What a difference a day makes…

Sunny and cold days do have their advantages … like being able to lay on a straw bed while soaking up some heat. I removed this bedding yesterday before today’s rain set in. All that snow in the background behind Bella is now gone.
Rainy days … well they have their own attractions. Like rolling in the wood chips in the barns. And then standing in the rain to make a good chipboard paste all over your back! Donkeys don’t have the same type of protective undercoat that horses do. So they tend to try to get out of rain and wet snow. They can get quite a chill and even can get quite sick with pneumonia or bronchitis. Our four like to hang out in the barns in a steady rain. But on a misty day like today they’re outside as much as inside. Bella and Rosie have longer and coarser coats. So at first they’re okay outside. But you can tell when the rain starts to drip down through those long hairs and trickle down their backs. Paco and Darby both have shorter hair. Darby does make for the barns more quickly in the rain. Paco can be funny about it. He spent a number of years without shelter in wet weather. Sometimes I look out to see all the others in a dry warm barn while he stands out in the rain … looking miserable … and yet choosing to be there. He could even have his own barn … so it isn’t just that the jennies are cramping his space. Maybe after his gelding he’s having ‘hot flashes’?!