‘Better than winning the lotto’: adorable twin donkey foals born
A delightful surprise has left an Irish farmer inundated with visitors.
Twin donkey fillies, Ella and Bella, were born at Philip Timoney’s Drumhole base on 29 May.
He had no idea their dam, Nellie, was carrying two foals until he spotted the pair in the field.
“We couldn’t believe it,” he said. “There were other donkeys in the field and we thought may be it was one of theirs, but we saw the two of them following the one mare so we realised they were twins.
“We’ve never seen this before, they’re very rare.”
Mr Timoney, who has been breeding donkeys for 45 years, said the rare pair were thriving and attracting lots of attention.
“They’re doing great,” he told H&H. “They are looking really good, very cute wee things and are very inquisitive.
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“They’ve attracted some serious attention and everyone is coming to see them.
“We’ve had lots of young twin children coming from all over to have their photos taken with them.”
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Mr Timoney said the birth of the foals was “as good as winning the lotto” and that Nellie was coping well with the new additions.
“She’s a lovely big donkey and is taking care of her filly foals,” he said.
“She’s very protective of them and is a very good mother.”
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Rachael joined Horse & Hound in 2014, initially as a digital sub editor then became part of the news team as a writer in 2015. The philosophy graduate studied journalism at the Press Association before working as a local reporter at the Brentwood Gazette. Rachael is now a mum of two and still loves all things equestrian, including hacking, dressage and jumping with her cob Bert. Rachael left the H&H staff to go freelance in June 2019, but still contributes to our magazine and website, as well as our sister magazine Country Life, among others.