Meet "Gizmo", the New Donkey.

It's harvest time in the South and the cotton, corn and bean pickers are working overtime!  What does harvest time and donkeys have in common?  A few weeks ago we added a new, young donkey to our small herd of donkeys - which now ups our total of donkeys to 9.  Donkeys and cattle are a perfect match in the fields because donkeys keep the coyotes away from the newborn calves.  To acclimate the new donkey to the farm, we kept it confined to a small area for a few days before turning it loose to roam the pastures.   So, to supplement the grass and livestock feed that the donkey was eating, we decided to take the "little cowboy" to the corn field to "glean" a few buckets of corn cobs while the corn was being harvested.

This here is Mr. Gizmo.  He is not very happy about being kept in a pen.  He looks like he needs ice cream or a chocolate milk shake.  Or maybe a donkey delicacy like corn!  

JR is opening the gate on our West pasture leading to our neighbors corn field.  It was a HOT day near the end of October.

We were in luck! Parts of the field were already harvested so we were granted permission to glean what the picker missed.  

The "little cowboy" got a thrill out of watching the picker empty the corn into the waiting truck. 

Then the hunt for missed corn cobs began!

"This one looks like it was run over by a train!"

"It's missing some teeth, Pappy!" 

 (Wee Bob was rubbing his eyes due to the dust that the picker stirred up, hence the closed left eye.  My eyes were itching too.  By the end of our picking adventure, we all needed Allegra!)

"This cob looks better!"

"LOOK PAPPY!  This is the daddy of all corn cobs!"

Filling up one of the buckets!

"Here's two more cobs, Pappy!"

"I can pick lots of corn.....I know how to do it now!  Watch me."

"After you find the corn cob you have to pull, and tug, and pull, and tug off the outer layer of paper..."

"Then you check the corn inside to make sure it hasn't had it's 'teeth' pulled."

"Next, you keep tugging and pulling until most of the 'paper' comes off.  It's hard work but it builds strong muscles!"

"Then you take it to the bucket.   WAIT!  It's growing 'hair'...."

".......so you have to pull all the 'hair' off too."

Three big buckets were gleaned from the field that day.  

And then it was.......feeding time!!

"Eat up, Gizmo!"

After feeding Gizmo we decided to check the cows to see if any new calves had been born.  To our surprise, instead of a calf we discovered a new baby donkey.  Totally unexpected!!  

Here is the new baby donkey. - less than 24 hours old.   Now we need to name the little fella.  Any ideas??

Love,

Dee, Dee