December 2019

I was alerted by a friend to a gelded donkey who has stood in the butcher’s lot for 2 months, along with his two stud pals.
The two studs had a home to go to, and, originally, so did “Tiny Tim”.
But just as the other two were due to go to their new home — the lady who was going to take Timmy…changed her mind. Or her circumstances changed. I don’t know exactly what happened there, but he was now in danger of being on the meat truck on the Tuesday, when the other two were leaving.
It was Sunday. 15th December.
I went with her to have a look at the donkey. He was little and shivering badly. There was next to no shelter. A few bushes. A caravan to hide behind, but nothing to keep the rain off.
Timmy was soaked through and very, very cold.

We fed them, and they had no interest in us. Hay first.
But then… Timmy decided to come and check out this human standing in his mud pit.
He was also not amused when one of the other donkeys barged past him and demanded all the attention. 🙂

We went home, and I was still undecided. It’s not fair to keep a lone donkey. There should be two. Yes, I have horses, but contrary to common belief — Donkeys and horses aren’t the same species. They don’t act the same, they don’t “speak the same language”, and they don’t have the same needs.
But…the meat truck was looming for this little guy. More than looming, actually. Practically parked there already.
The old man who’d owned them was put in a home apparently, and the relatives sold the donkeys.
So on Sunday night, I told my friend to “Just bring him. I’ll figure it out.”
He cost me the meat price. I could have got a cheaper donkey, but that’s okay. This guy was not going to be Salami, or dog food if I could help it.

Fast forward to Tuesday, 17th December. Everything is ready. Timmy is supposed to arrive at around 11am-ish. 11am comes and goes. Noon comes and goes. Lots of messages going to and fro. It was raining and horrible. Cold. I kept standing in the rain, waiting.
At last, at 1pm, a trailer is coming down the road.
I grabbed the smallest head collar I had, and ran to open the gate. The horses were locked into the track, so they won’t cause havoc.
The ramp comes down, and a very scared, cold, shivering donkey looks at me as if to say “What’s happening? Where am I?”

We get him out of the trailer and into the field. He doesn’t want to go anywhere and he’s shivering so badly. And he was scared. He was away from his two buddies, he was alone, in a strange place.
I get it.
So I tried to get him to the car port, to put the only small rug I have on him.
I got him almost there, but it’s all scary. So I tied him to the tree for a minute and put the rug on him. That was scary too. I doubt he’s ever worn a rug.
I left him for about 2 minutes to grab some hay while the butcher turned his trailer, and my friend got her car started so another friend could get his van out… and when I turn around, there’s Timmy… heading for the gate lol. Loose Donk.
I went after him and grabbed him, trying to get him back to the car port. Nope. Not going. It’s all too strange, too scary.
We tried to move him between 3 of us… nope lol.
I run to get food, and that eventually persuaded him. (Don’t blame him, that stuff smells so good, I want to eat it.)
So he’s at the car port, tied safely, having herbal muesli, a warm blanket that’s way too big for him, and hay.

The horses are watching him like hawks, and he’s watching them.
For now he’s happy, so we went to get some coffee.
After coffee, my friends left, and I needed to get Timmy down to the woods, where he would be staying next to the horses for a while.
(On a side note — Livvy charmed another victim lol)
Right. We’re heading to the woods.
Donkey, remember?
Timmy did not want to leave the dry place with the food.
I employed some Carson James training, and eventually we were moving.
Slowly.
The horses are going mental in the field. Stormy wants to get to the newcomer, while Oz is watching this with interest, but from a safe distance. (A VERY safe distance, lol.)
They worry Timmy a bit, but he’s coming along.
He was very timid and unsure, still cold, but getting better with the blanket on. His fur was completely soaked. I learned later that donkeys don’t have waterproof coats. So when it rains, they get soaked to the skin.
This little guy had been standing in the rain for 2 months, while we had extremely bad weather and two horrendous storms with extreme winds. (Gusts measuring 132km/h. That’s about 80mph)
No wonder he was cold!
I let him go in the woods, and he explored a little bit. There was water, hay… I left him to it for a bit.

