All posts tagged: Mini donkeys

Living Our Dream

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Back from my hiatus and ready to go! You would think that during Covid I would have had lots of time to blog but not so much; had lots going on and the best part of it was finally buying our dream house or I should say dream farm. As the accidental farmgirl one would think that I lived on a farm but nope, we had a small lot with our goats and the minis lived at rented barn a few minutes from our house. I had to go to the barn twice a day, everyday to take care of them. It was rough board which means you rent the barn, that’s it. It is much cheaper that way and I enjoy doing the work and being with the babies. (Yup, I refer to all our animals that way.) I have always wanted a farm and had pretty much given up on it, but having to go take care of the minis everyday was beginning to get draining and I really wanted us all to …

Mini Donkey Care: Learn as I Go

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When I decided to adopt our farm animals I had only owned dogs, cats, rabbits, a bird…how hard could goats and minis be to take care of? I had volunteered for close to two years at the sanctuary taking care of them, I can do this! And I can and do, but boy  have I learned a lot. I am very fortunate to have a very understanding and extremely sweet veterinarian. The goats have been relatively easy, only a few issues, but Dominic has proven to be my high maintenance guy. He is very cautious as donkeys are; but he tends to be even more so as he was attacked by a bear. The first time I was that crazy first time donkey owner I discovered a huge swelling on his stomach, when I called the vet on a Friday evening at 5  o’clock they told me she was out of the country…double panic mode! They gave me the number for the on call vet at another practice, I called first thing Saturday morning and to …

Hoof Care 101

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A very important part of horse and donkey care is their hooves. I knew this when I got them, but didn’t realize how difficult it can be with a mini-horse that’s not tame and a mini-donkey that doesn’t like vets since he was treated for his bear attack. Our vet recommended that she be there when the farrier came so she could sedate them. Easier said than done. Using some quite barbaric looking tools to get them to hold still while they were given the sedation shots was awful. Dominic, as strong as he is and as stubborn as he is, was quite the challenge but we got it done. I dreaded it after the first time and rightly so, the second time was no better. Thankfully our vet told us about a product that is gel that you put under their tongue to sedate them that she has used with great success. So I thought I’d give it try to for the third trimming. I was a bit nervous without her being there, but …

Not your Typical Farm…Girl

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Yes, we have 16 animals and no, we do not live on a farm. This is confusing to most people. We live in a town that has lots of farms and large pieces of property, but we have a small lot that happens to be in the part of town that is zoned for farms. The goats, ducks, rabbits, cats and dogs all live on our property; we rent a barn in town for the minis. What does this mean for me? Lots of work. People call me crazy. I call it a labor of love. Most farmers have a field and tractor to spread manure or they have dumpster that gets picked up and carted away. I have neither of these things. The goat manure, rabbit poo and duck poo all gets put into large muck buckets and empty bedding bags, then loaded into my pick-up truck, driven up the street to a friends field, where I empty the manure and spread it out. I do this once or twice a week, depending on …

The story of My Dominic the Mini-Donkey

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Dominic is my love. I love all of my animals, but there is just something about him that melts my heart whenever I see that sweet face. The first time I saw him was on one of my usual Saturday volunteer days, he was in a pen by himself and looked sad and confused. He had come to the sanctuary a few days before. Now many of the animals that come to the sanctuary have come from bad situations, this was not the case with Dominic. Dominic had been bought for a little girl when he was a baby to be her pet and to be a companion animal for a horse. The horse had recently passed and so Dominic was now alone. His owners had planned to keep him but then something horrible happened. Dominic was attacked by a bear in December 2015.   His owners realized he was missing and he was found in the neighbors empty in-ground pool with wounds to his neck and hind quarters. He was sedated to get him …