So I was was reading a trashy celebrity gossip magazine today (I have to catch up when I’m off the island ;)…), and there was an article about Martha Stewart and her pet miniature donkeys…
MIniature donkeys?!? What?! Awesome!!!
I have never heard of miniature donkeys before, but that is EXACTLY what Stefan and I need! We have gone back and forth on what sort of animals/pets we want to have for the property, in order to keep the jungle growth in check. First we thought we wanted goats (or a small flock of pigmy goats), but goats eat EVERYTHING, including the young trees we have planted, gardens, palms, laundry, shoes, the house, etc. Then we thought that perhaps we should get a horse or a cow, since they are good mowers, but won’t eat our trees, but I think Stefan and I are both intimidated by having such a big and powerful animal such as a horse or cow (I was leaning more towards a cow…ha). So, how perfect would a pair of mini donkeys be?! Look at how cute the little beasts are!
Couldn’t you imagine Monkey and Cheech riding Buck Rogers (the mini donkey) around the property while Kuta is herding them all?!?
I am SO looking into how much it would be to buy and fly a pair of mini donkeys to Puerto Rico…
p.s. I’ve always wanted to be Pippy Longstockings, so I am going to carpe diam, damn it!
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oh boy.
whistle haw…..whistle haw…..
I love the idea! They are so cute and hey, if you need more food for them to eat, bring them by place, they can eat the Pica Pica!
Best.Animal.Ever
Those minis are one of the cutest things on earth. I have seen and touched them. I think an unrelated baby boy and girl and then you can sell baby for weedeaters. Link to Miniature Mediterranean Donkey for sale
It they are like the burros you can adopt from the BLM, they are really noisey.
Oh frick…. You have GOT to get them… SO AWESOME
whistle haw.. whistle haw
Well - I am a TOTAL animal addict but you really have to think about what to get and really investigate their habits! I worked with sheep and goats. Goats are like dogs and will get into trouble and they do NOT eat everything, they are very particular about liking new growth and will get out of any fence you put up and travel the grounds to find you - or other people. Goats are smart like the smartest dogs around. Sheep will eat more varieties of things than horses, but eat in the same way - tear off new growth. Horses …we told the ranchers not to put them on our property anymore (a hard decision because despite the strong urine smell I loved hearing them and having them run up to me like pets). Horses, like to stand around in groups in one or two areas which then become dust bowls. They make trails (which can be alright) but their eating habits are terrible. They tear off new grass growth so your grass never goes to seed and little by little you will have a giant dust bowl with no grass. They eat 30 pounds of grass a DAY each, so an acre will not support one horse even. They will eat anything tender (tops of little trees). Here is a hysterical example of why you should NOT do horses (and maybe not the donkeys). After many hours trying to get vines pulled on the upper property I had some “clean” areas I wanted to move coconut palms to. I planted a few and was planting another when I caught the big pregnant female horse eyeing the palm I just put in (a mere two foot thing). She looked right at me, went over to it and in an effort to tear off the only leaf it had pulled it out of the ground and swung it wildly trying to take off with it and I ran after her with my pretty pink rake and knocked it out of her mouth to get it back! That was when we realized an arboretum-type property (which is my goal - trees and ornamentals with easy walking underneath and trails) is not compatible with livestock. The chickens kick up everywhere I work when I put new things in but I can tolerate that because there isn’t long-term erosion problems. How about guinea fowl or peacocks? They can cruise the grounds looking cool and eating bugs and roosting in your trees but won’t destroy the land…katrina
Katrina:
That is very sensible advice, especially since we have the same long term goals as you guys: trees and ornamentals with easy walking underneath and trails.
The question is; how much land are we really able to work on and devote our time to? With the amount of space we have, I could see fencing off the Wild Wild West part of our properties and introducing something that will reduce it to a field, with no pica pica. I suppose when we want to put in trees, we’ll have to enclose them in something until they mature enough to be ignored.
Eventually, we’ll want the entire property a jungle!
Robin:
Little puppy donkeys sound fun. Could be lucrative too. Hmmmm….”Little Jackasses” running all over the place. It’ll be just like Southern California!
Wow, I still think they are beautiful, but as Katherine mention, is it really what you want and need, she would know what works, I have a house there but I have no pets, only in NJ. Good luck on your decision.
Summer, will you be attending the ARF fund raising party on 3/17….it is my birthday!
p.s. there is another young couple that came back to Rincon and they are continuing their Rincon diary. www.rinconadventure.com, nice reading.
You have to be out of your minds!!!!!
You already have one Jackass there Summer. Do you really think you need another? ;-D
Ohhhhh they are SO cute! They’re furry! I love it! Bu†how cool would it be to have peacocks walking around!? Pretttttty.
The mini donkeys are super adorable though.
Beware of attracting the fearsome Chupacabras (or Chupaburros).
Katrina - Very good advice. But, a peacock? That’s like telling a kid that wants a dog that they can have a gold fish…Ha. I’m kidding. Peacocks would be cool in addition to the pair of mini donkeys. We had peacocks in our neighborhood when I was a kid and I remember them being really loud and not in a pretty singsongy way either.
I think I’m pretty much set on getting a pair of mini donkeys, quite honestly. Since they aren’t nearly as big as horses, I don’t think we’ll have many of the negatives that would come along with the larger livestock (we’ve already gone down the list and tried to figure out what would fit best with our property and plans). Plus, since they are so short, they won’t be able to reach the new growth on many of the new trees!
One of the worst part of having goats is the way they can boing up on your friends’ vehicles as if they are rock climbing. The end of goats for me and a few friends probably. Those cute, fat little mini-donkeys I see hitched to a cart or wagon to help haul stuff around the property up and down hills. I loved having a small pony when I had to walk down a hill about a mile to pick up Shawn at school bus and then I would throw him up top, That pony had the same walk pace as me so it was great. Well, great until the mountain lion ate him…..then that was VERY sad.
The minis or a grandkid, you decide! haha
Those are awesome! If you get one I am going to be very jealous indeed.
Just thought I would add my two cents…I grew up on 20 acres in FL — we had horses, chickens, and a peacock…stay far, far away from the peacock. While they are attractive, they are very, very noisy. Literally, our one peacock was louder than our 20 chickens and rooster!!! And it really wasn’t friendly — it would chase the horses and our Dobermans!!!
The mini-donkey is adorable and seems like it will do the job you need — it gets my vote!
I raise mini donkeys and I can’t get enough of them!! I how have 22 as of this morning when our newest baby arrived. You need to have them in pairs, not a good idea to have a boy and girl unless the boy is gelded. Jennys should be at least 3 years old befor they are bred. An intact jack can bred as young as 7 months. So if you are thinking of bredingyour own foals you will need to keep the jack in a seperate pen from the jenny. If a jack trys to bred the jenny after she is has taken it can cause the jenny to abort the baby. Best advise is buy a 3 year or older jenny who has already been bred and a younger jenny so you can have the fun of having your own foal and the ease of caring for two jennys. also the jennys do not bray as loud or often as jacks. I started with 3 minis…2 jennys and one jack…then I bought a small herd and before I knew it I was in the donkey business. I try to keep my herd aroung 20 with 3 herd sirs. The minis are very gentle, loving, and smart. Last year I lost a jenny 2 weeks after she foaled. The weather was very cold so I kept the baby in the house and bottle feed him for 2 months. He was house trained, doesn’t potty in the house and comes running when he is called by name. He is more like a big dog than a donkey. Good luck on getting a donkey. They are great pets. Marty