How not to milk a donkey

Baby Dovie won’t leave her momma’s side. (Photo)

The other day a camel milk farmer called me. 

He told me he’s going to start milking donkeys now too. (He’s been following our story.)

When I told him they aren’t like cows, you can’t just take the babies away from their mommas the minute after they’re born, he laughed and told me he would do it the way he saw fit.

When I told him the milk was only good for autoimmune disease for a certain time lactation, and after that it shouldn’t be used for sick kids, and that donkeys will naturally dry up and wean their babies, he said he could make them produce longer than that, and he would do his own research on how long to sell the milk.

I told him he should have done the research before he bought the donkeys.

Then he told me the way I should be doing things to make money at this. 

When I got off the phone, my girls said “Momma, why wasn’t that man talking nice to you?”

When people tell me they’ll “just milk a donkey”, and my toes curl, this is why. There’s so much more to this than that. 

And yes, camel milk is a thing.

And yes, we tried it before we found donkey milk.

And yes, there’s a reason we don’t milk camels.

We didn’t start milking donkeys because we saw a business opportunity. 

We started milking donkeys because our daughter needed the milk to be healthy.

We’ve made terrible business decisions along the way.

We’ve spent crazy money trying to save donkeys that couldn’t be saved.

We turned away sales for years, because it is illegal to sell raw milk (of any kind) across state lines. We decided early on that we wouldn’t break the law. If we did, we wouldn’t be able to share our story.

Now we’re the only importer of freeze dried donkey milk in the United States. And we can ship it across state lines, legally.

Maybe we’re the only ones doing this because...this doesn’t make much sense on a spreadsheet.

But thankfully, God’s spreadsheet doesn’t have to add up. 

And He’s taken care of us in spite of ourselves.

“My people will live in peaceful dwelling places, in secure homes, in undisturbed places of rest. Though hail flattens the forest and the city is leveled completely, how blessed you will be, sowing your seed by every stream, and letting your cattle and donkeys range free.”
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭32:18-20‬ ‭NIV‬‬
https://www.bible.com/111/isa.32.18-20.niv

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