Rescued Donkeys
The following donkeys are considered rescues and are offered for adoption. Many of these animals have been severely neglected or abused. Therefore they should go to a home that has lots of love and patience to give and not expect these donkeys to be just like any other one they would buy that has never had the negative experiences that these poor animals have had. These donkeys usually do learn to trust but just need extra time. You should be willing to give them the time they need. The younger the donkey the faster they usually get over the trust issues. Then they can make wonderful pets and companions just like any other donkey and you know that you have given a donkey in need a new chance and beginning!!! They are very smart animals and will realize if you are good to them.
These animals are priced according to what we have invested in them and any moneys will go right back into the rescue pot to help any future donkeys in need.
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Marita Date of Birth: unknown - about 3 years old Coat Color: Gray-Dun - Rose Dun - 34" This jenny fits in well with other donkeys and is ok as long as you don't want to touch her. She accepts the other foals just fine. She does take a treat from your hand and likes her grain. If you try and corner her/catch her she is terrified and tries to defend herself. We truly believe that she has been abused and has had some very negative experiences - we can't touch her back end or attempt to pick up her feet, yet. We are working on desensitizing her and to let her know that we will not mistreat her. We've had other donkeys that were worse than her and know that she will improve with time as long as there is no more abuse. I can see it in her face when I feed and interact with the others that she really wants to be a part of it all! She too, has to go to a very loving home that cares about her! This jenny has an overbite and should not be bred with - therefore we will only be placing her into a non-breeding home. She is considered a rescue. Price: $550 for Marita - $950 for her and her foal Bandit. If you feel that you can give this jenny a good home please contact us at e-mail: donkeys@littlefriendsranch.com or littlefriend@dishmail.net or call: 270-753-9270
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Bandit Date of Birth: unknown - I'm guessing mid February by comparing him to my other foals Birth Height: unknown Foal Coat Color: Gray-Dun - NLP Sire: untraced Dam: gray-dun/rose-dun- 34" - 3 years old This is a cute little jack! With his dark nose and dark eye rings he looks like a little Bandit. He is still a little bit shy but he does enjoy his neck rubs once he decides that I am not so bad. He came to us with already very long hooves and he has just grown new fur around his ankles where he had apparently lost all of his fur. He must have lived in a mud lot were We purchased his mother and him to ensure that she would not be continued to be bred. She should have never been bred in the first place. She has an overbite! This little guy's bite is ok but since he is out of a mom with an off bite he will only be sold as a pet without papers of course. He can later be registered as a gelding if the new owner decides to do that. He deserves a good and loving home and has a lifetime of love to give! Of course as with all of our donkeys he will need to go to a home where he'll have a companion! He can also be placed with his mother into a non-breeding home. Price: $450 for Bandit - $950 for Bandit and his dam. If you feel that you can give this jenny a good home please contact us at e-mail: donkeys@littlefriendsranch.com or littlefriend@dishmail.net or call: 270-753-9270 |
These are three little jack foals in need of a good and permanent home. (Yes, I know I shouldn't have put a pink halter on them...). We purchased them from an older lady whose husband is very ill and she can't do all the work by herself anymore. (two of these boys were supposed to be girls - but that's another story). These boys would have ended up at an auction if we didn't agree to purchase them with our group of girls. They are weanlings, the two dark brown ones are microchipped. They have a current negative coggins test and are ready for a permanent home. If you think you can provide a loving and permanent home for one, two are all three of these boys please e-mail us at: donkeys@littlefriendsranch.com or littlefriend@dishmail.net or call: 270-753-9270
Update: Kano, the dark brown pictured on the right has been adopted. Ranger and Chad are in the process of being adopted now and hopefully will be able to settle into their new home by early May!
Though Dolly is not a rescue donkey - she is offered for adoption as a special needs donkey - to a non-breeding home only.
