I foster four donkeys for the Donkey Sanctuary. Angus and Joey Boy are over 25 years old. At this time of year they get some extra food at night. Jack and Lilly are 20 years younger, and don't! I think they know that they are missing out on something.
The donk in the foreground is Joey Boy. In the photo of his eye that I posted a few days ago I mentioned that he had been badly treated in the past. In this photo you can see the scars on the back of his legs. :o(
In this shot tho, I think he is looking rather smug :o)
oh my - they have such great personality! i love the pining look of the ones leaning over the wall :) that's so nice what you are doing for them - but have to say, this is the first time i've heard of a donkey santuary!
A girl I was at school with had a couple of donkeys. Whenever anyone tried to say they were stubborn she would defend them and say No, They're just cautious.
I love the two donkeys looking over the fence and Joey Boy seems to have a bit of a smile on his face! It's great that you're looking after them and they can spend the rest of their days in a safe and happy home :-D
@sheliwithani Aaah, your friend knew her donks Sheli, unlike horses who turn tail and run at the sight of something scary or unfamiliar donkeys plant themselves firmly to the spot, face the problem and suss it out - often mistaken for stubbornness and something to do with them being more solitary in the wild than horses (less chance of blending into the herd of fleeing animals)
@northy the Donkey Sanctuary looks after nearly 5000 donkeys in Europe. It is one of the wealthies charities here and although I give a home to some of its animals I prefer to to donate to more people-based causes.
@tammeray my four range from 9.1 to 11.1 hands high (37 to 45 inches high at the shoulder) and so aren't minis. The stables that they are in were built for horses so the walls and doors are high which might make them look smaller. I imagine that they look different to yourspartly because they are in their woolly winter coats at the moment. Because they naturally come from the edge of deserts they would eat very poor food in the wild and so are very efficient at getting energy from it, and keeping their weight down is the hardest thing about keeping them. They are mostly fed on barley straw, with a bit of hay in the winter. One of my oldies (not in this shot) was very ill before christmas and lost a lot of weight. He has built quite a lot of it back up but still lacks a lot of muscle, so for the first year ever he is getting extra 'hard' food (16+ conditioning cubes) plus unlimited hay at night. He also has a heat lamp in his stable and is wearing a rug.
@jantan Thankyou :) I have just recently been lucky enough to get a donkey and I love her already , am trying to learn as much as I can and google can only teach you so much. My land is very dry and sparse at the moment so we are feeding her hay , have been told not to let her get fat :)
@tammeray There are some very good books, but the best source of info and advice I have found are the donkey forum (donkeyforum.co.uk -very friendly and helpful with members all over the world) and the donkey sanctuary.
One of the things you will be told is that they don't do very well on their own and should really be kept with another animal (preferably a donkey - but goats, horses also will do.)
@jantan I have been told this , dusty currently keeps close to the neighbours cows, we are in the process of replacing our fences to get dusty a horse friend :) I wanted to get her a donkey friend but finding one is difficult :(
"I'm da man....I get extra!!"
Lovely shot of a lucky donkey
One of the things you will be told is that they don't do very well on their own and should really be kept with another animal (preferably a donkey - but goats, horses also will do.)