The Donkey Depot at Cheyenne Stables

Most recent updates at the bottom of the page... 

March 29, 2008

Well, I went to an auction last night and it just made me MAD!!!  Me and 2 of my donkey friends were looking around at the donkeys and we find one in very bad shape, so we go get the vet who does the on site coggins and he not only knows the owners but they are his neighbors.  So I am thinking they live down the road somewhere close by I want to talk to them for sending an animal in this shape to the auction block.  In the meantime, I find out that he is a vet out of Ohio where the donkeys came from.  He tells me if I want to help to take the jenny down to the barn where the public can't see her while he makes some phone calls.  I take her to the barn where there is another jenny being hidden who is in worse shape than the one I found.  She aborted her baby after her trip here from Ohio that evedentally stressed her so much that she lost her baby.  She is passing blood and still contracting and in alot of pain.  So we wait around for hours waiting on the vet and I told him to call the owners and tell them I will take them both home as is so they can have a fighting chance.  He comes back with a ridiculous amount for these sick jennies and it is either pay it or they are traveling back to Ohio Saturday night, so we negotiate a tad bit and he thinks it might be in their best interest to go with me.  So after paying him we get these pitiful jennies loaded.  One is so skinny and weak she can barely walk.  He thinks she might too be in premature labor.  (she's not)  anyway the other one is still contracting from 2 days ago and we are giving shots to both of these sweet girls.  I'm thinking of naming these Hope and Faith because without both I'm afraid they would have been dead today.  By the way, the owners his neighbors, sent these jennies and more down with him and he says they too rescued them.  All I can say is they will not be leaving our barn until they are completely healthy, that is what you do when you rescue an animal, you don't let it leave until it is in better condition than when you bought it.  Much more to come on this topic after what I witnessed last night.  The jennies are both up and standing today and they are eating, the solid gray one has been starved you can see every bone in her body.  The other has a white blaze face and she is the one who lost her baby over this.  It puts everything into perspective once again for me.  There are too many animals out there in this shape and worse and we do not need to breed more that might end up in this same shape.  Owning an animal is a life long commitment, I know some of my donkeys will out live me so it is really a life long commitment.  More to come on these sweet jennies, they deserve better and they are now getting it.

April 1, 2008

Well Hope and Faith, Faith was just starving to death and now with all the love and attention and hay she gets she is a happy camper.  Her stall mate Hope is not doing as well, our wonderful vet has been out and we have done alot for Hope but we aren't sure how this will turn out for her.  We are making her as comfortable as possible but the main goal right now is getting her temperture up.  She is at 94.4 and that is as high as we can get her with blankets and a bath robe (we had to imprevise) She has alot stacked against her right now, but we have had others pull out of bad situations.  If you are reading this please say a prayer for her she needs all the help she can get right now.  She has a lung problem, the abortion, still contracting, the low temp., and goopy eyes, she is also drooling from her mouth and laying alot.  Also, not eating and getting dehydrated.  Our vet says she is about 14 and the sale said 6 years old.  Guys be careful at these sales, cheaper is not always better.  You never know what you are getting into and unless you are fully prepared to spend the night with these animals until they get better don't do it.   I'm going back down in about 30 minutes to re-scheck her temp and it's already midnight.  We have never lost a donkey and I do not plan on starting now!!!  But I do not want her in pain so she has her pain medicine and we hope that Hope pulls out of this so she can live the rest of her life better than the first part of it.

And the mini mule, for now The Tazmanian Devil, Taz for short but he also has a middle name.  More to come on it later for those of you keeping a check on him.  This little guy is scared to death, somewhere along the way something went wrong.  I'm not sure if it is the mini mule in him or what but he needs therapy...I think he's hitting puberty, he's as moody as my older children.  I'm sure he will get better with time like everything else we bring to our farm.  And we will not give up on him.  He is still not at our farm until you can walk into his stall without getting kicked.  When he starts minding his manners we will see about letting him move back in.  Thanks so much to Phil and Pat and Bobby for helping out with this little Tazmanian Devil, and I mean that in the sweetest way possible, I really hope he turns into Kermit and gets way more laid back in the future.  Right now he is more like a mini mule with ADHD and add tons of coffee and sugar.

Also, Kandy Kisses went to her new home on Saturday and Theodore went today, Charlie is still here but will be leaving soon.

April 2, 2008

If you have been keeping up on Hope and Faith they are on the road to recovery.  Hope made it thru the days the vet said she shouldn't have.  We never cease to amaze the vet with these donkeys.  She said if Hope were a horse she would have been dead days ago.   We couldn't be happier with her progress.  Her temp is back up to somewhat normal and she is eating again.  Faith eats all the time now, poor donkey I don't think she had hay or any food in awhile.  We still have to trim their feet they haven't been trimmed in years most likely but we are very optimistic on their recovery.   It does our heart good to pull them out of a bad situation and get them on the road to recovery and find them wonderful homes that will continue the care they receive at our farm.  These girls have loved the attention they have received here, just brushing them you can tell they are smiling inside.  They love the kids going in the stall with them and loving on them.  They are going to make someone very loving pets in the near future and I'm glad we were at the right place at the right time to get them to where they are today. 

