La Drôme Donkeys

La Drôme Donkeys Helping to save the critically endangered Baudet du Poitou from extinction. Spend time/support our rescue and Poitou reproduction work. Stay in a gîte or donate!

So very proud of Kismet de Barret, the first fédon (baby Baudet du Poitou) born into my arms.... Just over 5 and a half ...
24/11/2025

So very proud of Kismet de Barret, the first fédon (baby Baudet du Poitou) born into my arms.... Just over 5 and a half years ago....
How time flies. Kismet means destiny, meant to be.. and she most definitely was. It took 17 hours to get Kis feeding and on her feet...and here we are and here she is. Beautiful ♥️ inside and out.

Kis is glorious, absolutely enormous, huge ears, huge bones, fuzzy curly coat, huge eye sockets, long straight back, just wonderful. So gentle and loving... Although she does have an instinct to chase and attack predators....and a very strong character.

A true Princess, who knows she is big and strong.
First born to Bamako, best Mum. Her dad, Rhébus de la Boutonne was enormous and gloriously placid, also father of Champion Stallion, Cupidon du Vern. She definitely looks like her father, has his bone structure and eyes but her Mum's strong character and blond highlights!

Just love her so.
Kismet is pregnant, fingers crossed, by Acredite des Genets, for May 2026.
"Wait and see" seems to be their motto....

The Baudet du Poitou is critically endangered. Their reproduction is not easy. If Kis succeeds, her foal will be our first 2nd generation fédon, so very special....

You can support by donating, becoming a Patreon Sponsor or by booking a holiday in one of our gîtes where you can meet the donkey family.
Linktr.ee/Ladromedonkeys





22/11/2025

The line up....

My heart skips every day and every time I see this family altogether!
Friends and family matter.

Thankyou for following and caring ❤️ ❤️ ❤️

The Baudet du Poitou donkey and the Mulassière Poitivin horse are both critically endangered.

You can support by donating, becoming a Patreon Sponsor or by booking a holiday in one of our gîtes.
Linktr.ee/ladromedonkeys





22/11/2025

Extreme weather...
Not easy for our critters.

Snowed overnight. The sudden freezing conditions after 2 or 3 weeks at 20 degrees in the afternoons...
Worse, howling wind aswell as snow and freezing. Winds of 60 to 80 kms an hour forecast, minus 8 and freezing all of next week.
This is harsh.

In the summer we had heatwave and drought for 3 months. Now blizzards.

And we can see first hand the differences between horse coats, who are waterproof, and donkeys, who are not.
Nata is the only one who does not mind at all. Out in all weathers with her snow tyre hooves and all weather coat. Quite happy. She stays out in the elements.
The Poitous fair well with their woolly overcoats which protect a bit more. They go in and out constantly.
The 3 Muskateer Provence boys hate the cold and wet. Aramis literally comes and waits for his ciat. His skin is too thin and he suffers the cold and wet. He shivers, so needs a coat. Portos and Atos hate to wear covers and their coats fluff up like hedgehogs. Aramis cannot do this. The Vet said je was weaned to early and has immune problems and allergies.

So most of them go in and out. Nata mostly stays out.
Aramis stays inside, even in his waterproof cover.
The big worry is Bamako. She just refuses to go inside. Never. This results in her daughter Kismet or her doting Atos waiting and freezing outside with her.
I have spent hours trying to encourage Bamako in to the stable. No way. If I offer her a coat she runs way. No way, José.

So, I have been back and forte, braving the weather, to check my friend Bamako is alright.

So, out of the 10 here, one will not go in and one will not come out.
Always something......

You can support by donating, becoming a Patreon Sponsor or by booking a stay in one of our gîtes where you can meet the donkey family. Link in bio.
Linktr.ee/ladromedonkeys





Their latest album cover...   Nata has stepped up as lead singer. The support band is not so impressed...Come visit! A s...
20/11/2025

Their latest album cover...
Nata has stepped up as lead singer. The support band is not so impressed...

Come visit! A stay in one of our gîtes help to support our Conservation project.
The Baudet du Poitou and the Trait Poitivin are critically endangered. They deserve to be saved.

You can support by donating, becoming a Patreon Sponsor or by booking a holiday in one of our gîtes where you can meet the donkey and Nata-unicorn family.











