J.B. The Donkey Update

May 9, 2009

Here’s the latest update on J.B., the orphaned baby donkey, from his adoptive mother Lindley Barden:

Well the JB Report is early this morning, as JB decided to make it that way!

JB’s lust for Foal-Lac finally ended his bottle-feeding days . . . at his 0500 meal, he sucked the end off of his Nuk baby bottle nipple! This led to experimentation with the calf bottle, which is much larger and has a longer, more slender (more rubbery) nipple. JB would have none of that–”Feed me NOW! Figure it OUT!” (I really expected to see his head spinning around and pea soup coming out of his mouth at that point.)

Anyway, out of desperation, I poured all of his remaining formula into a Country Crock Butter Spread tub, and held it up before him. After trying to suck the edge of the tub, looking at me in disbelief, and sucking the tub again, he accidentally stuck his nose in the milk . . . he must have correctly gasped, because before HE knew it he was drinking! He managed to drink about 1 1/2 baby-bottle’s-worth (I’ll need to come up with a new unit of measure now!), which was his usual.

But the 0700 feeding wasn’t that easy–you know, two steps forward, one (GIANT) step back. I prepared his formula in bulk this time, and took a butter-tub-full to him. He sniffed all around, tried to nurse my knee, then STUCK HIS WHOLE FACE IN IT! After taking a few gulps, he tossed his head and covered me, the floor, and the walls with formula; he then proceeded to wipe his wet beard/muzzle/nose all over me. I was laughing so hard that I didn’t even try to stop him!

Hopefully the learning curve on this “drinking from a bucket” thing isn’t very steep; if it is, you should all go out and buy stock in Foal-Lac, because we’re going to use a lot of it!
I’ve got to go sponge-bathe a white donkey foal, wash down the walls, and start a load of laundry, and shower . . . hopefully I’ll get the other updates loaded onto the blog, and comment about him from THERE tomorrow!

Lindley (GOT MILK?)

Comments

7 Responses to “J.B. The Donkey Update”

  1. E.M.D. on May 9th, 2009 4:43 pm

    William…I figured that out, before I read your post. Not hard to find what one wants…….good or bad or indifferent.

  2. E.M.D. on May 9th, 2009 4:40 pm

    All the world is a stage, and the people actors on it. I think Shakespere said something like that.. ‘Tis true. In every group, town, church, village are the same roles. Just different players…. a few are; the brave, the coward, the bully, the clown, the serious, the bossy, the annoying….on and on.

    I really appreciate what this woman is doing, and her updates. Today’s entry is hilarious, since she enjoyed the moment. Me thinks the dissenter may be jealous of their own ability to laugh at a situation that has them in the wrong end of it. Thanks for the laugh, Lindley.

    Note: if the dissenter is worried about germs, I submit that ….we are killing too many of them with our over cleanliness. We are hindering our own natural immunity designed to protect us. We need a bit of dirt and germs to build antibodies for our good.

  3. William on May 9th, 2009 4:31 pm

    My 2 cents — the story was changed to the latest update when it was received this afternoon.

    William

  4. My 2 cents on May 9th, 2009 4:28 pm

    Earlier this morning this story said that” the donkey still needed to work on his house training” which means that the donkey is being kept in the house, but now that part of the story is missing.

    I wonder why?

  5. Beegee on May 9th, 2009 2:44 pm

    To dbg……..wasn’t that a little bit harsh?

  6. dbg on May 9th, 2009 9:58 am

    You are not seriously keeping this donkey in your house! Isn’t there some kind of code not allowing this. He is a farm animal, treat him that way. If you don’t want to clean up “donkey doo” keep him outside in a barn where he belongs.

    If you are keeping this donkey in your house, then you are doing wrong.

  7. Beth W. on May 9th, 2009 7:08 am

    Thanks for the update on JB. The care you are giving JB (and the concern that other folks have) is just the kind of thing that helps to define our humanity in a good way — a bright candle in an otherwise dark event.

    If you decide to do the blog for JB and run into any technical snags, please feel free to contact me. I’ve had a lot of help learning over the years and if I don’t know the solution to a particular issue, I may know someone who does!