He was very unsure, but perked up quickly.

I went to warm up a bit and get out of my wet coat, then went back down to the woods about an hour later, to see how he is getting on.
 
He saw me and came straight away, clearly a lot more confident, and a lot less shivery.
I’d say he’s a happy donkey at the moment.
He also follows me around like a dog.
The only time he goes near the fence where the horses are, is if I’m going there.
Stormy is very interested. Oz…had me laughing out loud.
If you look closely to the left of Stormy’s bum, you can see Oz, waaaay in the distance.
He is playing it safe.
Because you need to keep at least 4 fences between you and the “Thing” in the woods.

Timmy might eat him.
He was checking things out in the afternoon, but when I went down to feed him… it was a case of “I go where you go” and he followed me back up toward the house — straight under the electric fence.
Because you won’t move a donkey that doesn’t want to be moved, and it was getting dark, I left him in the big field overnight. There was hay anyway, so no biggie.
Checked on him again late evening, and got a quiet “Haw” from him.

Wednesday morning, 18th December, he was still where he was supposed to be, which was good.

The horses weren’t quite as freaked, but Oz still kept a fair distance.
In the afternoon, I switched Timmy into the track, so he has access to the field shelter, as the horses don’t use it anyway.
The horses are now in the field and woods.
Wednesday afternoon it was cleanup time, as he was now dry under the rug. As I fluffed up all the sticky fur… I found rain scald on his back. Not bad, but it’s there.
He is in love with his blankie.
I tried to clip the front shut again, as one hook had come loose, and he wriggled away the entire time. I think he was afraid I’ll take it away. 🙂 And now that he’s dry and warm, but can still be outside — he’s not about to give it up.
His hooves are in a terrible state. Too long, tight… just nasty.
A call and text to the farrier was in order.
I let him back out and he sloshed through the mud back to the horses.


Thursday, 19th December, was another little brush day, and I measured him to see what rug size he needs, but I left him alone for the most part so he can chill out. Meanwhile, I was hunting high and low for a little rug. Preferably with a neck.
Nearly impossible.

But he’s getting closer.

Friday, 20th December, I finally found one, but without a neck. Ordered it.
As I had a French lesson in the morning, I popped into the local feed store to pick up chicken feed, and they had little red head collars. So he has a proper halter now.

Saturday, 21st December, Timmy had a little outing.
I put his new head collar on, and after a little brush and picking hooves, he was allowed to roam the garden and explore.

He was loving it. He spooked the cows. He chased the chickens. He nibbled on everything, but found some dandelion in a pot, and demolished that. Tried to follow me in the house, too.

I’d finally heard back from the farrier, but he’s in the UK atm, so he isn’t available.
A friend of mine will trim him instead, so that maybe I can let him in with the horses.
One at a time.
I think Oz is scared of him. He actually got nasty over the fence.
Stormy is interested — of course — and the two of them call to each other when they are out of sight.
It’s so terribly muddy and wet at the moment, it’s not much fun for any of them.
And Oz is limping again, so it’s soak / poultice / wrap again, as the abscess seems to be back.

As I said, the hoofies are quite bad.
My local farmer, who did a double take on Wednesday morning when he saw a donkey in my field, is enamored with Timmy. 🙂
He brought a new bale of hay on Saturday, and the first question was “Comment va le petit âne ?”
How is the little donkey? — well, he’s happy as a clam.
He’s warm, dry, has food, water, company, and gets cuddles from everyone.
Happy beastie.
When I went out to put him back in the track, as I had to pop out to pick up a rug a friend donated, he was already back in there. 🙂

Now he has a rug that fits, it’s warm, and it has a bum flap to keep the wind off his butt.
The other rug was getting very wet, as it was just too long for him.
Not the prettiest blanket, but hey… snug. Warm. Dry. Who cares about aesthetics?

I’ll post more updates as we go along. 🙂