Hee HAW!
Donkey Doodle Dandy (aka Dan) is daddy to Esmeralda, Evie, Fernando, dear departed little Flitta, and at least one more baby on the way (you can meet Dan here and get to know him better here). The problem is that since we kept Esmeralda and Evie (Fernando now lives on another farm), Dan has to be kept separate from the rest of the pack because we don't want him doing it with his daughters which, unfortunately, we think he already did. (This isn't as bad as it sounds; it's called 'line breeding' and often done on purpose—we've done it with sheep—but we would have preferred that it didn't happen, especially while the girls are still so young.)
Dan doesn't know it yet, but plans are in the works to permanently reunite him with The Donkettes—and halt our slightly out of control donkey reproduction train. I'm both sad and glad. There's nothing cuter than a baby donkey, but donkeys are herd animals, and Dan is going to be so much happier when he gets to stop living with the sheep and be reuinted with his babes people.
Now I just have to decide if I want to breed him with Dolores one more time first.
© Copyright 2010 FarmgirlFare.com, the sweltering foodie farm blog where I only wish I'd taken this wet and muddy photo of Dan today; instead we're looking at several more days with a heat index of up to 103° and not a drop of rain in sight. Except for the morning mist (which has more than once saved our fields from burning up) the only wet around here right now is sweat—and plenty of it.
That picture is absolutely hilarious! Poor soggy, muddy Dan. Then again, maybe he was enjoying having rolled around and gotten dirty. As you wrote in one of your earliest Donkey Doodle Dandy posts, "It's hard to know exactly what Dan is thinking."
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of cute farm critters (and I know you're big on cute, FG): we have PEEPS! My Henrietta's been sitting vigil for a few weeks, and yesterday I walked out to the chicken pen to discover baby chicks! And yes, of course, I posted about it. :-P
He is just the cutest thing....
ReplyDeleteLOL I think maybe just one more baby donkey - and I'm with you on the buckets of sweat thing! On a side note we had some wild cats that inadvertantly line bred themselves, nothing bad came of it fortunately LOL even if it is a little gross to think about ;P
ReplyDeleteDan will be so much happier living with the girls, and you'll have less work, too. When you need a daddy donk again, maybe you can rent a mini jack. Or a zebra. That should scare coyotes.
ReplyDeletewe practice line breeding with goats also - can go down the line but not up or sideways - have had some beautiful animals that way but also sold off our buck and NO MORE babies. Can you wether (or neuter or whatever it is called for donkeys) at his age? In goats neutering after they have reached adulthood seems to result in a very surly goat - I can't really blame them - how ya gonna keep 'em down on the farm after they've seen Paree - allegorically speaking or metaphorically or tired from triple digit heat and need to sign off ically!
ReplyDeleteI just found your blog,, your "about me" sounds a little like our farming adventure. How I love the farm lifestyle.
ReplyDeleteWe had to castrate all our stallions so they could be free to live with the other horses. We ended up with 18 horses, 85 cows, 15 sheep, 10 dogs, 5 cats, ducks, geese, 35 chickens. We still have one stallion pony because they say he's too old to castrate and he does get out every now and then. Our numbers have been reduced but it's still a considerable amount of animals to care for. I do love it though, and have learnt so much. It's a wonderful life for the children.