Are Miniature Donkeys In My Future?

Terry is about to get the acre of property next to the house cleared of scub oaks and manzanita's.  We bought that property specifically for me to raise backyard farm livestock...I just haven't decided what that livestock will be.  I've thought about goats, (I haven't ruled them out) but I am expanding on the idea to maybe include a bigger run for my chickens as well.  This would have a double benefit because it would give me more room for more chickens and it would also move the chickens away from my bedroom window.  Then I might get another rooster so I could fertilize and hatch my own babies to keep my flock growing.

The benefit of not hearing them making noise so close to my bedroom is also one of the drawbacks...I wont hear them if they are frightened by a predator.  That got me to thinking about living predator protection.  We talked about a Great Pyrenees dog, but Terry is such a softy with dogs I cannot see him letting the dog stay out in the barn with the goats.  And from what I've read, you can't make them your pets, you have to let them bond with the goats that they will be protecting.  So a dog wont work.  My next thought was a Llama but one of our friends has one and he is over protective and wont let anyone in the pasture but my friend.  He spits too...yuck!.

Another living predator protector is a donkey.  I have always loved donkeys, but didn't like horses.  I was raised around horses, my father broke them for other people, my uncle was a farrier until the day he couldn't drag his oxygen tank out to the corral, my cousin did barrel racing an showed her horses, but I just didn't care for them.  I liked the donkeys.  They were like the misfits of the horse world and I could relate to them.  There is just something about the 'HeeHaaaaaawww!' sound from a donkey that makes me smile every time I hear it.  The only drawback to owning a donkey is that they cost so much to feed.  Terry says electric fencing would cost less.

Thinking about donkeys got me started down a road that my husband may soon regret, hee hee. I started checking out miniature donkeys, not for predator protection, they are too small for that, but just as pets.  They are so adorable, they look and sound just like full-sized donkeys, but smaller so they are less likely to knock me on my butt.  They eat a lot less too.  Being a research nut, I started studying about miniature donkeys.  There isn't a whole lot available out there but fortunately I discovered a mini donkey breeder not too far from me.  I contacted her and asked if I could visit her farm.  She said 'YES!'

Yesterday I took my 'little' sister (as in Big Brother Big Sister) with me to the 'Pamarosa Pond Minuature Donkey's' in Chino Valley, AZ.  The owner Pam took us on a personal tour of her farm, first taking us to see her huge pond that was filled with the biggest Koi I have ever seen and half of it was covered with beautiful lush green lily pads, surrounded by  a strip of cat-tails. 

This is only one view of the beautiful pond. The other picture I took of the 'lush green lily pads' didn't turn out :-(

Next, we visited her 24 chickens with a mix of Silkies and several other breeds of mostly bantam sized birds.  And then she took us out to introduced us to her 20 miniature donkeys.

I tell you, if I was on the fence about getting donkeys before arriving, I fell squarely on the other side of that fence by the time we left.  They were so gentle and friendly.  They all started Hee'ing and Haw'ing when we approached the pasture, their excitement about our visit was so obvious.  They ran up and greeted us at the entrance by the barn.  My 'little' had never seen donkeys up close and personal.  She was a little bit intimidated at first, thinking they might bite her or push her over, but they were wonderful, kind of like big cuddly dogs. Although they did try to pull the shinny snaps off her back pockets a few times, and one kept trying to steal my keys handing on my belt loop...donkeys do love bling.  They loved us petting them and scratching the insides of their ears.  And even the most skiddish one stood right next to me as long as I scratched her hip/butt area.

It's fly season here in AZ so most of the donkeys were wearing their fly masks. They can see through them like sunglasses.

She had a two new babies just three months old.  One stayed with her mommy the whole time while the other one wouldn't take her eyes off my 'little' sister.

My 'littles' face has been blurred to protect her privacy.

Mother and baby (nursing). At just 3 months old baby is almost as tall as mommy.

