We found an ad for two donkey yearlings on Craig’s list and liked their picture. We had them delivered. If I thought Eeyore was tough to deal with, I was wrong. The two girls had no intention of having anything to do with us. There was plenty of grass and weeds so I just fenced off some more land.
The girls did not suffer fools well. The fool they suffered least well was Eeyore. When he tried to become romantic with them they were quite forceful with their refusals. Actually they kicked him in the chest and I knew the neighborhood dogs would have met their maker had they received that kick. I know that I would have taken a vow of celibacy, but Eeyore just showed that he had a high threshold of pain and a low IQ.
The girls did not suffer fools well. The fool they suffered least well was Eeyore. When he tried to become romantic with them they were quite forceful with their refusals. Actually they kicked him in the chest and I knew the neighborhood dogs would have met their maker had they received that kick. I know that I would have taken a vow of celibacy, but Eeyore just showed that he had a high threshold of pain and a low IQ.
I couldn’t tell the girls apart but I do have a technique for naming animals. I just try to figure out names that others would not guess. We have a great grandson named Preston who showed me that you cannot always outsmart people in this manner. I do not want to play 20 questions for lunch money with that kid.
Sally and the granddaughters named one of the donkeys Chrissie and the other Robin to continue the Winnie the Pooh theme at our place. I was confused and could not keep them straight. One of them was slightly larger than the other but you had to have them together to notice. Being smarter than the typical dude I bought two halters at the local feed store. One was red and one was blue. I decided to use these halters to identify the girls and knew I would rename one Red and the other Blue. I was no further along, however, because I could not get the halters on the girls.
Well it is somewhat embarrassing telling this on myself but is does show that I have a high capacity for trust. That is a good think I am told. Whatever, I came home one day and there was a donkey foal shuffling up the path. I couldn’t figure why someone would have dropped this foal off but quickly realized that it had a cleft palate. I thought that was downright cruel to drop off a foal because it wouldn’t nurse.
I knew it wasn’t from one of our girls because they were yearlings and the gestation period for a donkey is 12-13 months. They cannot conceive until they are about two years old. I called Sally who was in town and told her what had happened. I could hardly believe my ears when I heard her skepticism. She quickly cut to the chase and told me we had been misled and that one of the donkeys was not a yearling. I couldn't believe she had so little faith in her fellow man. After all we had found them on the internet.
When she returned home I was a little embarrassed. The one that came to be called Blue had milk. Sally actually milked Blue, put the milk in the bottle, and tried to feed the foal. I was quite impressed with her efforts even though it all ended badly. The baby could not even nurse from a bottle. The only thing that came out of that episode was that Sally actually named Blue by putting the blue halter on her. Red came to me and I did the same. Until we tried to help the baby the girls remained aloof.
Red actually became very special to me as she began follow me like a dog. I will spell it out for you if you are no quicker on the draw then I was. Blue turns out to have been about 8 years old at the time. She was not a yearling, and our farrier says Red and Blue are probably mother/daughter instead of sisters.The man who sold them to us had about 40 donkeys in his pasture. I don't think he intentionally tried to deceive us. As they have aged they are easy to tell apart as Red has become considerably larger.
Eeyore actually became quite friendly with the girls and started a family. Even though I personally disapprove of polygamy I decided against enforcing my standards on them. The herd grew and eventually Eeyore overstepped his bounds and had to leave the premises. He is still very local and I hear him daily when I call the others for food. That story will follow.
Sally and the granddaughters named one of the donkeys Chrissie and the other Robin to continue the Winnie the Pooh theme at our place. I was confused and could not keep them straight. One of them was slightly larger than the other but you had to have them together to notice. Being smarter than the typical dude I bought two halters at the local feed store. One was red and one was blue. I decided to use these halters to identify the girls and knew I would rename one Red and the other Blue. I was no further along, however, because I could not get the halters on the girls.
Well it is somewhat embarrassing telling this on myself but is does show that I have a high capacity for trust. That is a good think I am told. Whatever, I came home one day and there was a donkey foal shuffling up the path. I couldn’t figure why someone would have dropped this foal off but quickly realized that it had a cleft palate. I thought that was downright cruel to drop off a foal because it wouldn’t nurse.
I knew it wasn’t from one of our girls because they were yearlings and the gestation period for a donkey is 12-13 months. They cannot conceive until they are about two years old. I called Sally who was in town and told her what had happened. I could hardly believe my ears when I heard her skepticism. She quickly cut to the chase and told me we had been misled and that one of the donkeys was not a yearling. I couldn't believe she had so little faith in her fellow man. After all we had found them on the internet.
When she returned home I was a little embarrassed. The one that came to be called Blue had milk. Sally actually milked Blue, put the milk in the bottle, and tried to feed the foal. I was quite impressed with her efforts even though it all ended badly. The baby could not even nurse from a bottle. The only thing that came out of that episode was that Sally actually named Blue by putting the blue halter on her. Red came to me and I did the same. Until we tried to help the baby the girls remained aloof.
Red actually became very special to me as she began follow me like a dog. I will spell it out for you if you are no quicker on the draw then I was. Blue turns out to have been about 8 years old at the time. She was not a yearling, and our farrier says Red and Blue are probably mother/daughter instead of sisters.The man who sold them to us had about 40 donkeys in his pasture. I don't think he intentionally tried to deceive us. As they have aged they are easy to tell apart as Red has become considerably larger.
Eeyore actually became quite friendly with the girls and started a family. Even though I personally disapprove of polygamy I decided against enforcing my standards on them. The herd grew and eventually Eeyore overstepped his bounds and had to leave the premises. He is still very local and I hear him daily when I call the others for food. That story will follow.
Trust S10 with a borrowed stock trailer.
Right now we have two donkeys and a llama at the farm. You haven’t met any of them yet but if you bear with me you will. I have a friend that has three acres without many trees and he needed help with the mowing. You can see the grass and it is donkey (or horse) heaven. I sent Red and two younger donkeys to him. They are on loan. He is renting the property and doesn’t want to buy. Personally I think I would be as happy selling a grandkid as selling one of my four legged children. I think I may not be competent as a farmer. I’ll get to that next. Not selling grandkids. Their parents would veto that anyway. I'll run through the additions to the herd that came about through folly and the natural process.
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