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I’m so thrilled to be able to introduce you to our newest farm animals! Meet Cosmo, Leo, Naomi and Sugar – our new mini donkeys and a horse we are boarding for my cousin.
So how did we end up here with all these animals “next” on the farm list? Well…when we bought the farm two years ago, we always liked the idea of having horses. But neither Kevin nor I really had any experience with them. I always knew we would probably start smaller. And trust me when I say, it was my intent to start smaller with less farm animals. But it turns out, equestrian math is similar to chicken math.
How it started
In June, I felt like it was time to kick life up a notch here. I was turning 40 and in a year of disappointments with 2020, I wanted something to look forward to. So, I told Kevin I wanted Sicilian donkeys, AKA mini donkeys.
From there, I set out to make it happen and it sort of all just fell into place. My cousin knew a breeder who happened to have two pregnant Sicilian donkeys that were not spoken for. I snatched up those babies and waited patiently for the boys – Cosmo and Leo – to be born (a lot later than we thought they would be) on Aug. 30 and Sept. 6.
Once I had found the donkeys, I needed somewhere for them to live. I spent months designing a barn for them and working out the space for them to live on our property. With half of our 7 acres being farmed, a wetland to the right of the property and low, wet spots throughout, there was really only one place a barn could go right now.
But why Sicilian donkeys?
While debating about which animal to get, I went through the usual suspects.
Goats: I had planned to get goats at some point. I love the idea of making goat cheese and soap, but after learning more and more about them, they kind of sounded like trouble. The words “escape artists” kept coming up and our road is somewhat busy.
Sheep: We could make a small profit off the wool and they seemed docile enough for the kids. But sheep need a guardian. They are. certainly the most at risk of the larger animals when it comes to predators.
Alpacas: We live across the street from an old alpaca farm and while I no less about them than I do horses, my neighbors know everything. But, I just didn’t know enough to even love the idea.
Mini donkeys? I asked my cousin – a horse girl – for advice and she loved the idea. She said they were cute, while not being too big; loveable and funny, without being the trouble of goats; and would prepare us for horses since they have a lot of the same needs (but are not actually the same species). Sold!
But then the horse?
I mentioned my cousin is a horse girl, right? Shortly after I secured the barn, my cousin asked me to take her horse for the winter. She’s hoping to have another baby and won’t be able to ride her. I agreed.
I thought it would be good for us to learn the care of a horse year-round. We had started riding lessons and giving us a chance to take care of her would really show us the work required.
Sugar is a Haflinger horse and registered as “My Pal Sugar.” My cousin calls her Sugar Booger because she has a diva attitude to go with her gorgeous diva hair. She’s about 2,000 lbs. and a serious animal. We are working on our relationship and I’ve recently found someone to help train me so I can better handle her.
There’s a third donkey
In October, my breeder asked if I would want to buy Leo’s mother Naomi. The breeder was looking to sell her farm and move to another and wasn’t sure how she might keep as many animals in between. I accepted immediately. Since both my babies are boys, I liked the idea of having a female. I also loved the idea of one of the mamas being able to stay with her baby.
That said, I can’t keep Naomi with the boys right now. Leo has just been weaned and he started trying to nurse on her again. She was also being pretty nasty to Cosmo because he isn’t her baby.
Naomi and I are also working on our relationship. She’s seems a bit sad she can’t be with Leo. She also hadn’t previously met Sugar, even thought they were at the same farm. And, she left her friend and Cosmo’s mom back with our breeder. She’s had a rough few weeks so I understand we will need some time. And I’ve been giving her treats.
So, that’s the little story of how we wound up with all these pretty, large animals here at the farm. I’ll write more about each of them individually soon. These first two weeks have been fun, challenging and somewhat stressful. They’re obviously a lot more involved than our our chickens and we’ve had to alter our schedule to fit them into our daily lives. But, I’m truly looking forward to them spending their lives with us and being able to show them love and companionship.
Thank you so much for visiting, friends! If you want to see more of the living space for the farm animals, check out our Shedrow barn tour {HERE}. I hope that you will come again soon to see what else we are doing here at Sugar Maple Farmhouse.
Aw, they are so cute! My daughter would be all about the horse.
I am fully on board with all of these hooved creatures. They’re adorable. I can’t wait to see more of what they get up to around the farm.
Ahhh! Your farm makes me almost think about moving from NYC. Almost. I absolutely love seeing what you have going on out there, and these new additions make my heart so happy.
You are living my dream life. I love all those donkeys and I would like to someday run my own animal sanctuary.
Oh my goodness! The mini donkeys are literally the cutest! I’d love to have the land someday to have animals on.
They are the cutest creatures! I would hope to have my own to raise one day!
How adorable are they! The mini donkeys are awesome!
They are such pretty animals. The snow looks pretty also, especially when it is not in my backyard.
We have been toying with the idea of getting goats and donkeys, but now that I’ve seen these, I think this may be what we need. Also, I LOVE your barn!!! We’ll need to build a barn as well for whatever animals we get.
I never heard of Sicilian goats before reading this article. It was nice to read about these cute little animals.
They are so adorable! We have chickens and ducks, but I’d love to have more. Donkeys are so cute!
Wow! I don’t say that animals are pretty often but yours are! My toddler wants a zebra and a tiger right now, lol. Hopefully plastic ones will suffice!
On my goodness. I’m in love. How cute are these two. Love it.
Oh my goodness!! Those mini donkeys are the cutest.
Oh wow, congratulations on your new additions I hope that the training with Sugar goes well. The mini donkeys are so cute!
I love their names. Glad to meet these beautiful donkeys.
They’re adorable. I love your farm house so much you’re doing an amazing job x
Wow.. they are so beautiful creatures. And I love the names, especially Sugar and Naomi. Definitely something to look forward to.
Oh how precious are they!
OMG! Those mini donkeys are super cute. It’s a dream of mine to have a farm. And if that dream will come true, I’d love to have those mini donkeys too.
I want them all!!! They are so cute and great new additions!
OMG the cutenss is beyond belief! Welcome to your new home!
Aww, they are adorable! Having a farm sounds like so much fun. It would be neat to have the ability to have farm animals like this.
Wow, they look so cute! It must be a lot of fun with them on the farm!
Glad to.hear that you have your own farm animals. It needs a lot of time and attention, well you are doing great. Welldone.
Morning
We have mini’s. They are the best. Don’t worry they will all get along eventually. One of ours is 29. The other is 20 months. We had one pass over a year ago so go the baby to kept Ooner company. The little guy lives toys. Balls and the Maranda dog toys from tractor supply . Good luck. Live that they posted you so I can now follow you on Instagram. Good luck.
I love those mini donkeys! They’re so cute! You added a lot of new animals in a short amount of time – how are you adjusting?
These are the absolute cutest. You are so brave and I’m loving living vicariously through you and your husband’s journey!
OMG! They are so cute. Baby animals are love. I wish to hug these cute mini donkeys. Thank you for sharing this post. You definitely made my day for these adorable creatures.