Next, the trainer called me out to look at Taz the miniature mule, I was amazed.  She has worked with him so much.  With about 5 minutes persuading I got him on the lead rope and out into the field.  He is still very jumpy but she has him leading.  We think he has been abused, if you just come out of know where he jumps.  If you wave your hand around he jumps.  We just have to let him know he is loved here and he will get better.  I would be afraid to sell this little guy to anyone right now or maybe ever.  He is too scared of new people and men in general.  He does much better with a woman than a man.  We will keep you updated on Taz and the others.  All of our others are getting along just fine.  Charlie is waiting to go to his new home and the others are still waiting for their new homes.  Thanks for your concerns and emails on all of our longears.

April 4, 2008

I had the vet Gail call today checking on Hope, much to her surprise she is doing much better.  She expected her to be worse by now or passed.  That just shows how bad she really was.  She is now eating like all the other donkeys and drinking too.  This is a huge step considering this time last week she was near death.  Gail said is would be ok to worm her tomorrow and shots in a couple of weeks and in the time in between that we have to get her feet done.  So she is on the road to recovery.  Her stall buddy Faith is also much better we will worm her tomorrow also.  Hopefully it will clear up this weekend so we can get them outside for a little while.  We shouldn't be in a drought for much longer with all of the rain we have had in the past couple of weeks.  Thanks for your prayers we pulled this jenny from death and it nothing less than a miracle that she is doing this much better today.

April 12, 2008

We have had alot going on this week and I haven't had time to put updates on the site.  But we just got in from the barn and here is a run down of how our week has been.  Busy to say the least.  I have been helping out at another farm not too far from here who has sheep and mini's and standards and mammoth donkeys.  Same farm who is taking care of our mini mule Taz.  They have had a few sheep die this week and I'm having a hard time adjusting to this.  We just aren't used to that around here.  But everyone is getting back on the right track.  We took one of his jennies to the vet this week she had pneumonia from all the weather changes lately.  She is doing much better now.  They had a jenny who needed to come into the barn from the pasture because she was ready to foal but we didn't want her getting sick from Gracey so we got to bring the pregnant jenny here.  So we are awaiting the first birth on our farm any day now.  I can't wait and we have had many sleepless nights this week trying to catch a glimpse of the birth of the baby.  We are also babysitting a miniature horse named Cloie this week, she is here to be bred to a jack to make a miniature mule.  She is so sweet and the kids have fallen in love with her.  Savannah keeps asking if we get to keep her.  Thanks Jessie for letting us help out.  Also, the new jennies are much better, they got to go outside this week for the first time since being at our farm.  I thought we would never get them to want to come back in.  But they were very easy to catch and continue to do well.  After much thought we have decided to take Alvin off the For Sale page for now.  We want to see how tall he ends up being we might be able to use him as a permanent here for field trips since he is so small and sweet.  We are going to put up Hope and Faith as a package deal they will have to go together and will have to have an approved home.  The farrier came back from Montana this week and did Hope and Faith's feet, they were very long probably haven't been cut in a year or more.  It will take a couple more visits to get them back to where they need to be but they are 10 times better than when we brought them here.  And Hershey the gelding is still up for sale along with Coy and our Draft Horse Gertrude.  So all stalls are full right now and 3 are staying outside until it rains or gets cold again.  I'm sure the pasture will be gone in no time.  Taz the mini mule is actually doing much better, I was able to get into his stall without getting kicked this morning.  That is a huge plus for him!!!  He still shakes all over at the thought of being touched but I'm sure he will come around in time.  Thanks to all the visitors we have had over the past couple of weeks, we love talking donkeys and horses and enjoy the time to show both off.  Any questions give me a call or drop me an email. 

 April 16, 2008

Well we have almost made it through another week, no baby donkey yet, we thought for sure she would have had that baby by now.  And the animals have loved the beautiful weather.  Hope caught a cold but she is fine, the weather changing had to have been the cause.  And Gertrude even felt a little under the weather.  But everyone is back on the right track, again.  We do have a new addition to our family, Riley Rae an adorable miniature dachsund puppy.  She is 4 months old and the first inside dog we have had since Savannah was born almost 6 years ago!  We are all enjoying the new puppy and she is a beautiful chocolate brown color. 

Chloie the miniature horse went home, we enjoyed having her but she likes long tails better than our loud mouths.  So we did not get her bred but she has a long tail in mind!!!  I will try to post some new pictures soon of our new addition and the rescue jennies.  I do have pictures I can email if anyone is interested, it just takes longer to actually add them to my site.

