This is “Lester” . Lester has a very long and sad story. Thanks to Dr. Dawn Miller of Newberry , Fl, Lester will live a long and healthy life.
He is 17 years old. In November 2009, Lester was rescued from a horrible situation. When he arrived at Dr. Miller’s he was at deaths door. She surgically removed over 60 lbs of sand from Lester’s gut. His hooves looked like “elf shoes”. She had the farrier come and tend to that part, she castrated him, did coggins testing, vaccinated and wormed him as well. She donated ALL her work. Thank you Dr. Miller!!! You are truly wonderful. Lester is braying for you and yours.
Lester is loads of fun! We play tag, run together and he allows me to be his friend. He’s still very timid and trusting a little more each day. He told me I can brush and rub him, but not before I feed him. He said he can’t do ANYTHING on an empty stomach.
On 4/15 we bought Lester a goat so he could have some company….he was soooo excited. He looked like a see saw, bucking and rearing, talking and running like a mad man. We were so happy that we had found a companion for him. That goat took one look at Lester, stayed about 4 hours and flew the coop. We have been baaaaaaing all over the place and we still haven’t found him. I worry because he disappeared into 2500 acres of wooded private property and I have no way to go look for him without getting lost myself. LOL
So…on 4/20/10, we found JJ. JJ, is another donkey who is 12 years old and has lost all his friends. His owners wanted him to have some company so we all decided to bring JJ here. He stayed in a different pasture over night so they could get used to each other and they stayed up all night “talking”. We decided that they liked one another, so we opened the gates. After about 10 minutes of strutting and braying they both got tired and went to grazing. Looks like a wonderful match. I’ll put some pictures of JJ up as soon as I take them. I didn’t even have a chance to take pics of the goat! We have discovered that JJ is partially blind. Any sudden movement, including leaves blowing, and he’s gone. It took a little time to figure it out. He spooks easily so we try very hard to move slowly. He just pulled a muscle trying to show off. He’ll be moving VERY slowly now. Thank goodness for Beigal(sp) Oil!
Pistachio (Nut) was a friend of a friends. She was born with a broken leg and it never healed properly. She’s part Mammoth so she’s a BIG girl. Her dad tried to get to her, she tried to get away and got caught up in a fence. He repeatedly bit her ear and damaged the cartilage permanently. Hence the lop ear. She is super sweet and VERY curious. She carries your tools away, pushes you out of the way yo see exactly what it is you’re doing and DEMANDS attention. She came to us in Oct. 2010
Sadie came from a very sad existence. When we went to get her (Feb. 2011), she was in a small pasture with 2 horses, another donkey, a mule and a pony and NO GRASS. They were all fed when the owner felt like it and they all had friends that died and were left just outside the pasture to rot away. The carcasses are still there!! She had elf feet that were hacked off as we arrived. The fellow actually cut her feet! I wish we could have taken them all but…..Her feet hurt her so badly she was drooling for days and there was nothing to be done to fix her feet they were so bad and sooo short. She had a lot of difficulty eating and Lester was having some trouble as well. The Vet. came in and filed their teeth. What a huge difference. She was biting holes in her tongue every time she ate. That contributed to the emaciation as well as parasites. She’s on the mend, couldn’t be more docile and enjoys every moment she’s stroked. It’s very slow going but we’re all braying for her. It’s now 4/29/12 and Sadie looks much better but still not quite right. She has NO muscle tone and her hair is shedding out in huge patches. We suspect Cushings and will have her tested. In the meantime, we’re going to try Chaste Tree Berry. Have heard great things about it. In addition to the normal diet they also get raw 100% powdered garlic. It works wonders for flies and ticks and we all know garlic is natures antibiotic. We’ll keep you all posted on her health.
We adopted 1 of our donkeys out and 6 months later had to go get it. She was in worse shape than when we got them the first time. So…no more rescue. We are now a sanctuary/retirement home.
We love them all and actually look forward to Lester’s impatient braying first thing in the morning! Since I intially wrote about Lester, he’s become such a cranky old man!! We don’t mind though, we figure he’s earned the right.
Miss Sadie is so much better. All of them were started on Chaste Tree Berry powder. A much lower dose than suggested and only 1 time daily. So their “muffins” consist of
1 Tablespoon of coconut oil (Vita Cost)
1/4 cup garlic (Spingtime Bug Off)
1 teaspoon chaste tree berry powder ( Holistic Herbal Solutions)
1/4 cup feed
1 squirt sugar free pancake syrup
They have all shown a marked improvement. Lester is not quite so cranky. JJ is much friendlier, Pistachio is, well…she just is a character and the funniest donkey I ever met and Sadie has put on some weight and seems to have much more energy. They ALL shed out completely and early this year so we didn’t have to shave them because of the heat.
We have the ultimate Farrier and friend, Mr. Larry Benware. Don’t know what we’d do without him and all his practical knowledge and hoof expertise. We call him the Donkey Whisperer. LOL