❤️







20/11/2025

Ils s'organisent....
Anissou, devant, toujours plus ou moins boiteuse ... mais elle est incroyable et belle. Elle se débrouille et arrive toujours en première. Elle profite au fond de sa vie ici avec ses camarades et sa petite, la belle Lumière.

La Drôme Donkeys

19/11/2025

So lucky to have friends.... these donkeys and I...

Not easy to go out with 11 donkey-heffalumps and one unicorn-draft horse... 48 hooves!
So, it is always such a pleasure when friends come round to give their time. This morning, half a day walking everyone!
It takes time and they all like to go out in a group!

Thankyou to these two friends, who live nearby...for giving up a whole morning for the donkeys, Nata-horse... and me! They were thrilled to be taken out!

You can support the donkeys by donating, becoming a Patreon Sponsor or by booking a holiday in one of our gîtes where you can meet the donkey family. Link in bio.
Linktr.ee/ladromedonkeys


















It's getting really cold all of a sudden. Up to 20 degrees the last couple of weeks, in the day.Now freezing temperature...
17/11/2025

It's getting really cold all of a sudden. Up to 20 degrees the last couple of weeks, in the day.
Now freezing temperatures on their way and even snow forecast.

So difficult for animals, these sudden fluctuations...
They are very stoic, though and just wait.....

You can support the donkeys by donating, becoming a Patreon Sponsor or by booking a holiday in one of our gîtes where you can meet the donkey family. Link in bio.
Linktr.ee/Ladromedonkeys










Bien dit..
16/11/2025

Bien dit..

❤️🫏Aimer les ânes, qu’est-ce que ça peut bien signifier?

Peut-être que ce 16 novembre 2025, qui semble marquer le début de l’hiver, fait place à beaucoup de réflexions, suite à des récentes publications sur les réseaux sociaux.

Vous savez, je ne vis aucunement de mes ânes, donc même si mon ton, mes propos risquent de déplaire, je garde en priorité le bien-être des ânes dans chacun de mes mots.

Je vais débuter par ce qui pour moi, devrait être une réponse à cette question. Est-ce que je détiens la vérité absolue? Évidemment non, mais j’ai ma propre vérité comme l’ensemble des humains, biaisée par nos valeurs, notre expérience, notre personnalité, etc.

Pour moi, dans le cas des ânes, « ma » vérité est la suivante, soit les aimer suffisamment pour leur offrir un bien-être optimum en lien avec leurs besoins physiques et émotionnels.

Oui, c’est vaste comme réponse et pour y arriver il faut investir temps, énergie, argent AVANT l’acquisition et tout le long de leur vie.

Temps : Formation auprès des sources fiables, par exemple le plus grand refuge d’ânes au monde, le Donkey Sanctuary UK qui a une solide équipe de vétérinaires, de comportementalistes. Ils offrent de consulter/télécharger (Français et Anglais) leurs superbes documents références GRATUITEMENT. L’Université de Californie (UC Davis) qui collabore étroitement avec le Donkey Sanctuary et qui offre depuis plus d’une dizaine d’années un Symposium sur les ânes , d’une durée de 2 jours (en présentiel ou virtuel). Savoir déceler des pages FB, s’il y a lieu, qui prônent les bonnes pratiques de ces deux entités, minimalement.

Énergie : Oui, c’est de l’énergie, toujours se tenir à l’affût des meilleures pratiques, tenter de les appliquer selon notre pays, région, sachant toutes les particularités singulières des ânes. NON ils ne sont pas rustiques au Québec.

Argent : Oui, il faut prévoir à long terme, et on ne s’enrichit pas financièrement avec ces magnifiques poilus, alors il y a bien des aspects à considérer AVANT et APRÈS à ce niveau aussi.

Des publications qui vont à l’encontre de tout bon sens pour les ânes, me découragent par moment :

Un âne se retrouve SEUL dans une écurie, servant davantage de mascotte toute cute…

Des publications de zoo, refuge, où là aussi, des mascottes car encore une fois, SEUL de son espèce…

Des marchands qui vendent à des néophytes, sans formation préalable…

Des ânons d'à peine 5, 6 mois séparés de leur mère pour la vente à des futurs propriétaires trop pressés.