April 21, 2008

And we have had another busy week.  Hope and Faith are sold after being up for sale for only a week.  We have a customer who bought Kandy Kisses and she decided she needed more jennies.  So she came out today to meet Hope and Faith and fell in love.  I know they will be taken care of and get great care at her farm.

We got the mini mule back.  He has made great progress and is only going to do better.  He is still a bit shaky and scared but has made alot of progress.  He will now walk on a lead line and once you get your hands on his halter he is ok.  He can't take any sudden movements, he jumps at anything that is sudden.  You have to be very patient with this little guy. 

We are still on baby donkey watch.  The more we watch the more Kayla crosses her legs and says I'm not having it until you leave!!!  I think she should have her foal tonight but I've been saying that for 2 weeks now and since we do not know her due date we will have to keep a watch until then.

We do have more donkeys coming this weekend and we are considering selling our Mammoth Donkey.  She hasn't made buddies with anyone and the mini's are actually pretty mean to her.  So let me know if you are interested.

April 27, 2008

Well we are back with the donkeys we brought 6 home and sold 2 yesterday after we got home.  We got 2 jennies to add to our breeding stock and a jack to be the herd sire until Johnny is ready and we might just keep 2 herd sires to service the ladies.  Everything we got yesterday is registered.  Some blood lines go back to Valentino 50 and they are all clipped and are beautiful!!!  I will try to post pictures soon.  We have to get feet trimmed tomorrow and worm and I will try to fit in pictures then too.  Lately, we have been selling donkeys as soon as we get them in so if you are interested in a donkey let me know because most of them do not make it on the site before getting sold.  We are changing plans a little bit and are going to start breeding for 2009 babies but we will still rescue along the way and try to keep donkeys as cheap as possible as pets and breed for show and breeding quality donkeys.  We are also planning on showing quite a bit this summer and fall. 

Also, the baby was born on Friday morning, of course we missed it but all is well.  Mama and baby are doing well and baby is a charcoal jenny with a black nose.  We have named her Beauty.  Mama and baby are for sale at the bottom of our sale page. SOLD

May 7, 2008

We are back in business, the computer issues are over, for now anyway.  We have several new additions.  We have 2 jennies that are pregnant, one due anytime now and the other due next March.  They both have the fat roll I have warned about and need their feet trimmed badly but we will get them back in good shape.  We are getting so busy that most of our donkeys are selling before I get a chance to post them.  So if you have something in mind please let me know.  Also, we have some for sale that are not on our web site yet and if you will call us we can let you know what they are. 

On a happier note, Hope and Faith went to their new home with my friend Gale, I know they will be taken care of but I couldn't help but cry when I thought back on their lives with us and how far they came along.  From near death to now good enough to go to a new home.  So this story did have a happy ending like all of our others have but they were by far the worst we have ever gotten in at our farm.  Gale is in love with them but I don't think they miss me!!!

May 13, 2008

We have 2 bottle fed kittens, mama barn cat (who was supposed to be a boy) had babies and dropped them from the barn loft.  We are down to 2 and we are tired but they are doing ok.  Okey Dokey was 20 inches when he was born.  He is doing very well and is a very loving little jack.  Him and mama are a package and are both sweet.  Molly the other pet quality jenny is also very sweet, I'm beginning to think it is just our jennies who are not sweet.  We also have 2 more jennies my hubby bought for me, we will be breeding them soon.  They are Jolene and Shelby and then Brown Sugar and Daisy will also be our breeding jennies.  Also the next herd sire is Hot Shot.  These are all registered and we can't wait to see what kind of babies we will get out of them next year.  We would like for the miniature mule and Charlie to go together, Charlie seems to be the only one who can deal with Taz.  Taz still needs lots of work and still has an attitude and we do not recommend that he go to a home with small children or anyone who hasn't previously owned equine.  He is a work in progress and will be a great mule one day.  Miley the mammoth donkey was sold last night, she will be going to her new home this weekend.  Also Alvin and Coy will be going to their new home soon and Nelson and Goatee.  So we have lots of deliveries to make and we are staying busy around here, hay should be coming in soon so I might be a little slack on updates around that time, you are welcome to give me a call for any questions you may have.

 May 16, 2008

We are tired!!!!  I shaved (clipped) 4 donkeys today, I started on our jack Johnny for practice and I'm glad the other donkeys can't make fun of him because I'm afraid they might.  Brighty looks the best and then poor Little Al....he looks like a goat and he is so tiny!!!  Coy is a little chopped up right now but we are going to work more on him tomorrow with their new owners. 

Charlie Brown left today he has 2 new girlfriends and several cow friends.  We can drive by and see him on the way to our daughter's best friends house.  It's always a good feeling when we can just drive by and still see the donkeys that have left our barn. 

Miley also went to her new home yesterday, she has so many friends, and friends she may remember from her old home.  We will be checking on her soon and see how big she gets to be in the near future. 

