April 9th, 2004, heralded the birth day of Rocky, a spotted, tricolor jack! He had a rocky start at birth when his mother rejected him. We found him in the barn one morning still wet from birth. He was under the railing, in the goat's area. His mom was not pleased to see him or have him near her. For over 3 days we restrained Connie to allow Rocky to nurse. She bit us, kicked violently, and carried on dramatically. Rocky needed to be constantly protected from Connie. After 4 days of battle, she finally learned to tolerate him and ignore him. She had very little motherly instinct and did not nurture him at all. "Uncle" August helped teach him how to be a donkey. He was bottled-raised, getting his nutrition from a modified igloo cooler.

On Monday night, April 19th, Rocky's 11th day, we had an awful event on our little farm. Around 12:30am, I heard a strange loud noise from August that I'd never heard before. It woke me out of a dead sleep. I knew something was wrong. I heard it again and ran outside--luckily the barn is very close to the house. I heard something running off through the bushes and August and Connie were huddled and nudging Rocky, who was lying in the dirt in the corral, a short ways from the barn. He was bleeding from his neck and was in shock. I ran with him up to the barn and found puncture wounds on each side of his neck. We think it was a bob cat that tried to take Rocky away. He was probably lying down near the adult donks outside in the corral--the donks stand out there a lot at night when the weather is nice. All the goats bed down inside their stall and under the shed area of the barn. They were all accounted for and never made a peep. I woke them up with my screaming, actually.

He was very, very hot to touch, limp, and breathing heavy when I first reached him and he had lot of dirt in his eyes. His neck was bleeding and very wet with saliva. It took what seemed like an eternity, and then the bleeding finally slowed down from his neck and he was up on his feet. Rocky was very weak and woozy and could hardly control his head. I got him to slurp some formula from a pan during the night (he wouldn't pick his head up to drink from his jug). August really saved his life! Donkeys are known to be protective of their herd. And if it wasn't for the donkeys, I'm sure the bobcat would've gone after some goats instead. Rocky was just an easier, more isolated target out in the open.

The next day Rocky got worse when the swelling on his neck started to squeeze his airway a bit. He was so wobbly and if he fell over, he would go into respiratory distress trying to recover from the fall. It was SO scary and emotional. I really thought I was going to lose him. The vet was out a couple of times and we spoke many times by phone that day. He went 8 hours without getting any fluid into him at all. I tried everything I could think of such as syringing it in drop by drop, but he would get so frantic that his breathing would deteriorate. He was pacing and wobbling around in pain with his nose hanging almost in the dirt floor and hay. Finally in the afternoon, he came around and started to slurp from the pan of electrolyte fluid! Hooray! He gradually improved. Finally after about 36 hours, his head was held higher and he squeaked at me like usual when he saw me. I was SO relieved!

That very same day after the attack, my husband ran a hot wire around the corral. We leave the spotlights on and play the radio at the entry point to the barn every night. It'swas an emotional first two weeks of Rocky's rocky life! I had some wonderful support from friends and have met some new donkey friends also. He is a special little donk!

May 2nd: Rocky has rebounded and is doing terrific! Check out these pictures of him zooming around! Don't forget to check out his Webshots album with more pics!

June 27th: My spunky boy is proving to be quite full of himself! He's very outgoing and demands attention--sometimes nicely and sometimes with his teeth! He has just recently began interacting more with the donkeys, which we are thrilled about! I have started clicker-training Rocky to teach him some manners and some fun stuff since he doesn't have any other foals to play with.

August 1st: My baby is getting big! He is learning to get his feet worked on and wear a halter. He is being clicker-trained! Yes, you can clicker-train not only dogs, but equines too. He seems to enjoy it and I feel like I have a clear way of marking the desired behaviors. He is doing great!

Fall 2004: Rocky continued to grow well and learn his manners. Things are finally peaceful on the farm!

Winter 2005: Rocky was gelded like his Uncle August! What a nice, placid sweet donkey boy!