Burros

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September 24, 2010

It’s a good thing she loves them

Posted by Morning Bray under Burros, Donkeys, Friends and Family | Tags: Bernard, Carson, Clara, custom egg cartons, eggs, Ellsworth, Fergus, fresh eggs, Lorena, Nigel, Peach |
[48] Comments

It’s a good thing Carson loves the boys, because they sure do love her. There was practically a riot here when she showed up yesterday morning.

Carson had the honor of being the third two-legged to touch Nigel. We think that’s quite appropriate because if she hadn’t come into our lives, our beloved boys probably wouldn’t have either.

Carson was there with us on day one for Ellsworth. It appears he hasn’t forgotten that.

Once the ruckus quieted down, Carson was able to spend some time with Nigel. Pretty cool.

For Don and me… one of the highlights of our day… fresh eggs from 7MSN.

And wait, there’s more. In true Carson fashion (this lady never does anything half-assed), look at the 7MSN egg carton. Morning Bray Farm officially has the coolest egg carton ever in our refrigerator. Ever. ♥

9/24 Note from Carson: Click here for the source of the egg cartons – they come with label sheets and the vendor also has a Word template for the labels that you can download.

September 22, 2010

Save the drama for your mamma

Posted by Morning Bray under Burros, Donkeys | Tags: Bernard, Ellsworth, Fergus, Nigel, sweet feed |
[24] Comments

If anyone ever tells you donkeys can’t tell time, be assured they don’t know what they’re talking about. Every evening, right about 5:30 or so, the drama begins. If you didn’t know better, you’d think the boys were starving and hadn’t been fed for three days. It usually goes something like this:

Bernard thinks flaring his nostrils and sucking in his breath makes him look super skinny.

Ellsworth prefers to play the sympathy card.

Ellsworth: Oh mamma, I’m so hungry I can’t hold my head up.

Ellsworth: Bernard, let’s try puppy-dog eyes and see if that works tonight.

Ellsworth: I wish Carolynn was here. I bet she’d feed me right now.

Nigel and Fergus: Oh my gawd. Can you believe these clowns? Do they have no shame?

Bernard: Heck no, I have no shame! Look mamma, I’m flaring my nostrils again! I’m so hungry and skinny.

Ellsworth: Mamma, we need sweet feed, stat! I’m just going to pass out this instant!

Me: Oh, Ellsworth. I love you, my angel. You do save the drama for your mamma. ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

September 18, 2010

Saturday Stuff – Postcards from France

Posted by Morning Bray under Burros, Donkeys, For the love of donkeys, Friends and Family, Saturday Parts & Stuff, Travel | Tags: donkeys, France, I Need Orange, postcards, Vicki |
[15] Comments

Look at what we received in the mail yesterday. Postcards from France. The boys were absolutely thrilled to know that someone across the pond was thinking of them. Thank you Vicki!

Vicki from I Need Orange recently returned from an amazing trip to France with her daughter. Be sure to check out Vicki’s blog to get the inside scoop.

Vicki found this postcard in Bayonne. It says, “You have cousins in Basque country?” Vicki was sure she knew four guys in Albuquerque who did.

Then she got to La Rochelle, and there were donkeys everywhere. Donkeys everywhere – in pajamas! Sea salt is a major product of the area and donkeys help haul the salt. The “culottes” (typically described as stockings, leggings or knee-high boots) help to protect donkeys there from mosquito bites.

The postcard says the donkeys in culottes are one of the main folkloric elements of Ile de Ré – right by La Rochelle.

Needless to say, Bernard might be in a bit of a bind. I’m thinking Bernard would look adorable in a couple of pairs of culottes. We just happen to know someone who knits… Hi Cathy!

And then, goodness! Vicki said she saw this brochure and picked it up, but only as she was mailing it to us did she read it. They are keeping donkeys for their milk! The brochure says that visitors can taste the milk, and that they make skin-care products, including soap, from the milk. As Vicki said, “Who knew??”

We’re surprised too! Vicki said that she ate lots of goat yogurt and sheep yogurt while she was in France… and just think, maybe she could have had donkey yogurt!!! ♥

September 5, 2010

The day we’ve all been waiting for

Posted by Morning Bray under Burros | Tags: Nigel |
[58] Comments

It finally happened yesterday. We really touched Nigel for the first time.

Thanks to Sam’s mom, Linda, we ordered a DVD from Longhopes Donkey Shelter called Matching Wits with Donkeys. By following the techniques demonstrated in the video – all towards building trust and confidence – Don was able to touch and hug Nigel after working with him for several hours yesterday morning.