And before long Nelson and Goatee (Hairy) and Alvin and Coy will all be going to their new homes.  We have alot of donkeys that we are keeping for breeding but almost everything else is sold.  We will be getting more in before the end of the month.  So if you have something in particular in mind please let me know.

May 21, 2008

Well we got the new donkeys all settled in.  Sadie and Fescue are sweet donkeys they just need a little handling.  We are going to get them clipped and trimmed in the upcoming days and then come worming and shots, they will hate me before I'm done with them!!!  Alvin and Coy have been clipped and look pitiful!!!  Shannon and Sherry wanted them clipped before coming home and now poor Little Al looks like a billy goat.  He is still cute though.  We have alot going on and animals arriving weekly so check back for more updates and give us a call if you are in the area and want to stop by and love on the donkeys.  Okey Dokey will crawl right up in your lap.  He is a lap donkey now and we love it.  It's going to be hard to let this one go.  It's hard to let any of them go.  We have such a great herd right now and they are all loving animals.  We will be adding our breeding page soon and will be expecting babies this time next year.

On a side note, Savannah our five year old graduated from pre-school last night and they did a picture slide show for the upcoming Elementary School bound kids.  It made everyone cry, but where we had the field trip out here with the school there were donkey pictures!!!  We loved it, it makes it all worth while and all of the children talk about our donkeys all the time.  Don't blink they all grow up fast!!!  We will have all of them in 4 different scholls next year.  Elementary, Pre-school, Middle and High School.  And gas will be over $5 a gallon!!!  Let's hope not.

May 23, 2008

We have been getting up hay all day long!!!  The things we won't do for our animals!!!  Well we have new donkeys on the way and Nelson and Goatee have gone to their new home!  They are soooo happy and they have a huge field they need to keep mowed down.  And Saturday, tomorrow, we are taking Alvin and Coy to their new home.  It's going to be hard for me we have had them so long and have become so attached to them they have a special place in our barn.  We do have new jacks coming in soon and they will be paired up as packages of 2.  They will be great to start your summer off with.  You can call me with any questions you may have before we get their information out on the web site.  They are all babies and will be small and sweet just like our other donkeys.

May 27, 2008

We are tired and worn out!!!  We got up hay off and on all weekend.  We delivered Alvin and Coy this weekend.  They are so happy in their new home.  We went back out to see them the next day and they are doing well, Alvin got a runny nose from the ride so we went over and checked on him but as of today he is doing better.  We will be seeing alot of these jacks.  We also delivered Molly and she is a being a stubborn jack a**.  Poor Nicole has been trying day and night to get Miss Molly out of the pasture and into her stall and Molly wants to stay out and graze.  Her son finally got her in tonight and we hope Molly works out for them.  They aren't going down without a fight!!!  But she wants to stand still you can not budge her.  We are talking to someone about Taz the mini mule, if anyone is traveling from NC to NH please let me know.  He needs to go to NH to be with Robin who will be comitted to getting him back where he needs to be.  Hopefully some of you out there can help out with this. 

Gertrude the Draft Horse went to her new home this weekend, we will miss her but we are glad she found a great home with Lani and will be getting the driving training she needs.  And the donkeys can go out now we don't have to rotate and be so careful, Gertrude didn't care much for the mini's and we had to be careful in separating the little ones from her.

We let Dolly and Okey Dokey out in the field today for the first time.  Okey Dokey loved it outside in the pasture.  He ran around and kicked and even ran off from his mama while she was rolling in the dirt.  She quickly found him and caught up to him and let him know not to do it again or he would be grounded.  It was nice to see them out there running and rolling.  And we are continuing with the imprinting of Okey Dokey we even put a halter on him today he looks adorable. 

We have 7 new jacks coming!!!  I am so excited I can't wait to meet all the new babies!!!  I am afraid we won't get to take care of them for very long as we already have people waiting to come out to see them when they arrive.  So get on the list while we have enough to go around.  They will leave here fast and will be very easy to work with. 

May 29, 2008

The babies are here!!!  We have been on the road all day long but we are finally home and everyone is happy in the barn tonight.  We did a head count because everyone always says how many donkeys do you have and I usually answer with "I'm not sure right now" but I am very proud to say we have 21 donkeys!!!  I'm not sure how we got here.  If you had asked me 3 years ago if I would be here I would have said no but here we are and we have lots of mouths to feed and it's a good thing we have a loft full of hay because they eat like a horse!!!  Usually I can't hear them in the house but I hear them braying down there now and it's almost midnight, I bet our neighbors hate us!!!  But at least there are no more coyotes around here.  Anyway back to the donkeys, there are 2 gray with tan muzzle and one gray with black muzzle (like Elvis was) 2 spotted and 2 true black.  I'm going to start grooming and clipping tomorrow first thing.  We have several visitors coming out this weekend so they will get lots of attention.  This has been 2 weeks in the making and it seems longer than that to me and our family.  The problem is I don't know which one I want to keep, I had planned on keeping a black one for our 2 year old Mason but I really like the baby spotted one he is the smallest of all of them.  The spotted ones are tan and white spotted, we have never had this before and it looks really good.  Most of these boys have a tyger spotted black and white spotted sire.  They all came out of registered stock but in order to keep them cheap as possible we didn't request papers.  They are well socialized and get along with each other.  3 were just weaned today and the 2 black ones are yearlings.  The others are in between those ages. 