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Spotted Acres Dynamites Dolly
- Adopted - Date of Birth: 01. May 2000 Height: 31 3/4" Color: Dark Brown Dolly has given us three perfect and beautiful babies (D'Angelo (2004), Miss India (2005) and now Hot Chocolate in 2007. Dolly will be sold strictly as a pet only as we think that pregnancies take too much out of her. When it is really dry and dusty Dolly has an occasional but chronic cough. She would do best in a little bit of a cooler climate than Kentucky. Dolly is a complete sweetheart that we can let out into our yard and she will not walk off. She always trusts me 100% with her foals. She was never lead trained but goes anywhere with me. I want Dolly to go to a permanent home where she will be loved as much as I love her and not be a number. Dolly likes children and loves to be brushed. Pictures were taken with her newest foal this year. Thank you Dr. Mary Ann Mann of Lewisburg, West Virginia for giving Dolly a good and permanent home. |
Sambo in summer coat on left - right in his winter coat.
Sambo is a miniature donkey gelding up for adoption. He should be about 5 years old according to his former owner. He has had his vaccinations and is now current on his deworming.
He still needs work. He used to be a teaser stud on a horse farm and apparently was mistreated and beaten in the process. The people that "rescued" him didn't have that much time to work with him and didn't know a thing about donkeys to begin with. They were kind enough to buy him off the horse farm and got him gelded. They purchased a baby from us and we bought this gelding from them since they were worried that he would end up being mistreated again if he went to an auction. They are probably right. That is why we have made it our goal to find him a good and hopefully permanent home.
I have been working a little with him and it is apparent that he must have been beaten across his back end anyway - probably across the right side of his face/head/body as well. He is better approachable from his left side than from his right side. He does eat feed from my hand as well as out of a bowl sitting on my lap. He seems to want to know where my hands are at all times. He likes his tail head scratched but is still very scared - he doesn't like his head handled much, yet - nor does he want the insides of his ears rubbed, yet. He lets me brush him with a soft brush now. He does greet me with a bray when I come into the barn and seems to be happy to see someone.
He is a beautiful guy, almost black with a dark nose. I'm hoping to find him a place where he gets some attention to make him feel more comfortable around people. Poor guy - I wished I could see what he went through or wished he could talk to tell me. Sambo has been adopted.
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Sunshine 3 years old While this is a donkey site we have decided to try and find our Sunshine a good home. We had rescued her from a horse sale, untouched as an 18 months old - originally thought as a companion for a 4 months old purchased at the same sale. My son fell in love with Sunshine and spent a lot of time with her. She has come a looooong way and has turned into a friendly horse. He taught her to lead and load. A year ago we purchased two more horses for our kids to be ridden in the 4-H drill team since both of the other horses were still too young to be ridden. Since we don't feel that Sunshine would be an optimal riding mount for an 11 year old who himself is still learning to ride we have decided to offer her to a good home only. We have never taken an animal to a sale and are hoping that we will never have to. Therefore we are offering her to a good and loving home where she hopefully can be a companion to another horse or can be trained to ride. She lets us do her hooves, leads and gets along well with other horses - she is a sweet horse. We just don't have the room to keep them all. We promised our son that Sunshine will only go to a good home. A special Thank You to Karen and David Barbour of York, South Carolina, who will be giving Sunshine a good home.
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We are also looking for a home for this boy! He is about 19 months old, and looks to mature into a large standard. We have taken him in, completely unhandled, to safe him from having to go to the sale. He has great potential for a cart donkey, companion or even a riding donkey for a child. He is heavy boned, and has beautiful conformation. He is around 46-48" at this time. I don't have a measuring stick big enough to accurately measure him. He is considered a rescue and is in dire need of a good home! We don't have the facilities to keep him for long but do not want him to go to the sale to end up unloved and unhandled. He is already enjoying his neck and ear rubs but will need a lot of work. He seems to be a very smart boy getting used to his routines very quickly! If you think you can help Torino - please e-mail us at donkeys@littlefriendsranch.com Adoption Fee: $100 Adopted out to Anita Smith and Family, New Carlisle, Indiana.