Des asineries de savon qui osent dire lors d’un marché public que des ânes , c’est têtu…

Des asineries qui laissent ses ânes entassés à l’intérieur tout l’hiver…

Et toutes ces situations troublantes :

Âne non castré en dehors d’un contexte d’un élevage « éthique »
Âne utilisé pour éduquer vache, cheval, au licou
Âne gardien de troupeau
Âne seul de son espèce : NON ce n’est pas dans le respect de l’âne même si toi, tu penses qu’il est heureux à travers tes cochons, tes chèvres, tes moutons, tes chevaux, tes vaches… Des histoires d’horreur se sont produites à mélanger : Une vache qui tue un mammouth, une chèvre cornue qui crève les yeux de l’âne, un âne qui « en jouant » tue un mouton, etc, etc...
Âne n’ayant pas les installations nécessaires à son bien-être, vit dans la boue, qu’un simple abri 3 côtés (nous sommes au Québec) ça ne suffit pas avec nos hivers
Âne nourri inadéquatement
Âne avec des sabots affreux

Et malheureusement, bien d’autres situations à donner les frissons…

Et bien, il semble que ces humains les aiment… selon leur définition. Je vous laisse faire votre propre opinon, mais moi ça me donne la nausée par moment.

Oui, adopter des ânes, en pleine conscience de tout ce que ça implique vraiment pour être heureux et en santé.❤️🫏

16/11/2025

No-one is impressed by this weather..

20 degrees for days but since last night, torrential rain and now a truly terrible storm.
This week, forecast down to minus 2 at night and a huge drop even in the day-time.

This huge, sudden variations in weather and temperature are very complicated for their bodies to manage.

It is rare for this lot to go in the shed but they have been in here since last night. Only 4 wheel drive Nata, Trait Poitivine draft horse is happy outside, with her winter type hooves and waterproof ciat. The donkeys hate to get really wet, especially the 3 Muskateers, designed for South Eastern France temperatures.

Now given hay 3 times a day..... and have placed water inside their house to encourage them to drink.

The beginning of the year was wet, then drought and heat wave which lasted months and now these terrible inondations and storms. This climate is challenging for them... and us.

Anissou is still staying with Acredite and his girlfriend. Just been so slippy here.

You can support the donkeys by donating, becoming a Patreon Sponsor or by booking a holiday in one of our gîtes where you can meet the donkey family. Link in bio
Linktr.ee/ladromedonkeys


















13/11/2025

Midnight snack...

This weather is ever more weird...

20 degrees this afternoon, sunshine. Cold at night. Thunderstorms and inondations due this weekend...and a huge drop in temperature.

Not much left to eat in the forest, so 3 meals a day at the moment.

Such a glorious bunch, who "make do and mend"... we have much to learn.

Some are eating outside, some prefer the shed. Cannot say why!

The climate is so complicated these days and you can see that these critters are not always ready....

You can support the donkeys by donating, becoming a Patreon Sponsor or by booking a holiday in one of our gîtes where you can meet the donkey family. Link in bio.
Linktr.ee/Ladromedonkeys














11/11/2025

Friends matter....

Friend and donkey supporter Stéphane has been coming to the gîtes since 2019...
Chief Poo-Picker/Palefrenier ...
As a group, this lot can be a bit much! But they love the company ... and they all know Stéphane well, they love him ... He just laughs with them, cares and his knowledge of rugby rules helps alot, especially at meal times! Arriving with 12 kilos of carrots every time may help a bit, too!

Out in their woods with the donkey family (and horse relation Nata, too) is one of my favourite things.......

You can support the donkeys by donating, becoming a Patreon Sponsor or by booking a holiday in one of our gîtes where you can meet the donkey family. Link in bio.
Linktr.ee/ladromedonkeys

La Drôme Donkeys

Les Beaux Chenes - gites avec une grande piscine

11/11/2025

5 degrees tonight so a midnight snack.

Some are eating in the house, others outside by choice. Bamako very rarely goes inside.

Such a complicated year with the weather. Now, so little to eat in the forest but the ground is too wet to pasture on neighbours fields.

Always something.....

But I do love to spend time with them at night-time and they appreciate the company and late night snack...

You can support the donkeys by donating, becoming a Patreon Sponsor or by booking a holiday in one of our gîtes where you can meet the donkey family. Link in bio.
Linktr.ee/Ladromedonkeys










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Les Beaux Chênes, 1205 Chemin Les Perrins
Pont-de-Barret
26160

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