# My donkeys are here!



## KeenaFarm (Aug 27, 2014)

My two new standard donkeys arrived on Saturday afternoon and I'm so glad to have them here! Being my first donkeys and equines of any kind, I'm still getting used to them but they are definitely entertaining. They came to me as Walter and Jenny but I have renamed them Una and Bard since they don't seem to respond to their names anyway.
Una has the pink halter, and Bard the green.
They're currently separated from the goats by a temporary fence but hopefully in about a week that can come down and they can be together. The goats are spending most of their time at the end of the pen nearest to the donkeys during the day and the donkey's don't mind them at all so I'm confident things will go well! They are nigerians so I was nervous about their small size, and these donkeys are bigger than I expected them to be, but I think they will be okay. I do have a doeling that was born at the end of August who is still quite small but I will see what happens.
I'm trying to get used to their body language and noises and I understand a lot of it from common sense but I'm still unsure if they're doing some things out of annoyance or happiness lol. Anyone that can help enlighten me on donkey language?
Bard is still a bit reserved but is the braver of the two and both will follow me around the pen (most likely looking for treats). Una is very sweet and allows me and my 14 year old sister to pet and brush her and will nuzzle a bit. They both need hooves done and Bards are definitely overdue but I want to wait a little bit for the vet to come down so they aren't too stressed out from the move, having new caretakers, and then a vet on top of it. They went from being in the country with other horses to being in the middle of a city, on the same street as the hospital with ambulances blaring and people coming and going all day on the property. They've taken it in stride but I'm sure they are confused.
Also, for some reason they aren't using the shelter! It was pouring horribly all day yesterday and they stood out in the freezing downpour all day right next to the shelter. They seemed nervous about it even when I went in and showed them it was alright with treats. I'm sure they will get used to it though. One of my younger sisters did note that around midnight the other night they were making a racket for a solid 5 minutes so I think they're doing their job already! 
Bard is definitely large enough for me to ride and Una is perfect for my sister so we're excited to bond and see where we can go from there. They are great at making you laugh and put a smile on your face so even though everyone thinks I'm crazy and asking what "they're for" and "what do they do?" I'm pretty happy with my recent additions. <3


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Very cute!


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## Bit of Everything (Jan 28, 2011)

Aww! I miss my donkeys now. They are adorable have fun with them.


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

what sweet faces!!..I recommend not leaving the halter on...if something freaks themout they can get hung up on something...lotsof danger to leaving them on...we brought in our last two Donkeys...Agatha had her halter on so long we almost had to cut it off!!..it left a sore on her jaw ..
here is a great link to read on training and learning their language...its important to understandhow to read their body langage so you dont get hurt...remember..a donkey can kick sidways  always let them see you coming...

congrats!!
http://calkinsart.net/donkeyinfo/vldonkclinic.html


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## KeenaFarm (Aug 27, 2014)

I'm definitely aware of the halter issue, I just wanted to leave them on for a bit in case I needed to get a hold of them in a jam since they don't know/trust me yet. When they came they had very tight fitting halters on but these are a bit big and are very loose lol. I will be taking them off in a day or so since they have warmed up and I will just put them on when I'm leading them.
Thank you for the link! I'll have to go through it thoroughly. So excited to have these guys after wanting donkeys for so long! :stars:


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## Goats Rock (Jun 20, 2011)

I am sure you will get tons of advice. Mine is about treats. Donkeys are like 
horses and goats that get treats from your hands, they can get nippy. Better 
to put treats in their feed buckets. (you probably already knew this!)
They are very sweet looking critters!


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## ChrisM (Jan 13, 2014)

How's the bonding going? I never realized how sweet donkeys could be until we got our two boys. They are miniatures. Not only are they affectionate and love attention but they are characters when it comes to the way they play with each other. Both characteristics that help relieve stress. They are awesome pets. The only problem we've had was when our mini mare had a baby. One of the boys grabbed it by the neck and was dragging it around. We don't know if they were "protecting" the mare from the strange new addition or if they were just playing since that's how they play with each other. So just be careful about separating your does when they give birth in case your donkeys mistake the babies for some type of threat. They may never do anything harmful but I wouldn't want to chance it. We'll be keeping ours separated this spring when the baby goats start hitting the ground.


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## glndg (Feb 8, 2013)

Congratulations, very cute!
It sounds like your male is intact? They can be more aggressive than the females towards goats. I'm sure others who know more can give you information. Similar to the post above, there are reports on the Internet about jacks, and sometimes jennies, grabbing goats by the neck out of the blue with sad endings. Were yours with goats before?

They sound like great pets. Good to keep an eye on them though and maybe separate them as suggested in the post above.


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