Miniature donkeys stand 36" or less and have loving personalities, forming close attachments to their owners.  With proper care they will live for 25-45 years and are very healthy, hardy animals in general.  They do well in our extreme climate with a simple three-sided shelter to protect them from the wind/rain.

Donkeys thrive very well on good quality grass hay alone, similar to that fed to horses.  They range in colour from black to white and everything in between but the most common colour is grey with a brown cross along the shoulders/back.  

Donkeys make wonderful pets for all ages.  Small children can not only learn responsibility but can also ride the donkeys.  They are much easier to train than ponies and most willing to accept a child on their backs; they can be trained to pull a cart in a matter of hours.  Rosewood Farm's first donkey was purchased as a guardian animal for our herd of goats.  They are now successful guardians to our cattle.  Donkeys have a natural protective instinct and will adopt a herd, protecting them from predators.   We live in an area that is inhabited by bear, wolves, coyotes and fox so our livestock would otherwise be at great risk of predator attacks.  However, with our donkeys on duty we have not lost a single animal to predators since we began raising livestock in 2003.  Perhaps you have read articles saying that miniature donkeys should not to be used as guardian animals because of their smaller size.  We came across this information after we had purchased our first miniature donkey, but we learned very quickly that our donkeys are working in full "protect mode".  They have run off bears, fox and coyotes.    A cattle producer who lives a few miles from us lost eight Angus calves to coyotes one spring during calving season.  We have never lost any sheep, goats or cattle to predators.  Our next door neighbour constantly has bears walking up to their house and must shoot warning shots to scare them off.  The last time we saw a bear on our property was the month before we bought our first miniature donkey..in 2003.   The bears are still around--they just do not venture close to our livestock anymore.  One of our customers actually witnessed his miniature donkey jack chase a bear off their property.   So, above and beyond their loving and loyal qualities they bring to the table, our miniature donkeys have quite simply done an outstanding job of predator control. 

  

Chris and Pat Bothe

Box 60 Group 4 RR 1

Anola, MB. CANADA

R0E 0A0

Phone: (204) 866-4110      Email:   pcbothe@nlis.ca

Sales Policy:

All live sales require a 50% non-refundable deposit along with an agreed-upon pick up date.  Animals will not be released to the purchaser until final payment is made.  Any animals not picked up by the agreed-upon date will be re-sold, or under special circumstances, held with a $3 per day/ per animal boarding fee until picked up.   Any costs for health testing is the responsibility of the purchaser and must be paid for at the time of testing.   All bred females are sold as "pasture bred".