We think we have a ride for Taz and Fescue to NH.  Hopefully anyway, we will see in the upcoming days.  We would still entertain any offers in case our plan falls thru. 

Also, our story is coming out in the July 2008 issues of Equine Journal and the SaltBlock Gazette.  We couldn't be more thrilled about this.  Our kids think we are famous now!  Whatever makes them happy and gets these donkeys to good loving homes that will take care of them. 

The bottle fed kittens is now the bottle fed kitten.  We are down to one but he is 4 weeks old tomorrow and hopefully will begin eating on his own before too much longer, I thought bottle feeding would be cool but I'm out of time and energy!!! 

 Also if you know of any donkeys in need of hay or feed in these rough times in the economy please let us know we will help in any way we can.  Let us know if you have any questions for us.

June 1, 2008

Who said being a beauty school drop out wouldn't pay off someday???  Well, my daddy will be so proud I used everything I learned in Cosmetology school on donkeys this week!!!  Ok I never finished the schooling but what parts I took I used this week and I know now that I could not have done it full-time.  Man that is a work out!!!  I am almost done, the new jacks are gorgeous!!!  Some had some matts so I had to shave them.  They weren't as happy as I was when I finished but none the less they are beautiful if I do say so myself.  I have the pictures everyone has been asking and waiting on and I will post them within the next few hours.  It's 2 am and I'm just getting around to updating so maybe tomorrow they will be on the site.  In the mean time come on over and visit us.  I'll let you clean a stall or shave a donkey, or you can just watch.  It's really alot harder than I anticipated.  And it can get really messed up really quick, just ask poor Johnny, it's a good thing he's a keeper around here.  Hopefully it will grow out soon.  Maybe you can't tell too bad in the pictures I will post them and you all can let me know how bad you think he looks.  I finally got up the courage today to finish him and shave his face.  He's been walking around with what looked like a big head and tiny body for over a week now.  Give us a call and we can get you out here.  You all need to give me some input and let me know if you like the updates or not.  Don't be afraid to leave a message on my Guestbook!  Thanks to all of you who keep up with my updates. 

June 3, 2008

All the donkeys are getting along just fine.  We are trying new bedding in the barn, we heard peat moss works well and it is doing good.  I still like the Equine pellets better though.  And I think the donkeys were spoiled to it they sure did enjoy rolling in it better.  We visited Alvin and Coy tonight.  They are doing so good, Shannon says Alvin misses us but I think he is just trying to make us feel better since we do miss him and Coy so much! 

We still haven't found an affordable way to get the mini mule to NH.  We are talking to the transporter we met and he might have a rescue haven that would be willing to take Taz and work with him.  We had no idea this little guy was going to be like this, we have made little progress with him and the sad thing is his previous owner doesn't even care, they do keep up with his updates on our web site but would not take him back when asked in the beginning and would not give our jenny back.  So they still have several animals and are selling some on the internet also.  BUYER BEWARE!!!  They are in NC.  We do want Taz to get the help he needs and hope something pulls through one way or another.

The new boys are so cute!  They need a little socializing but quickly came back in last night after grazing in NC for the first time last night.  The oldest spotted one thought Dolly was his mama and would not give up until Dolly let him no that OKey Dokey was her one and only baby.  We have had several visitors this past weekend and have several people thinking about buying a donkey.  It does take alot of thought as it is a life-long committment and anyone thinking about it should do their homework.  There are too many donkeys out there who need loving homes because of not being taken care of. 

It is a great feeling having 21 donkeys running the pasture together and one pony who thinks she is a donkey.  I never would have thought we would have gotten this big this fast but here we are and we are in for the long-haul!  It is wonderful seeing all of the donkeys in the field rolling and running and eating.  Hot Shot has buddied up with our pony Fancy.  We have been trying to find her a buddy for 3 years and she finally took up with one.  Now if Johnny and Conway would buddy up all our permanents would be grouped in pairs. 

Lazy Ass Acres Brighty and Cheyenne's Katy

Fancy (Pony) and CSF Hot Shot

CSF Brown Sugar & CSF Daisy

Cheyenne's Jolene and Cheyenne's Shelby

Cheyenne's Johnny Be Good and Cheyenne's Conway

We have 10 permanents and it seems like we add to that every time we think up a reason for needing another.  We will have babies this time next year!!!  We haven't bred any yet but hopefully we will be doing it soon. 

