How did I end up with donkeys?!

As you know, I was thinking about getting goats.  I read an entire book on How to Raise Goats and thought I was (sort of) ready to get goats.  But you know how I am and before long I was the confused but proud owner of two donkeys!  Okay, how did that happen you ask?  Well, my old horse, Daisy, needed to be taken out of the horse pasture because the other horses were pushing her off her food.  She was lonely in a pen by herself so we thought we'd get a donkey to keep her company.

When I saw a sign at a friend's farm that said Donkeys For Sale, I called and he told me he'd give me one for free!  He raises white donkeys and had a small brown one that I fell in love with so I picked her.  When we went back the next day with a trailer to get her, however, he told me she had bonded with another small donkey, a white male, and if I wanted both, I could take them.  The little white one was getting beat up by the larger male, so I couldn't just leave him there, could I?  So without real thought or common sense, I took them both.  Ray assured me they are great pets, wouldn't try to leave the pen and did I mention they live to be 30-35 years old, so you have a friend for life.

We got them home and put them in the pen, but they escaped twice!  By the end of the day, Sunny was being called "Houdini" and Lilly was "his accomplice".  We secured another line around the pen with the help of our neighbor and put more juice to the electric fence.

They did not escape any more that day, but Diesel "tested" the fence twice (once going in and then again going out) so we knew the electric fence worked and Diesel would not be bothering the donkeys again any time soon.

I had never been around donkeys in my life, but they are so much fun!!  They are very friendly and affectionate, love to be petted and are very playful.  They love Hannah, one of our dogs, and she loves them too. 

When I forget to plug the fence back in sometimes, Lilly will get out but she doesn't go anywhere.  We will get up in the morning and there she'll be, hanging around the chicken coop or the backyard and when you pick up a feed bucket, she's happy to follow you right back into the pen. 

When we first brought them home, Sunny had "dreadlocks" so I cut them off.   Oh and by the way, Sunny ended up being a girl, not a boy as Ray had thought. 

 Notice how banged up they look.  They are now fat and happy and spoiled rotten.

  Sunny and Lilly meeting Lady, my daughter-in-law's dog.