does anyone own a donkey or two?

[Garthmarenghi]

I'm toying with the idea of looking for a couple of donkeys to join my yard. I've had no dealings with donkeys and have ordered some books on donkey care out of interest anyway. Do any of you have any experience with them?

The donkey sanctuary are really helpful and run courses on donkey care.

If you keep donkeys around horse's you have to be careful about lungworm. Donkeys carry them but don't get ill whereas horse's do

It was bloody auto correct that put that apostrophe in.

You need to have two. Donkeys like to have donkey companions.

I've had donkeys for a long time kept with horses. There is no longer a problem with lung worm, you just worm them the same as horses. Let me know if you have any specific questions.

Thank you all for your responses. I would definitely have two donkeys if we did go ahead. Will get through the winter and see how enthusiastic I am about mucking out yet more stables!

Donkey Sanctuary care leaflet is really good - www.thedonkeysanctuary.org.uk/donkey-care-handbook

They won't rehome unless you go on a course.

We had 2 and they were brilliant - such characters! They are quite different to horses though. They hate the rain - I believe their coats aren't waterproof as horses are and even in a rug they were miserable so a decent field shelter is a must.
Ours were very stubborn, cheeky and full of beans but absolutely adorable.
I did exercise them quite a lot as I found them to be extremely good-dooers who got fat on fresh air.
Even though they were with the horses they seemed to have a very strong bond between themselves and would get upset if one was taken out without the other but that could have been just mine as they had been together forever.

Don't take them on if you think they will be a low-maintanence addition to add to your field but do take them on if you want something with heaps of personality who will outsmart you in any way they can but at the end of a long day will rest their head on your shoulder and stand for hours having a cuddle. I do miss my donks!

There is a small sanctuary in Clovelly and I know the lady was having difficulties with premises. Perhaps you could get in touch with her. I will check our local refuge as they sometimes have some and there is another small refuge in Galloway starts with an M.

Our donkey died last year, he was 34 (my OH dad went to the pub one day and came back with him as a 6month old!). I still really miss him - they are fantastic animals, but as others have said, quite different to horses.
They also smell differently, so as well as horses taking a while to get used to how they look and sound, they have to get used to the smell as well!