 June 5, 2008

Two of our previous donkeys have already made a magazine.  Hershey and Romeo who went to live in Lewisville, NC with Tim and Michelle Welborn and their 2 daughters Logan and Lilly had a story in the Forsyth Woman magazine about Lilly's Dravet Syndrome.  They are starting a farm with animals for therapeutic field trips and the story tells all about their family and the things they are doing in the community.  You can go to http://www.forsythwoman.com/ and their story is on page 30 and 31.  You can also look at http://www.boogieforbabies.com/ for their fundraising information for the IDEA League.  We have been so blessed to meet so many wonderful people through our donkeys that all come from different walks of life.  We have enjoyed spending time with the Welborn's and their farm animals.  And there is much more to come on the great things they are going to do with these animals for children.

We will be delivering Eeyore this weekend and hopefully be attending Percheron Day, we can't resist, we do miss Gertrude.  We have visitors coming out this weekend and if you want to be one of them please let us know.  Hopefully we are done with getting up hay until the possible Fall cutting.  I think we are drying up again and hopefully we aren't looking at another drought coming up.  Our hay loft is busting at the seams!  It is full and that puts our mind at rest that our animals will not go hungry in case we do have another dry summer.   

DO NOT try the peat moss!!!  Bad idea, the donkeys have black dust all over them which means I have black stuff all over me.  I do not like the peat moss.  Thought we would try it but did I mention, I do not like the peat moss....bad idea.....peat moss is bad and very black and very dirty.  Everytime I come in from the barn I look like I have been rolling around in top soil.  Not to mention not good on the girly nails...I also look like a mechanic, I will be going and getting the Equine Fresh this weekend.  I love it.  I hope no one else thought it was a good idea and went and tried it.  If you did sorry for the recommendation.

June 6, 2008

 I knew the new jacks wouldn't last long.  We have sold 3 this week so that brings us down to only 3 new jacks left, we have Festus the spotted, we have Jack of Spades or Spade he is true black, and we have Fonzie the gray jack with a black nose.  We will be delivering to Mount Ulla and Thomasville tomorrow if anyone needs anything to go that direction let us know early as we will be delivering tomorrow afternoon.  We pass through Lexington to Thomasville and most of Davie County to Mount Ulla.

We still have other great donkeys for sale also, I know the new jacks stole the spotlight but we still have Fescue who has turned into a handsome fella and Sadie who is pregnant and Dolly and baby Okey Dokey.  We have Rocky a jack stud and of course poor little Taz is still here and needs a loving home. 

We also have a neighbor who has square hay bales for sale at $4.50 a bale and she has about 60.  Also for you all who like the round bales I have a farmer down the road who has the round bales for $45 a roll.  Let me know if you are interested.  It is starting to dry up here and I'm afraid we will not get a second cutting.  So stock pile if you are able to. 

June 8, 2008

Another busy weekend on the farm.  We found a home for Roscoe "Taz" we will keep his progress updated.  We also delivered Eeyore with him and Tiny Tim and Harley went to Thomasville, NC.  They have a wonderful barn and new home with the Berkey's. 

Our last bottle fed kitten died this morning.  Little Rascal was a fighter and will be dearly missed by all who came in contact with him.  We had been bottle feeding him for 5 weeks and thought he had made it through the tough times already and weren't prepared for yesterday when he started going down hill. 

We have 2 donkeys that will be visiting us for some training starting this week.  Cheyenne and Dakota who live here in Mocksville.  The cool thing is as you may know we were originally Cheyenne Stables and when we started The Donkey Depot we added it to what we are now as The Donkey Depot at Cheyenne Stables.  Not many people realize the meaning behind our name of our farm but my husband and I had a baby girl 6 years ago who passed away and her name was Cheyenne.  We knew when we started our farm we wanted her name in it to keep her memory alive.  So we came up with Cheyenne Stables.  And then The Donkey Depot followed soon after.  We miss her deeply as any of you may know if you have ever lost a child it is something you never get back to normal from.  And we now have 4 children and 1 angel. 

So it is awesome to have a little Cheyenne donkey around here for a little while.  I'm sure her and Dakota will be much better after some training with us, The Donkey Depot at Cheyenne Stables.

June 13, 2008

We brought Cheyenne to our barn for some training and she is doing so well.  She now leads and can be caught on the first try.  We left Dakota at home as her mom didn't want to be left without any donkeys.  So we took Conway to be her buddy for awhile.  Cheyenne is now doing much better, she had not had a halter or lead rope on her since coming home last year.  She got her feet trimmed and is actually behaving.  Her mom is so proud of her.  And Conway is training Dakota in a way.  We got the halter and lead rope on her and she follows Conway around. 

We have reduced several donkeys for Father's Day so if you are interested now is the time to buy.  Daddy will love it !!! 