While we have taken in, rehabilitated and placed several rescue donkeys (minis and standards) throughout the years we feel that we should share our latest experience. To us all animals are special and deserve a loving home and we will continue to do our best to try to help animals in need - especially the longears that are such a big part of our daily life!
Early February 2005 we brought home three little Rescue Miniature Donkeys. They had been left without shelter, some rotten, old round bales of hay that were dark to the core (that they tried to eat), and without hoof care or health care. They did not have names. We had already tried to find them a home after I saw them for the first time back in November of 2004. We were not in the position to take them in at that point, thought we had them placed but all fell through. No one wanted to pay the price the owners were asking and not willing to come down on. We finally, with the help of some wonderful, caring people that provided financial, professional and moral support (we couldn't have done it without them) were able to take the 7 hour round trip to bring home the donkeys. They had not been wormed or vaccinated, and their hooves were in really bad shape. While the owner did have their hooves what looked like "sawed off", possibly because of the comments that I had made when I had seen them the first time, that is all they did - sawed off the curled up 6" or so of their front hooves.
When we went to pick them up - of course it was raining when we left - since they had no shelter we took the trip anyway to get them out - it was fairly warm and most of the trailer is enclosed. They were used to worse. We put lots of bedding into the trailer since we knew their hooves were likely still in bad shape even with the hoof trim they had received about 2 months earlier. So if they needed to lay down they could do so comfortably. The donkeys loaded easily - they smelled the hay we had in the trailer for them and got in right away - we didn't have to even put halters on them. They didn't think twice about it. By the time we came home the hay was gone! They were not really skinny since they did have some pasture that they apparently lived off, plus the rotten hay bales. Their fur even looked remarkably good for being out in the weather all of the time - when we inspected them closer a few days later we did find several places of rain rot though which is NOT necessarily a sign of neglect - especially in this part of the country. Here are some hoof pictures that we took after we unloaded them - they are of the jennies' hooves (the jack's hooves were still in relatively good shape - only a bit long):
The jennies had a difficult time walking on the hard surfaces - the smallest one looked really crippled when she tried to walk - very uncomfortable! Her hoof walls were curled completely under and had almost closed off the foot from the bottom. The space was not wide enough to even get a hoof pick in. She was basically walking on a round tube.
The jack foal was wild - he will need some work - he fought the halter and my husband that was holding on to the rope - he wanted to get away and tried every way he knew to try. The bigger jenny is similar the smaller one is fairly friendly. Since the owner had indicated that both jennies should be pregnant - they didn't look to be pregnant to us! We hope they are NOT! It will just be an added burden for them with their hooves needing so much work!
We wormed them the day after they arrived with a mild wormer - and disposed of their poop away from any of our other donkeys. Afterall they are new and have to be quarantined - for them it means having to stay in a stall in the barn. They are not overly excited about that since they have been used to be outside ALL of the time! Soon they will be able to go in and out as they please. It's been raining again and they are nice and dry! The first couple of days they ate everything I put in front of them - they are slowing down now and are leaving more leftovers...
A few days after they arrived they had their first hoof trim - which was a several hour long project - I held the hooves, while they were trimmed. It was not easy since they were so grown under that we couldn't even get a hoof clipper to get a hold of any of the hoof. When we finally had it opened up enough to where we could use the clippers what came off was at least 1" thick - the whole hoof was just a big mingled, grown together chunk. We had a rough time finding the frog within the hooves. After the trim the girls walked so much easier! While it will take some time (if the legs are not structurally messed up from apparently years of neglect) to get the curves to grow out and trimmed out - we are more positive that eventually we may be able to do this. We are happy that the girls feel better and that they have a new lease on life! Here are pictures after the trim:
We have also given them names for the first time in their life! Parsley is the smallest jenny - probably between 6-7 years of age, Kiwi is the bigger jenny (we are not sure about her age), and Alfredo is the jack, about 9 months old. Alfredo had still been nursing but is now being weaned. We are now thinking that his mother, Parsley is likely pregnant again. Parsley will be needing the longest time for recovery with her hooves and if pregnant will have her baby here in peace! Kiwi is getting nicer by the day - she is letting me pet her now. Alfredo is coming along as well. He has let me pet him for the first time on his neck while he was eating his grain almost a week after we picked him up.
