03/11/2025
Great to see this ethical practice to give donkeys the best possible start
Are you looking to add a sweet, long eared friend to your farm? If you are, here are a few reasons why you should consider adding one from our farm.
We are a smaller family farm, consisting of 23 “permanent” Registered miniature donkeys. Out of our 23, we have 21 who are MDR registered. MDR, the Miniature Donkey Registry, is the original registry for Miniature Mediterranean Donkeys. We take pride in conserving some “foundation” bloodlines, that are within our herd. Our 2 donkeys who are not MDR registered are ADR Registered. ADR, the American Donkey Registry, allows donkeys to be registered… as long as they meet the breed standard… even with an unknown pedigree. We have a single jennet who is ADR Registered and we registered our gelding with ADR. ALL of our foals are registered and then transferred into their new owners names. This is very important. Not only for the registry to be able to continue, but also for the livestock conservancy to have an idea of how many miniature donkeys there are. Did you know that they’re on the watchlist for being endangered? Out of 50,000,000 total donkeys worldwide… only an estimated 10,000-25,000 are miniature donkeys. We are huge supporters of rescuing AND ethical breeding.
Like I said above, we have 23 “permanent” donkeys. Some will retire from breeding, around the time that some of our future brood jennets are of age. To pet owners, 23 donkeys might seem like a lot. However, as breeders, we have a smaller herd. This allows for us to really spend time with our foals. We have great relationships with our jennets and are with them when they give birth. We are hands on with our foals, almost immediately after they’re born… but also give space for them to bond with their moms. We teach them how to stand tied, walk on a lead, we trim their hooves (when needed), feel in their mouths, scratch the inside of their ears, etc. We also do some fun obstacle training with them, even if they’re not going to a show home. You might ask, “why?” It’s because this builds their confidence, makes them easy to handle, and sets them up for a more successful future. A family just bought from us the other day. Their 6 year old daughter was able to lead 2 month old Gizmo over all kinds of fun obstacles (they’ll bring him home once he’s gelded and weaned around 6 months old). One of our biggest compliments is how easy to handle our donkeys are.
When our donkeys are with us, they are up to date on vaccinations, hoof trims, teeth floats, deworming, etc. Our foals are on a deworming schedule, since they can be more compromised than the adults. We vaccinate and then give a booster, before they leave our farm. We have them receive a rabies vaccine. All of ours will have a current negative coggins test. If ours are leaving the state of Tennessee, we also provide a health certificate from our veterinarian. We do our absolute best to make sure that you are receiving a healthy animal. Plus, if they are a jack, we have them gelded before they leave our farm (unless being sold as a jack to a reputable breeder).
Everything we do is to make sure that our foals will have a successful future and that our buyers are happy. Our donkeys are our family members. Our buyers become friends of ours. It is all very important to us. We are breeding with a purpose… preserving bloodlines, aiming to continue to better the breed, etc. Breeding for color, size, quantity and more ≠ quality.
If you have any questions about our program, we would be happy to answer. All of our available donkeys have found homes this year. However, we are expecting 8 foals next spring.
****We do not sell single donkeys to be a single donkey in a home. Donkeys can become depressed and/or develop behavioral issues, if they are an only donkey… even if they are with other equines. So we require that our donkeys go to homes that already have donkeys or will be getting a second… whether they both come from us or a second donkey comes from another farm.****
