We keep this page to remember the mini donkey's we had in Sonoma, California!

We sold our donley's in 2022...however we love to keep this page active to remember our beloved furbabes, that have since been rehomed to another very loving farm. We are super thrilled to have our farm's first mini donkey's join our lil' mini 'farmly'- SPARKLES & COCOA. We select our animals based on being able to get along with each other and contribute to the peace and tranquility of the farm. We heard so many great things about keeping mini donkeys that we couldn't pass up the opportunity and we had an amazing opportunity to have these two precious jenny's on our farm.

Cocoa is the smaller at approx. 33" and Sparkles at approx. 34". Guests can meet these two special jenny's as they're part of our Alpaca & Mini Sheep Farm Tour Experience.

Benefits to having friendly mini donkeys on our farm:

• They LOVE human contact. We love to have animals that actually love to be pet and loved on and also return the love themselves.
• Easy Keepers. They are pretty low maintenance and require periodic farrier services for hoof health maintenance.
• Peaceful nature. Our mini donkeys have a wonderful peaceful disposition that get along well with our other animals, Alpacas, sheep, goats, etc.
• Therapy animals. Many mini donkey's are considered wonderful therapy animals, good for humans to be around to help support mental & emotional well-being.
• Easy to train and highly intelligent. You can train a mini donkey to help and pull a cart. They can also carry a pack and make a great companion for hiking and backpacking!
• Can make great pets. They don't require as much space, care, or expense as a full-size donkey.
• They are herd animals.  As such they thrive with another mini donkey companion and love to be near other herds for company & entertainment.

Sparkles & Cocoa Photo Album

Sparkles & Cocoa Fouls

Both Jenny's have fouled beautiful babies.

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Mini Donkey Fun Facts:

• Two miniature donkeys will require a minimum 1 acre of land
• The size of these donkeys varies from 26 inches, which is considered extraordinarily small (Micro), to 36 inches to be considered "mini" size.
• Female donkeys are called "Jenny's", males are called "Jack's" & babies "Fouls".
• Donkeys can live for over 50 years.
• Donkeys are very strong and intelligent.
• A donkey is stronger than a horse of the same size.
• Donkeys have an incredible memory – they can recognize areas and other donkeys they were with up to 25 years ago.
• They have heat cycles every 18 to 21 days throughout most of the year. Miniature donkeys, on average, carry a foal for 12 months.
• A herd will pick the strongest donkey to be their leader and their leader will fight off predators so the rest of the herd will escape to safety.
  
• Donkey's groom each other like money's and chimps do.
  
• Herd guardians for sheep, goats & cattle and have a natural aversion to K9's.
  

Miss Cocoa Is Expecting!

Our precious Miss Cocoa is expecting to foul anytime July/August 2022! Stay tuned for some adorable mini baby donkey cuteness on the farm.

Miss Cocoa, mini donkey, expected to foul summer 2022! (Sonoma, California)

(from L to R) Sparkles & Cocoa mini donkeys in Sonoma, California

Mini Donkey Personality Traits:

• Donkeys are not easily startled (unlike horses) and have a keen sense of curiosity.
• Donkeys have a reputation being stubborn but this is due to their highly developed sense of self preservation. It is difficult to force or frighten a donkey into doing something it sees as contrary to its own best interest or safety.
• Donkeys are more independent in their thinking than horses and will reason, then make decisions based on their safety.

• Training a donkey relies upon showing him or her, by words and action, that they can trust you to protect them from harm. They learn what it is we want them to do if we take time to show them.
• ​Donkeys originate from desert areas of the earth
• In the desert environment a donkey is able to hear the call of another donkey 60 miles away, they have far larger ears than horses. Their large ears also help keep them cool.
• ​Because food is scarce in the desert, donkeys utilise 95% of what they eat which means their manure is not a very good fertilizer for land. Their digestive system can break down inedible vegetation and extract moisture from food more efficiently.
• They don’t like the rain and being out in it for long periods can damage their health as their fur is not waterproof.