Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To spend my families food shopping money on a donkey ?

41 replies

bumpsoon · 18/05/2010 22:10

You know im not really i think ive got enough beans / pasta etc to see us through another week and i have yearned for a donkey forever ,but its for sale in an auction so i might not even have enough !!!!

OP posts:
Joolyjoolyjoo · 18/05/2010 22:11

No, YANBU! I'd love a donkey!!

thisisyesterday · 18/05/2010 22:11

how expensive can a donkey be? i would definitely buy one if i'd always wanted one

where will you put it?

bigstripeytiger · 18/05/2010 22:14

Could you get a rescue donkey?

honeydragon · 18/05/2010 22:14

get the donkey,
sell the car if you have too the donkey can carry the shopping and manure vegetables and eat left overs and

oh just get the donkey!!!!!!!

qwertpoiuy · 18/05/2010 22:15

Lovely animal to have, but they bray very loudly first thing in the morning-like a cockerel! I know because we owned one during my childhood.

Rindercella · 18/05/2010 22:18

Donkeys will eat anything - would probably be quite partial to your beans & pasta - and lots of it, so can be quite expensive to feed. They also live forever (have you ever seen a dead donkey? ). Added to this, they are also very noisy indeed.

We used to have a lovely donkey called Neddy (we were always terribly original when naming pets!). Last I heard he was living out his retirement in Wales - some 20 odd years ago!

WynkenBlynkenandNod · 18/05/2010 22:19

I think you are being very reasonable but have wanted to own a donkey since reading Ned the Lonely Donkey when little.

Fluffyone · 18/05/2010 23:17

Where are you going to put it? Just bear in mind the overheads. Donkeys need worming, vaccinating and hoof trims. They need shelter from rain because they aren't very waterproof, not as waterproof as ponies in fact. They need a nice bed to lay in when they want to, straw or shavings, mucked out daily if they use it daily. (Which means you need a method of muck disposal...). Also you'll need hay in winter, and some donkeys depending on age and condition need extra hard feed. They might eat anything, but that doesn't mean it's good for them of course. Hay in my area went up to £5.50 a bale last winter by the way, and when there's no grazing, which this year was for weeks, an adult donkey could easily eat a bale a day.
Family shopping sounding attractive yet?

MrsRhettButler · 18/05/2010 23:21

what a downer fluffy!

but think of ned the lonely donkey (loved that book too)

oh poor Ned

mumblechum · 18/05/2010 23:21

Can I come and give it a carrot sometimes?

MrsRhettButler · 18/05/2010 23:22
BythewayItsStillMe · 18/05/2010 23:22

Don't listen to the sensible answers... get the donkey!!!

Where would you keep it?

What would you call it?

Donkey, donkey, DONKEY!!

2rebecca · 18/05/2010 23:22

A donkey sounds brill, but if you can't afford a donkey and food then it sounds as though you'd be better waiting until you can afford one as it won't be a one off expense. It's not a good impulse buy.

2rebecca · 18/05/2010 23:23

A donkey sounds brill, but if you can't afford a donkey and food then it sounds as though you'd be better waiting until you can afford one as it won't be a one off expense. It's not a good impulse buy.

Fluffyone · 18/05/2010 23:23

MrsRhettButler, I'm a pony owner still reeling from the traumas and expense of last winter! However, if anyone wants to be put in touch with donkeys to visit and cuddle I might be able to help.

MrsRhettButler · 18/05/2010 23:24

just out of interest... how much is a donkey to buy then? assuming you don't have a hundred dc, food shopping not very expensive is it? i mean you'll get your moneys worth won't you?

MrsRhettButler · 18/05/2010 23:26

i know fluffy, my neighbour has a horse and a pony and when i hear about all of her expenses it makes it very easy to say 'no, dd we are not getting a pony, you can play with theirs'

Fluffyone · 18/05/2010 23:27

You could adopt a donkey here drupal.thedonkeysanctuary.org.uk/est
Donkeys can be brought really cheap at some auctions, it's quite sad really. Say £50 upwards, a friend of mine got a donkey foal for £25. The purchase price pales into insignificance compared to maintenance costs LOL!

MrsRhettButler · 18/05/2010 23:29

wow! very cheap then....

do they eat grass?

there'll be room in the shed if i sell the lawnmower

Fluffyone · 18/05/2010 23:32

They eat grass... surprisingly rapidly! Not lawnmower clippings though, those could kill them (and horses and ponies). Come the winter thought, hay becomes their main source of fibre.
See? I'm a mine of donkey info!

FiaGrace · 18/05/2010 23:40

Look, if it helps I've got £5.50 for a bale of hay...

Isaidheyhoney · 18/05/2010 23:40

I loved that book, too! I think I've still got it. We often talk about keeping a donkey in the back garden, sigh. It's just a dream.

FiaGrace · 18/05/2010 23:41

Oh, and my friend has a very large garden and a field full of lovely lovely grass...

Fluffyone · 18/05/2010 23:43

FiaGrace, that's brilliant. Maybe other Mumsnetters would like to also sponsor a day's worth of winter hay?
Seriously though... that donkey sanctuary I mentioned above does great work and would really appreciate some people "adopting" their residents.

FiaGrace · 18/05/2010 23:46

I would actually love a donkey but will seriously look into adopting one. Want to adopt a greyhound as well so may as well get on line and sort it out rather than sitting talking about it!

Swipe left for the next trending thread