They are very aware when they are being mistreated, and having to stay in their pens is really high on their list of mistreatments.
As of today Burroland their 20 acres playground is CLOSED for the duration. They are still getting out of their pens for a few hours in the afternoon, but the beans have ripened and are starting to fall. They were getting out for about 5 hours in the afternoon, but as of today, that has been cut to 3 1/2 hours. It won't be long before they get no time out, I put it off as long as possible. Unless we get a lot of rain, to cause standing water to keep the beans wet for a long time they probably won't be inedible until late September........!!!
Yesterday we picked up the 4 donkeys that were turned over to us by an older couple that could no longer take care of them. It's a mom, gelded dad and 2 of their 4 offspring the people have. They are keeping the 2 youngest ones age 14 and 13 to see if they can manage with just two. Those two, Liberty and Jackpot really wanted to participate in whatever was going on. I think they would have jumped in the trailer whether they had a halter and lead on or not, they almost climbed the fence.
We had no idea how we would do it, we knew they hadn't been handled a lot and they had been in the same pens for years. So we gathered up our halters and ropes and animal crackers and off we went.
When we got there, John figured out how to get the trailer backed in to a gate, so we wouldn't have to try to lead them, we knew they didn't lead, although they actually aren't oppose to leading, they just haven't probably done much of it.
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| The 2 younger ones (15 and 16) almost hopped in the trailer, like they thought it was a great adventure. This is momma Kachina and she wasn't that thrilled about the whole idea, but she finally got in the trailer. |
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| All three are in the trailer, Suzanne and John are squished in the front corner. If this was with untrained horses this would be a dangerous situation. Donkeys are just so mellow and are usually willing to go along to get along. Except for Suzanne getting her foot stepped on a couple of times, they finally pushed their way out of the corner. |
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| This is Mudhead the daddy of the 4 younger ones. We thought that was a weird name until we found out the other three are named Kachina, Anazazi, and Koshare (Ko shar' ie) and remembered Mudhead is one of the Kachinas. We just couldn't call him Mudhead, so we are calling him Macho Man. We will probably tell people when they come out to see the donkeys about his other name and why, but we'll call him Macho. |
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| This is Macho NOT going in the trailer. I guess a few years ago they tried to put him in a trailer and he got away from them, and was running loose in a residential area for 5 days. The man said he got thirsty and came home. I would imagine he could find water, but started to miss his "herd". |
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| After the trailer ride, the other 3 hopped out and went in their pen pretty easy. Macho, not so much, first he wouldn't get out of the trailer. They almost dragged him out, and then he wouldn't move his feet. John finally figured out it might be the mat that Suzanne and Mikaela are standing on. Sure enough, once they moved it, he reluctantly moved to his pen. |
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| You can see his body language says I don't want to do this....!!! |
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| This is momma Kachina on the left and Anazazi almost in my face. They are very curious and seem to be comfortable with people which is a big plus. We had just enough rain to dampen everyone, they aren't this dark, they are wet. |
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| This is Koshare, boy is he going to be fun...!!! He has a high opinion of himself and seems to think he is in charge of the girls, whom he has been in a pen with for a long time. This morning he was hogging the hay and in general being obnoxious, so we put him in a pen next to the girls on one side and Macho on the other. Oh! my! you would think his little world had come to an end if he couldn't be in with the girls. Suzanne finally put down T-posts to attach the corral panels to. He was trying to push them down, and quite frankly he probably could. He is high energy like Bunny. |
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| Macho has quite a bit of long term fly damage. The marks on his legs are scarring from fly damage. Also the dark area under his eyes is scarring and swelling from habronema. You can see the swollen bulb on the end of his sheath. I'm not sure what it is, but it looks like habronema damage like Cisco had years ago. We'll see what Dr.Jeremy has to say when he gets time to come out. |
When we saw him the 1st time he seemed depressed, but after being around him I think he's just use to being by himself and hasn't had a lot of stimulation over the years. The other three will be very adoptable I think, but Macho will stay here in sanctuary, he will take lifetime care.
2 comments:
This is a bunch of cuties! Question: How long does it take for them to get over (terrible way of putting it) leaving their other donkey family? Do you notice they get depressed from missing them?
Steph
Donkeys are "in the moment" animals. I don't think they spend a lot of time thinking about what was unless it's a jenny and baby at weaning time. And that usually doesn't last very long. As long as they are treated respectfully and taken care of, they adjust almost immediately. These 4 are doing just fine, have learned we carry animal crackers and already know to present themselves whenever we go around their pens. They aren't spooky, more curious than anything else. Macho will stay here, but the others will be good candidates for adoption.
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