Donkeys can reproduce but mules do not reproduce. Therefore, a mule cannot have offspring. You might think this means mules are missing a characteristic, but mules have the ability to reproduce, it is just on the cellular level.
Probably not. Ethical considerations preclude definitive research on the subject, but it's safe to say that human DNA has become so different from that of other animals that interbreeding would likely be impossible.
The young donkey stallion has the potential to mate with either his mother or sisters from around one year old, which can lead to unwanted foals or birth defects caused by inbreeding.
They are unpredictable and are known to attack people. To be domesticated, animals must meet certain criteria. For example, they must have a good disposition and should not panic under pressure. Zebras' unpredictable nature and tendency to attack preclude them from being good candidates for domestication.