No matter where the John Donkeys are on the sanctuary property, they are always looking for a handout. They love to be fed even if it’s a very small amount. Here comes Herschel, Jules, Nestle, Kharma and Zeus – sauntering up to the small pen behind the chicken house. Nestle is AWOL from looking after his mom BonBon. He likes to get out of the corral from time to time to mix it up with the older boys…
Mare Cowgirl (the shepherdess) looks on patiently. She knows it’s time for her to eat too, but she’s surprisingly not putting up a big fuss over having to wait for the boys to finish. Sometimes she’ll snort and whinny when it’s time to eat but today she’s pretty calm.
Notice how the donkeys jockey for position… It’s pretty important to spread out the food so they don’t kick and fuss at each other over one feed bucket. We will usually spread it out over at least three containers. On the other side of the barn, there are troughs that tip – making it a lot easier to feed from one side. But these guys are not always where you want them to be at feeding time, so it’s convenient to have alternate feeding spaces.
After this video was taken, Cowgirl and her herd came rushing in to their side of the barn for dinnertime. That crew is nowhere near as rough as the donkeys. We can feed them easily without getting jostled. But with the donkeys, you’ve got to be careful not to get stuck between them at dinnertime – lest you get a random kick. It’s not that they are mean, it’s that they use small kicks to stake out a claim over a food bucket and you simply don’t want to be at the wrong place at the wrong time…
