July 31, 2023
While we were at Hickory Grove Campground in Illinois, Nox discovered the next door neighbors kept a horse, two donkeys, chickens, and a Guinea Hen. When I was growing up, my grandmother had some Guinea Hens that she let roam in her garden. You may know them as Guinea Fowl.
Nox didn’t seem to have any interest in the chickens or Guinea Hen. The chickens and Guinea Hen were kept in the same enclosure with the donkeys. We did see the chickens in the field with the horse one time, but I think that was a ‘someone left the gate open’ situation.
Nox was fascinated by the horse, but the horse paid no attention to Nox. Nox would look longingly through the fence at the horse, wanting to be friends. I didn’t get any pictures of this.
Now the donkeys were equally fascinated with Nox and would come over to see her.
The donkeys weren’t as interested in us. They showed little interest when we came by without Nox.
Nox wanted to get right up to the fence, but we were mean and didn’t let her. We didn’t want the donkeys to lick or bite her. Also, we didn’t want Nox to lick or bite the donkeys!
Blackberry Homestead 
I loved this! Guinea hens are great little watchdogs! They roost in the trees in South Africa and some nights and early mornings could put up quite the ruckus! Donkeys are interesting creatures to me–dad usually had a donkey to keep the horse company. Nox is very interested in them!
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My understanding is that Guinea Hens are still half wild.
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They might have been more than half wild in South Africa–these were ones that roamed free and might roost anywhere…like in the tree in my friend’s back yard! I do think that some people kept them, much like they kept chickens though.
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Yes, my grandmother kept them with chickens and that is very common. The source I was reading, “Since they are semi-domesticated at best, it is not unusual to find them roosting in trees or other high places come dusk.”
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Nox is so good at making new friends. 🙂
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That she is!
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🙂 🙂 🙂
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How sweet Nox is! She makes friends everywhere.
Geordie nearly plotzed when he saw miniature horses. (Everything was prey to him.)
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She is a sweetie!
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I think it’s pretty well recognized that dogs and donkeys usually get along quite well. When we lived in Utah we would frequently take Max to Zion NP and along the route back home was a ranch that had donkeys. We’d always take along carrots to feed them from the car window while parked next to their fence. There were usually 4-5 at a time. Max and the donkeys got along great and he’d stick his head out the windows while the donkeys stuck theirs through the fence wire. Sniffs were exchanged and maybe some licks too. Both sides seemed happy with the arrangement and we’d joke that the donkeys thought Max was responsible for the carrot treats.
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We didn’t take anything to feed the animals since I didn’t know if the farmer would be okay with it. Later, we heard from others in the park the donkeys loved to get chocolate chip cookies from kids. I am sure carrots are way better for donkeys than cookies!
The donkeys probably did think Max was responsible for the carrot treats. Why would people bring carrots unless their overlord made them?
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