Pond View Getaway Lodge, Wisconsin

Submitted by Ann Jenny

It was late summer of 2014 when we arrived in Frederic, Wisconsin to begin our next chapter, leaving Minneapolis and trading in everything familiar for life in the country.  We were ready and willing to take on the new challenges of running a lodge, managing forty acres, and building the little hobby farm we had been dreaming of.

With the kids off to college and our nest empty, it was time to put up fences and start filling the pastures!  We had a very specific list...chickens, sheep, and alpacas, in no particular order.  All of that changed when the winter issue of Modern Farmer arrived, showcasing the most adorable donkey I had ever seen.  We quickly started our research and got a note off to Halfpint Hollow.  Sue's speedy and thoughtful reply was the beginning of what has become one of the best decisions we've ever made!

Sue sent birth photos and descriptions as they became available, which only added to our enthusiasm.  June brought a visit to meet Sue, Rod, and all of the wonder of Halfpint Hollow.
We enjoyed every minute of our visit, and had the chance to spend time with the two foals we would be back for in August.  Hard to leave without them, but knew they needed two additional months with their mothers.

We arrived back home to our four sheep, ten hens, and no alpacas, to prepare for our late summer arrival.  Our anticipation grew as we built their shed and put up fencing.  Before we knew it, August had arrived.  We hopped in the truck and made our way back to pick up those adorable little donkeys!

Fast forward to now in 2019...Sam and Gus will soon be four years old.  It's been sheer delight watching them grow and change.  Some days find them feisty and full of energy and other days they're quiet and full of snuggles.  Their soulful eyes charm family and friends and the occasional "heehaw" is sure to bring a smile to everyone in range.  Their velvety mouth and great big teeth gently accept animal crackers from visitors who visit them in the pasture.  I just can't even imagine life without these two resident characters.

Endometrial Cups

When we are asked how many foals we will be having at Halfpint Hollow any given year, we only know how many we expect.  Births are never guaranteed, even when the jennets have been pregnancy tested.  Earlier this year an ultra sound showed Sunee Fox to be pregnant.  She never showed heat, so seemed fine until her due date came and went with no baby...She didn't even start bagging up like they normally do 4-6 weeks ahead of foaling.  We called the vet back for another ultra sound.  No baby!  Couldn't wrap our heads around why we saw no heats in the interim.  Then we learned from our vet about endometrial cups.

For those of you who love learning the why's of what is going on with our miniature donkeys, I will summarize what was passed on to me by our veterinarian, Dr. Anna Wildgrube.

Scientists refer to Day 0-14 as when a jennet is not in heat,  She then comes in what is called "standing heat" (will stand for a jack to breed her) Day 14-18.  If successfully bred, an embryo forms and the jennet is considered officially pregnant Day 21-365 (yes, for 12 months).

Three to four weeks after being bred (Day 36-38) the placenta produces endometrial cups which embed into the endometrial lining of the uterus.  I have read that these help prevent the dam's immune system from attacking the embryo/fetus.  Dr. Anna says if the embryo/fetus aborts once the cups are in place and before Day 150, the endometrial cups continue to give off hormones that make the jennet's system still believe she is pregnant.  Hence, no heats.

If there is no abortion during this window of time, the fetus will start taking over the mother's production of progesterone (Day 120-150).   The endometrial cups will remain until the fetus is producing sufficient progesterone for survival, then disintegrate.  If this transition goes well, a healthy little foal will be born seven months later.  We are hoping this happens for Sunee Fox next year!

When Play turns to Games

Play with all baby animals can consist of just the pure physical joy in the freedom of racing around like our donkey foals do, but that joy is enriched when there is a playful interaction with others.  There is nothing more fun to watch than a half dozen or more little foals racing up and down hills, in and out amongst the herd, chasing one another.

Probably all baby animals play.  We once came upon fox kits frolicking in a wooded road, ignoring their mother's warnings that we were there.  And my grandfather told of how each afternoon his dog and a young deer would meet in the middle of the hay field and play together.  Some animals don't even need a playmate, like a young moose having fun splashing in water.

We usually don't see adult donkeys physically play, though some of them do enjoy carrying around and sometimes even squeaking dog toys.  "Play" sometimes reaches a higher level, though, as we have recently witnessed with our 13 year old jack, Luciano.  His stall is in the corner of the barn with one side adjacent to the foaling pen and another to the main barn where the herd of jennets is.  During foaling season our barn cam is aimed at the foaling pen which also allows us to see him at the same time.  This is how we discovered that Luciano enjoys teasing our jennets.  In the evening Luciano leaves a few morsels of grain in his dish, picks it up with his mouth and slides the dish part way through the slats of his pen.  When a jennet goes for the "bait," he pulls it back again.  This happens over and over again until a jennet is quick enough to grab his dish and finish off his grain.

