3,098. Hinnies and Mules

Hilchos Kilayim 9:5

If a species has both wild and domesticated members – like a wild ox and a domesticated ox, or a wild horse and a domesticated horse – then one may mate them with one another because they are the same species. A domesticated duck and a wild duck, however, are considered mixed species with one another. The domesticated duck has its testicles on the inside, while the wild duck has them on the outside, which demonstrates that they’re different species. A koy is the offspring of a domesticated animal and a wild animal; mating a koy with either a domesticated or a wild animal is prohibited as mixing, though one is not liable to the penalty of lashes, as a koy’s status is in doubt.

Hilchos Kilayim 9:6

(Editor's note: In English, a mule is the offspring of a male donkey and a female horse; a hinny is the offspring of male horse and a female donkey. In Hebrew, each of these is called a pered. Accordingly, our translation distinguishes between them in a way the Rambam doesn’t.)

The offspring of mixed species whose mothers are of the same species may be mated with one another; if the mothers are of different species, it is prohibited and one is liable to lashes for doing so. Likewise, if one mated such an offspring even with an animal of its mother’s species, he is liable to lashes. Therefore, a male hinny, whose mother is a donkey, may be mated with a female hinny, whose mother is a donkey. One may not mate it with anything else, not even a donkey. It is similarly prohibited to mate a male mule, whose mother is a horse, with a female hinny, whose mother is a donkey. The same rules apply in all comparable cases. Accordingly, one who wants to mate the offspring of donkeys and horses, or use them to pull a wagon together, must check such signs as their ears, tails and voices. If they are similar, it’s clear that their mothers are of the same species and these things are permitted.