Ashley is 6 weeks old now and continues to thrive, turning into a very bright, handsome little donkey. His diet has changed again to meet his needs as we have discovered he is lactose intolerant, so he now enjoys several drinks of goats milk a day and some tasty nuts at night.

Little Ashley has been a little off colour the past couple of days so his feed has been adjusted slightly to accommodate this. He is still drinking his milk from his sterilised bowl but now has a special glucose/salt/milk powder mixture instead of just milk powder to ensure he is getting just the right levels of nutrition for his ever changing growing needs.

It had been over a fortnight since my last visit to feed Ashley, our orphan foal and I was really looking forward to seeing him again to give him his midnight feed on Sunday evening. As I pulled up outside his stable and looked through the window I soon saw his eager little face peering up at me, expectantly awaiting his nice warm milk and was surprised by how much he had grown since my last visit. It was a cold night, but Ashley was wearing a nice warm quilted rug and seemed very comfortable and content in his stable, next to his friend Mr Khan and Oonagh, Mr Khan's mother and Ashley's grandmother.