Our Miniature Donkeys are full sisters Colette and Summer, Patches, Lady Grey and Captain Jack.
Colette August 2010
It's been almost a year since we brought home our miniature donkey Colette. She's been the most amazing addition to our family. We love her so much that we are hoping to adopting her full sister, "Summer Solstice" in November. (2010) Below is a picture of the newest expected addition to our growing family.
I was told that once you own a donkey there's no looking back, you'll have donkeys in you life forever. I'm thinking that they knew what they were talking about.
I was told that once you own a donkey there's no looking back, you'll have donkeys in you life forever. I'm thinking that they knew what they were talking about.
It's been so busy around here that I haven't gotten around to working on my website as much as I would have liked.
Summer is now fast friends with Colette. She has a much sweeter tempernent than her older sister and loves to come for scratches and hugs. She is a wonderful addition to our family and after a few days of missing her mother she made herself right at home.
Colette's reaction to her younger sister however was an entirely different story. She would tolerate Summer as long as she didn't get too close and if she felt Summer was over stepping her boundries she'd back up and fling her heels in the air as if to say, "I don't know who you think you are but I'm not your mother so don't even think about it!"
With time they have became friends with each other and with the goats and our buck rabbit who thinks he is a donkey.
I have heard stories of different species of animals becoming fast friends but I think this is a first. I have never seen anything like the relationship this rabbit has with our jennets. I'm sure he thinks he is a jack and regards the girls as his, he'll have a big surprise when we get the girls a donkey boyfriend. He lives outdoors all year round and he isn't tame at all, in fact he doesn't even have a real name, we just call him "The Rabbit", and he even sleeps and eats hay right along with the donkeys and goats. We have seen him many times up on his hind legs nose to nose with the donkeys, nuzzling them. My husband. Paul, has even had the good fortune, in my opinion anyway, to see Summer laying contently on the ground in the sunshine with The Rabbit sprawled out on top of her back. I have tried to capture this unusual relationship on camera but as of yet haven't had much luck. I'm sure that sooner or later, probably later, I will have the good fortune to be in the right place at the right time and when I get that much sought after picture you can be sure I will be posting it here.
Summer is now fast friends with Colette. She has a much sweeter tempernent than her older sister and loves to come for scratches and hugs. She is a wonderful addition to our family and after a few days of missing her mother she made herself right at home.
Colette's reaction to her younger sister however was an entirely different story. She would tolerate Summer as long as she didn't get too close and if she felt Summer was over stepping her boundries she'd back up and fling her heels in the air as if to say, "I don't know who you think you are but I'm not your mother so don't even think about it!"
With time they have became friends with each other and with the goats and our buck rabbit who thinks he is a donkey.
I have heard stories of different species of animals becoming fast friends but I think this is a first. I have never seen anything like the relationship this rabbit has with our jennets. I'm sure he thinks he is a jack and regards the girls as his, he'll have a big surprise when we get the girls a donkey boyfriend. He lives outdoors all year round and he isn't tame at all, in fact he doesn't even have a real name, we just call him "The Rabbit", and he even sleeps and eats hay right along with the donkeys and goats. We have seen him many times up on his hind legs nose to nose with the donkeys, nuzzling them. My husband. Paul, has even had the good fortune, in my opinion anyway, to see Summer laying contently on the ground in the sunshine with The Rabbit sprawled out on top of her back. I have tried to capture this unusual relationship on camera but as of yet haven't had much luck. I'm sure that sooner or later, probably later, I will have the good fortune to be in the right place at the right time and when I get that much sought after picture you can be sure I will be posting it here.
Summer 2012
After introducing Summer and Colette we figured we knew all there was to know about donkey introductions :) Well maybe not....
Colette is not a easy donkey to have around when new donkeys are being introduced. She is good with people, she just doesn't take kindly to new donkeys. Definately an alpha female!
We purchased Patches, a 8 month old spotted jennet in March of 2012. She had never been handled since her previous owners had this misconception that to be a good herd protector a donkey didn't need any attention :( All animals need love and attention to be happy & "normal".
Despite the lack of individual attention during her babyhood she is a sweet little jennet and has a definate "Eeyore Complex" she just does things at her own pace and hang the rest of the world. She will come to me for handfuls of corn but is still leery of too much attention. She is the shaggiest donkey its ever been my pleasure to meet. The Rabbit is fast friends with her and seems to prefer her over Summer or Colette.
Colette is not a easy donkey to have around when new donkeys are being introduced. She is good with people, she just doesn't take kindly to new donkeys. Definately an alpha female!
We purchased Patches, a 8 month old spotted jennet in March of 2012. She had never been handled since her previous owners had this misconception that to be a good herd protector a donkey didn't need any attention :( All animals need love and attention to be happy & "normal".
Despite the lack of individual attention during her babyhood she is a sweet little jennet and has a definate "Eeyore Complex" she just does things at her own pace and hang the rest of the world. She will come to me for handfuls of corn but is still leery of too much attention. She is the shaggiest donkey its ever been my pleasure to meet. The Rabbit is fast friends with her and seems to prefer her over Summer or Colette.
Fall 2012 we purchased two additional donkeys. First to come home was Captain Jack. He is a little brown jack that will be our future herd sire. He was 4 months old when we brought him home. He bonded immediately with Patches and she quickly took over the role of being his mother. He would "nurse" from Patches and he fit into the herd without any problems at all. We thought perhaps because he was a male the girls didn't have any problems accepting him. We found out a month later when Lady Grey joined the herd that introducing a baby donkey into the herd is much easier then introducing an adult female.
Lady Grey immediately bonded with Captain Jack and they are usually together. Once Lady joined the herd Captain didn't seem to need his "mother" Patches any more and he and Lady became fast friends.
I was a bit worried about owning a jack donkey since I had read so many negative things about them. At this point Captain has proven to be a very sweet donkey and is the first to come see me. He is now 10 months old and is still a very gentle boy.
Lady Grey immediately bonded with Captain Jack and they are usually together. Once Lady joined the herd Captain didn't seem to need his "mother" Patches any more and he and Lady became fast friends.
I was a bit worried about owning a jack donkey since I had read so many negative things about them. At this point Captain has proven to be a very sweet donkey and is the first to come see me. He is now 10 months old and is still a very gentle boy.
Lady Grey is a sweet little grey jennet. She came home when she was 13 weeks old. Her mother was old and could no longer care for her. Lady fit right in with our donkeys and we were very pleased that she and Captain bonded so quickly.
We fed both babies foal and mare ration initially until they reached their recommended weaning age of five months. Now Captain is 10 months and Lady is 8 months and both are doing very well although both are much smaller than our other three girls. They do have a bit of growing to do yet before they are at their adult height so time will tell if they remain smaller.
We fed both babies foal and mare ration initially until they reached their recommended weaning age of five months. Now Captain is 10 months and Lady is 8 months and both are doing very well although both are much smaller than our other three girls. They do have a bit of growing to do yet before they are at their adult height so time will tell if they remain smaller.
We made the decision in 2014 to find Patches a new home. Although she isn't here at Pacawijete Chickens any longer we have kept her daughter Jenny. Jenny is a sweet little girl with a much calmer disposition then both of her parents. She is also smaller and matured to 32 inches in height.
We also had foals from Colette, Summer and Lady Gray in the spring of 2015. Both jack foals and the sweet jennet from Lady Gray have found new homes.
We also had foals from Colette, Summer and Lady Gray in the spring of 2015. Both jack foals and the sweet jennet from Lady Gray have found new homes.