Alfredo
Kiwi
Parsley
We will also be looking for a responsible home for Alfredo. Alfredo is being worked with and should be friendly by the time he leaves our farm! He will have had his shots, de-wormings and hoof care - The potential new owner will have to agree to provide regular hoof care, vaccinations and de-wormings, and lots of LOVE! He will also have to have an equine companion. We would like for any homes to be permanent so that he will not end up as one of those poor animals that get shoved around from home to home once the novelty wears off, or a child looses interest.... If you feel like that you are able to provide such a home please e-mail us at donkeys@littlefriendsranch.com or call 270-753-9270.
13. Feb. 2005: They have had their first round of vaccinations today and Kiwi let me brush her for the first time!
04. March 2005: They are doing well. Parsley has balooned out quite a bit - so we are sure she is pregnant and is probably actually pretty far along. We have also found two wonderful homes for Alfredo and Kiwi. Alfredo has gotten much friendlier since we moved Kiwi out of his stall. He enjoys being brushed and rubbed on now. He will likely get to go outside in just a few more days.
12. March 2005: They got their second round of vaccinations and Alfredo gets to go into a large corral during the day time while Parsley stays out with our other pregnant girls. She only comes in for feeding time. We can see some new growth on Parsley's hooves already.
23. March 2005 Alfredo is making wonderful progress. He enjoys our company and my little girl (4 years old) was allowed to brush him for the past couple of days. He stood still and seemed to really enjoy it. Every time she stopped he moved in closer to her to make sure he was in her arms reach. What a change....
15. April 2005 Alfredo has come a long way - he has really been enjoying his daily grooming. He even did great while I had to give him a bath. After the bath he lost many of his "curls" and his fur is straighter now. He also has gone through another round of de-worming. He seems to have really taken to our 4 year old girl. Today, Alfredo was picked up by his new owners and is now on his way to Florida. I am so thankful for such special people that have given him a permanent home where all he is there for is to be loved on and to enjoy himself. I really do appreciate that they were willing to drive all the way up here to pick him up in person.
Parsley seems to be a little tired on her feet. She is really heavy and wide now and I really think she can't get any wider. If donkeys could get stretch marks I'm sure she would have plenty! I'm hoping for her to not to have to go too much longer - she has a bag but it is still pretty loose.
Parsley 9 hours before delivery
Parsley baby (Mocha Latte) pictures at 12 hours of age
28 July 2005: Parsley and Mocha are doing well. Parsley will be going to Florida some time in September. We are not sure yet, if Mocha will be going with her. Mocha is staying very small being just 23 1/2 - 23 3/4" at almost 3 months of age. Mocha had a very bad over bite when he was born and I am pleased to say that his bite has improved a lot.
We have heard from Kiwi's owners and she delivered a spotted baby girl on 26. July 2005. They are thrilled! We are grateful that all went well and that both Kiwi and baby girl are doing fine! Here is a picture of Kiwi's baby.
September 2005 Parsley has left to go to her new home to live with Marilyn Watson of Greenville, Florida. Marilyn came up here to spend a day with Parsley before she took her back home. Parsley now has a wonderful loving home which she deserves so much.
Picture above: Parsley and her owner Marilyn Watson at Mule Day - Nov. 05, 2005 - Parsley is looking great thanks to Marilyn's thorough knowledge in hoof care, chiropractic adjustments and herbal treatments. Parsley placed 2nd in her halter class that had 8 other entries. I am thrilled considering what kind of shape this little jenny was in just 6 months earlier.
Testimonials from new "Donkey Parents"
Viscous Dog Attacks (contains a disturbing picture)
Rescued Donkeys
Please click the link below to E-mail us:
donkeys@littlefriendsranch.com
The Little Friends Ranch
Nadia Attia-O'Bryan
1034 Carl Crisp Rd.
Almo, KY 42020
270-753-9270