More or less, the technique involved putting Nigel into an enclosed area by himself, then approaching Nigel on his terms. Don walked with Nigel when Nigel walked, and stopped when Nigel stopped… getting a little closer each time… backing off when Nigel flinched. Finally, Don was able to touch him. Don discovered Nigel’s “safe spot” over by the shed (a.k.a. future chicken coop), where Nigel would allow Don to pet him… and when Nigel backed off, Don would let him go. Don spent all morning building Nigel’s trust, and in the end, every second was worth it.

For me, coming home from my riding lesson and being able to really touch Nigel for the first time was quite surreal.

And then, of course, I had to brush him.

There’s still a lot more work for us to do with Nigel, but we’re finally over the bump in the road. ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

August 31, 2010

All together now

Posted by Morning Bray under Burros, Donkeys | Tags: burros, donkeys |
[21] Comments

August 25, 2010

A Nigel update

Posted by Morning Bray under Burros | Tags: burro, Nigel |
[20] Comments

I had a conversation with Carson about Nigel yesterday.

I shared my frustration with not being able to get over our last little speed bump. We’re so close, and I don’t know what to do to help get him over the bump.

Carson’s reply was that perhaps Nigel simply needs a little more time.

It’s as if he was trying to tell me exactly that last night when I went out to take off fly masks. It’s not at all like him to get so in my face, even if I have a camera in front of it… especially without a fence separating us.

Needless to say, I loved it.

And I love Nigel. He’s going to be a pocket burro in no time at all. ♥

August 10, 2010

Ear spread

Posted by Morning Bray under Burros, Donkeys | Tags: donkey ears, ear spread, ears |
[30] Comments

We’ve all heard of wingspan measurements in birds, but we had never heard of measuring ear spread in donkeys.

It was inevitable that after we read this exchange of comments on our For the love of donkeys page, we had to measure the ear spread of the Morning Bray Farm boys.

Mel N.Y. Says:
July 24, 2010 at 5:05 am Linda, Sweet picture

Whats her ear spread ? I’ve met two mammoths with a 33 inch spread !

Reply

Linda and Sam Says:

July 27, 2010 at 10:47 pm Hi Mel,

Sam has ears that measure 34 inches, from the tip of one ear down across her head up to the tip of the other.

Linda

We headed out yesterday afternoon to measure some donkey ears. As usual, we had to put up with Bernard’s antics.

Don measured Fergus first.

24 3/4″ give or take.

Then Ellsworth.

26 1/2 inches.

Naturally, Bernard wasn’t interested in cooperating because he’s going to be two years old on Friday.

We’ll give Bernard 22″.

From The Donkey Companion:

A donkey’s hearing isn’t quite as acute as a dog’s but is much better than that of a human (or even a horse). When a donkey picks up a sound or sights something unusual, he pricks both ears in that direction to capture the minutest sounds and funnel them down to the ear canal and on to his brain. The donkey’s huge ears can each swivel and capture sound independently; separate sounds from each ear are processed and analyzed at the same time.

Pretty cool, huh? For those of you with donkeys or burros, what’s their ear spread?

For Carolynn:

August 5, 2010

At least he didn’t turn the other cheek

Posted by Morning Bray under Burros | Tags: Nigel |
[20] Comments

We know that all of our critters thrive on routine. Each morning, the boys get two baby carrots each after they’ve touched their nose to my hand. While distributing their yummy treats, I’ve been sneaking soft touches on Nigel’s forehead. I think at first he may not have realized I was touching him… perhaps because he was so focused on the delicious, crunchy par-tay in his mouth.

Over the past week, I’ve become more assertive about touching Nigel… the touches have turned from gentle, barely touches to full on scritches that I give to the other boys. I think he’s been okay with that for two reasons: 1) there’s a fence between me and him; and 2) he’s in the midst of a crowd.

I’ve also noticed that as we stand around their feed tub, it used to be that Nigel was okay standing there with Don or me as long as there was another donkey between Nigel and me or Don. Lately, Nigel’s been okay without the donkey barrier… just as long as we don’t try to reach out for him. That’s progress too.

Each day at lunchtime, I cut up one granny smith apple to share between the goats, sheep and donkeys. I’ve been sneaking Nigel scritches then too. Yesterday, when I moved my hand from Nigel’s forehead to his cheek, he was okay with it!