Update on Taz who is now re-named to Bullseye off of Toy Story.  He and Eeyore had a gelding party this week.  Jessie says I would be proud of him and he is doing really well.  I think he will be fine in his new home.  While we were there last week I fell in love with her little dwarf horse named Rambo and I have to have one!!!  So anyone who knows of a mini horse dwarf that may need a good home, I am interested.   It will be a busy weekend so if you need to get ahold of me please call 336-345-5330 and if it rolls to voicemail leave a message I do not always have signal at the barn but the message does come through.  I will call back as soon as possible.  Thanks, Melanie

June 19, 2008

Cheyenne is coming along on her training but her owners have decided to sell her.  Here is your chance to own a tyger spotted jenny!  She is a bit of a bully and we are still working with her.  We drove 4 hours to pick up little Cheyenne's Piper on Tuesday and it was a bit over kill with her by herself in the 12 foot stock trailer but she had plenty of room.  She laid down the entire way home.  She is precious, we clipped her yesterday and you will fall in love.  We put her in with Cheyenne's Jolene and Cheyenne's Shelby and they have made friends already.  The donkeys are loving the weather.  Okey Dokey runs in circles around Dolly Mama in the field and he even brays!!!  We have been trying to clip little Fonzie right and it's just not working!!!  He was so matted now he looks like one of those hairless cats...I hope it grows back soon because instead of gray he is mud color. 

The kids are loving being out of school but we are keeping them pretty busy.  We were delivering hay until 10 last night.  Savannah is learning how to count to 100 by counting bales of hay...such a redneck child!!!  But at least now she knows instead of 20 10 it is 30!!!! 

Well, I'm off to feed and work on Fonzie some more, not sure if it is getting better or worse.  Let me know if you want to come out and see the hairless donkey!!!

June 26, 2008

WE NEED RAIN!!!  If you walk in our field it crunches.  I think we are done getting up hay again and we are almost out of what we have left to sale.  So if you need hay let me know asap.  All the donkeys are doing well.  Festus and Fonzie are putting on a little weight, they did need it.  And Piper is the cutest little donkey!!!  I love her, she is so small and loving.  We don't have to put her on a lead rope she follows us around in the yard better than our dog does.  I am seeing alot of people hurting already because of the dry weather.  Please if you can't take care of your animals because of the drought or hay let us know and we might be able to help out.  I do not want to see any more skinny donkeys.  We like them plump around here.  Cheyenne is now out with the herd and trying to mind her manners.  She isn't being such a bully now but still needs a little work.  Okey Dokey is still sweet as ever.  He is getting to where he will leave mama for a minute to scope out the field and the other donkeys in it.  Johnny doesn't know he is a stud, he has all his parts now and needs a sex ed course!!!  I think we may put him up for awhile and then let him back out with the ladies. 

I went to a donkey farm in Davie and clipped their donkeys this week, all the babies look like little deer now.  They are so cute!!! 

I have a friend with pigs for sale if anyone is interested let me know, you can name them Hambone and Bacon!!! We will be going to Kure Beach in about 3 weeks.  Why not take a donkey with us, i will have to actually clear this with hubby before I promise. 

July 3, 2008

Okey Dokey has been sold without mama.  It took some persuading but he is going for a good cause when weaned.  His soldier dad will be here to pick him up at weaning time.  Okey Dokey got in the cross fires between the jennies and got a nose bleed and and couple of scrapes and scratches.  He is fine now but he did worry me.  Our jennies are bullies at times. 

 The weather has been so nice part of the donkeys have been out night and day.  Little Piper is in a stall with Jolene and Shelby instead of out with the herd all the time.  Rocky of course is still in a stall by himself.  And Dolly mama and Okey Dokey get their own stall.  Spade and Festus are hanging out with Fonzie while we try to get some weight on this little guy.  It is hard to gage what he gets just out in the pasture and he needs alot of weight on him. 

Cheyenne is still here, anyone looking for jennies we have them right now.  We also still have Sadie who is with foal.  I have alot of emails and phone calls on her but she is still here.  She is a sweet jenny, I wish I knew how far along she was but the previous owner doesn't have a clue.  I will have her checked soon.  I have 4 in 1 shots to give out I haven't had the time to do it lately though.  I hate doing the shots and I always procrastinate until I can't anymore.  We also have Piper, she is the smallest jenny I have ever owned.  Savannah swears she is hers, but we all know Johnny is, she is just trying to keep them all !!! 

We went to the stock sale last week, just to make me mad is the only reason I can figure I even go anymore.  I did not take a trailer or I would have brought home a old starved Belgium Draft Horse.  I do not understand how people let these animals starve to death.  He couldn't even lift his head or open his eyes.  He was skin and bones.  And why does the auction let them in???  I could go on all day on this subject but if any of you ever see a horse out there in these conditions please call USERL or us or any rescue league.  I did not stick aroud to see how much that poor horse went for but I hope he got a good home to help him, that is what I tell myself anyway.

We made it in the http://www.saltblackgazette.com/ we are on page 8 & 9 if you would like to look at the story.  Thanks to everyone for humoring our donkey family!!!

