Donkeys at New Germany's Hee-Haw Hallow building close bonds with humans, animals alike
NEW GERMANY, Minn. — Did you know that donkeys are fast, smart and can build life-long bonds with other animals and people?
A visit to Brett and Kelley MacNally's farm, Hee-Haw Hollow in New Germany, is like a visit to a zoo. There are pigs, sheep, goats, cats, and if you want to talk to the MacNallys, you have to get past the Highland cattle.
As social as these guys are, the farm really belongs to one animal. The MacNallys traded city life for country living a couple of years ago, in part because they wanted to find a place to raise both mammoth donkeys and mini donkeys.
"One day my daughter sent me this video about donkeys, about this girl and this donkey, and I totally fell in love," Kelley MacNally said.
"We are very spontaneous people, generally speaking, so we just kind of rolled with it," Brett MacNally said.
That meant learning about donkey farming on the fly. They quickly found out the animals build close bonds with people.
Veterinarians even say they become depressed when they're by themselves. They can also be very protective — even the mini ones.
"We have bear out here, coyotes, bobcats, and you would see the tracks of those all throughout this pasture. Once we got the donkeys, we never saw another track from a predator," Brett MacNally said.
It's also believed that donkeys are smarter than most dogs. At the MacNallys farm, they've been known to open up doors on their own and let themselves out of the barn.
"The reason we got into the mammoth donkeys is there are very few people breeding them in the U.S. and we want to help support that breed as well," Brett MacNally said.
The MacNallys also want to help increase the number of miniature donkeys, those that are 36 inches tall or shorter. Over the past two months, Bianco and Romeo became the newest members of Hee-Haw Hollow.
"Within an hour they are walking and wobbling," Brett MacNally said. "Within two hours, they are running up and down the pasture."
The little ones are part of the inspiration behind "The Fancy Farmer," a café the MacNallys are opening in New Germany.
"It will be donkey-themed. We will have a small fenced-in area where we will bring the donkeys up so that people can come and see a donkey," Brett MacNally said.
The couple hopes their customers get a kick out of their donkeys as much as they do. Who can resist an animal that comes in all shapes and sizes and has a people-pleasing personality?
"They are so loving, so compassionate, I feel like they are really in tune with people," Kelley MacNally said.
"It's the love. To come down and get a hug from an animal, have them put their head on your shoulder and just be happy to stand there and have you hug them as long as you want to hug them," Brett MacNally said.
The MacNallys say a misperception is that donkeys are stubborn, when in fact, they are cautious.
They do sell mini donkeys at Hee Haw Hollow, but they say they are careful about who they sell to because they want to make sure the animals are cared for. You can find more information on their Facebook page.