So play and games come in many forms, even in the donkey world.

The Art of Rolling

Donkeys love to roll and if there is no "dust hole" available, they will make one.  This is an instinct, but also takes practice to perfect.  At first the little ones have a difficult time making it all the way over from one side to the other. Holding their legs out straight causes them to flop back.  They are indeed quite proud of themselves when can finally flop all the way over.  Gradually they learn to fold their legs and with finesse, make a nice smooth roll from one side to another, as demonstrated above by Angelique, Angelino's mom.

And why in the world do they roll, you ask...The literature says donkeys need to coat themselves with dust (or mud when it is wet out) as protection from biting insects, but they seem to love rolling anytime of the year.  Guess they just haven't read the literature!  I think the truth is they do it because it just feels so good!

Manuka Honey

It all started when Simon was born with "windswept" hind legs.  The vet told us this happens when the foal's legs are off to one side in the womb, rather than tucked under it.  Our challenge would be to straighten his legs and ankles, but yet allow his flexor tendons to strengthen.  I would hold him in my lap while Rod wrapped each leg in cotton batting and gauze, applied a splint, then wrapped tightly with bandaging tape.  Twice a day we had to remove the splints and bandaging for a couple of hours to allow the tendons to strengthen, then reapply again.  His ankles were a bigger problem.  We fashioned a number of high top stiff shoes, but even though we padded them, they caused abrasions.  Infection was a threat.  A friend of ours, who works at an animal hospital, mentioned treating her bunny's torn ear with honey.  Through research we discovered manuka honey from New Zealand was an especially good healer.  We applied it each time to the abrasions, then covered again with gauze and bandaging.  The manuka honey worked like magic.

Simon wearing his plastic bag boots over his splints/bandaging in the tall wet grass

Simon's splints and supplies

Simon now has wonderful straight legs, but we were not successful in straightening his ankles.  Rod trims his hooves at an angle so that Simon can walk on them and not be lame.  He enjoys his life on the farm...Just tires a bit more easily than the others.

This spring we were presented with another problem.  When Nicolina was a couple days old Rod noticed Niadema, her mother, had  terribly chapped teats and was in agony when her foal nursed.  There are commercial udder balms that work great, but we needed something that wouldn't harm the foal.  Manuka honey to the rescue once again!  We applied the honey every two hours at first.  Niadema seemed to find the application of the honey very soothing.  Unfortunately, Nicolina caught on fast that when we applied the honey to her mother's teats, warm "honey milk" was on tap!  She would come on the run.  Even with all that, Niadema's teats totally peeled and grew new soft skin in a week's time.  All is well and back to normal once again!

Neadema and her honey loving honey

It was in the late 19th century that the antibacterial virtue of honey was discovered.  Since then researchers have found honey also stimulates tissue repair and reduces pain with its anti-inflammatory action.  The degree to which honey is effective depends on the nectar source of the bees.  Most manuka flowers contain a high concentration of dihydroxyacetone which bees convert to the antibacterial methylglyoxal (MG.)

Going back to little Simon's ordeal, he loved for me to sing him lullabies while in my lap having his splints/bandaging changed by Rod.  His dutiful mother, SunRise, hovered over him, totally trusting us.  Eventually the other little foals liked to "help," too, often removing Rod's hat from his head and being in general natural loving little nuisances!

Attentive Mom

Little Lap Baby sound asleep, 6 days old

All our work was made so much easier by our sweet critters and the healing powers of manuka honey!

Therapy Donkey

Ella Bea wondering why her little Mattie is dressed up like Santa...

Little Mattie does "awesome work," according to her new owner, as a therapy donkey for the non-profit international Eagala program in Minnesota.  This equine therapy program, run by professionals, helps improve the lives of those suffering from addiction, depression, and/or trauma.  They have found equine have a way of silently communicating with people in a calm non-judgemental way.  We are so proud of "our" little Mattie and so pleased to have her boarding with us for the winter months.  Once again, she has bonded with her mom, as seen in the picture above.

Christmas 2014

Merry Christmas from Little Lucia

Little Lucia being "lead" by her mom, Lady, and her auntie, Firestar Rose.

Our Christmas tradition is to send cards featuring our donkeys.  This year we chose little Lucia who seemed to rather like wearing a Santa hat.  Also included a picture of her mom, Lady, and her auntie, Firestar Rose, "leading" her.  (Those of you familiar with miniature donkeys know how they love to take leads and such in their mouths and indeed sometimes do lead another donkey who is "attached!"  In this case we had two do it at one time...couldn't resist the shot!)

On the back of our card posted a picture of the frozen crab apples that were too high for the donkeys to reach.  This was after our first snow of the season.  In the background are the donkeys, soaking up the sun's rays.

First snow, Frozen crab apples, and Furry donkeys in their winter coats