July 7, 2008

I have measured all the donkeys and wormed.  That was a task within itself.  We also went to see Little Al and Coy yesterday.  They are getting to be such big boys.  Their fencing isn't done yet so the Smith family just lets them walk around the yard and they do stay in it.  It is so funny, they walk up to the garage wherever they want to go.  Coy and Alvin are laid back enough to do this though, ours would run!!! 

We are building another barn.  It is under construction.  Now we will have 2 separate pastures and 2 separate barns.   So we can separate the donkeys for sale from our keepers or babies from adults or jacks from jennies, I have no idea eight now how we will do it but to begin with, the few in the barn will go into the new pasture and new run-in barn. 

Also, I had the link above wrong....should have spell checked.  It is correct now. 

We are heading to the beach next week so there will not be any updates next week, I will still answer emails and phone calls.  So if you need anything try to get me before this weekend.  Thanks

 July 22, 2008

We are back from the beach thank GOD!!!!  That was the most horrible so called vacation our family has ever had.  We spent 2 days of it in the hospital with our 5 year old Savannah, she is much better now.  We could make a Mastercard commercial after our trip, I guess the priceless part would be being back home. 

All of the donkeys are doing well.  We went to the Trotting C Miniature Horse Sale Saturday and ended up with 2 mini horses!!!  One pulls a cart for the kids and the other is mine!!!  She is only 3 months old solid black and my new baby!!!!  The donkeys all lined up at the fence to see what we had brought home.  I guess they are wondering what happened to her ears!!! 

Before we left Katy coliced.  She is doing much better now, we are not sure why she got so sick but all is well now.  The barn is coming along, I can't wait to open up the second pasture.  They will be able to come and go as they please.  My plan is to keep the keepers separate from the donkeys we have for sale.  And then we would separate the mama and babies from the others. 

We have several people wanting to come out to visit donkeys so if you are looking at one today it could be the one someone looked at yesterday so be sure to call and see if the one you have in mind is still available.  Thanks

 JUly 30, 2008

You will have to excuse us for a little while, I just had surgery and things are hectic right now but, the abuser of the mini mule is at it again.  They can't let anything go and have came back for round 3.  Understand if anything is hurt or missing from my property I know who you are and up till this point I have not said who you are but you pushing your luck.  DO NOT CALL US AGAIN.  You owe me $500 never will get paid it but you are terrorizing me and my family and I'm sick of it.  I hope what comes around goes around because when they come to check out your place I hope those animals get better homes than with you and I pray our jenny gets to come home!!!!!!  I have cameras at every corner of my barn and property and the cops know what is going on.  DO NOT HURT MY ANIMALS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If anybody out there can help us if you know anything or hear of anybody coming to hurt our animals please let the authorities know.  I will tell you all individually who these people are so you will know not to buy their mini horses, mini mules or trade them any of your jacks or jennies!!!!  Call me or email me.  336-345-5330 Kroots29@aol.com or thedonkeydepot@yahoo.com they check this site often.....

 July 31, 2008

Alright I'm mad again and you know what happens when I get mad I have to write and you have to listen.  I get the newspaper today and there is a story in there on how this horse trader turned donkey trader is making more money on donkeys now than he was on horses so he has changed over to all donkeys.  Well, he goes on to tell the paper that donkeys will eat ANYTHING!!!!  No he doesn't stop there he had some stale cake with blue frosting on it, you guessed it he fed it to them, also some leftover spaghetti and other stale items he would have otherwise THROWN AWAY!!!! 

Anybody see where I'm goin with this???  Just because an animal will eat anything doesn't mean it is the best idea>!?@>?????  Doesn't mean it is the healthiest option.  People, please do not feed them just anything.  Check with your vet it's not good for them.  Just because your kids will eat anything does that mean we let them eat anything they want???  Sometimes people open there mouth and you can just tell they do not have the animals best interest at heart.  Supporting people like this is like supporting the puppy mills someone is keeping them in business.  I have found out the hard way I can't save them all.  So even though there is nothing I can do about it I have vented now and I would like to hear your comments on it too so send me your feedback to thedonkeydepot@yahoo.com and I will post your responses.  Let me know your favorite treat you give your horses or donkeys.  We like saltine crackers, ginger snaps, and peppermints.

Piper is sold and Fonzie is also SOLD

For Sale

7 weanling jacks 2 spotted, 3 gray and 2 black - 3 gray SOLD and one spotted SOLD

Only Festus and Conway and Spade left out of the original 7!!!!

Rocky jack stud (gray brown very small and stocky 31 inches)  $600

Dolly will not be ready until September (Spotted Miniature jenny) $850

4 month old registered gray jenny  SOLD

3 year old Tyger Spotted jenny

Fescue (gray weanling)

Sadie (gray jenny in foal)

We are in the July issue of the Saltblock Gazette !!!

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