Pam told me so much about raising mini donkeys that I didn't know from all my research, and she answered some of my questions about their personalities and strange personal habits.  She said she started with three jennets, then added a jack, then grew from there with only a couple of her current herd coming to her from outside sources.  As it turns out Pam grew up around horses and didn't care for them either...but she is in heaven with her mini donkeys.  She said I could contact her any time if I had questions about donkeys and she would tell me what I need to look for, and watch out for, if I decided to buy donkeys in the future.  She was so sweet, I really enjoyed our tour (and visit) that was well over an hour.

Pam also said that several of her donkeys are Therapy Certified so they can visit with ill, elderly, or handicapped people as therapy treatment.  She gives tours to local schools every year as well.  What started as a few pets has certainly bloomed in to something wonderful for her and our community. 

Yep, I definitely see mini donkeys (and maybe a full-size donkey for protection) in my future.
 

Enjoy these other pictures I took at the Pamarosa Pond Miniature Donkey farm.

My 'little' and one of the more skiddish donkeys loving the attention. She must have sensed that we were animal people.

One of the original three jenny's she started with.

Pam petting one of her newest babies.

Pam being followed by her 'kids'.

Keeper of 1 husband, 2 grandkids, 3 dogs,
3 cats, and 17 Chickens!

 

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I've been keeping a secret, but now I can share...

I've been keeping this under my hat so to speak, but now I can share it with you!

When I decided to start raising chickens again, the first thing I did was call the county planning & zoning department, because unlike decades ago when I had chickens before, there are now zoning laws in many places that prohibit raising livestock and specifically poultry.  I learned that on our 1 acre rural property I was only allowed to have 8 adult hens and NO roosters.  However there are other chicken keepers in our community with way more than 8 hens, and I hear the lovely sound of roosters crowing each morning so I know there are either outlaw chicken keepers or different rules for different folks around here...so I asked about this.  The zoning department person said that in our particular community, which is surrounded by livestock (mostly cattle) and hay fields, we have restrictions on the number of hens for lots that are under 1.6 acres (ours is 1.02).  So out of curiosity I asked, "If we owned the vacant lot next door that is over an acre, combined with ours it would be 2.32 acres, what would our poultry limit be?"  She looked up the property next door to verify the size and told me that if we owned both pieces of property then I would not have a limit on the number of hens, and I could have roosters too!

We were okay with only having 8 hens, and joked that if we wanted a rooster we would have to buy the property next door, making that one really expensive rooster!  But the idea of buying the property next door was not a new one.  We had considered it when we first bought our property because we wanted extra space.  However the people who owned that property wanted way too much for it, so we didn't give it any serious thought.

Then a few weeks ago the hubby was trying to figure out where he could build a new shop on our property.  We do have an acre, but part of it is up a hill so you can't really build there.  The long winding driveway getting up to our house takes up lots of space in the front of our property, leaving very little room for a shop.  We were discussing the placement one day when I suggested that we rethink the property next door.  If we could get it at a reasonable price perhaps we could build the shop on that section...and I could have roosters, and maybe a big garden next year, or more critters!  "Whoa!" my hubby said, "remember they wanted way more than it was worth last year?  I'm sure they haven't come down that much in a year."

The property next door.  It will need lots of clearing work to make it useable.

Well I went that moment and looked up their MLS listing.  It was still for sale and they had dropped the price just recently...by nearly half!  Now it was within range of us being able to buy it.  I did a little deeper searching and learned that the couple who owned it were now divorced, and not amicably so, plus the Mr, had a huge tax lien recently filed against his business a few months ago, so they might now be ready to negotiate on the price for a quick sale.  So we made an offer.

It was..........ACCEPTED!!!!  The property is now in escrow and should be closing very, very soon!  So my little Barry the Barred Rock Rooster can legally stay!  Hubby can build his shop, I can start my first compost pile, and maybe, just maybe, I can get some pygmy or dwarf goats in the coming year.  I have wanted to raise them for a very long time for their milk to make my own goat cheese...and because they are so darn Cute!

I want a couple of these! (Source)

I've wanted to share this news with you for a few weeks now, but didn't want to jinks things.  But now all of the escrow hurdles have been jumped and we are running for the finish line! Hooray!!

Keeper of 1 husband, 2 grandkids, 3 dogs,
3 cats, and 17 Chickens!

 

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Did this post stir something inside of you? If so, Please leave me a comment, I would love to know what you're thinking!!!