Horses, llamas and alpacas seem to be the animals many islanders want to raise these days. But Maryon Attwood is raising something much more rare.

She has three of the estimated 500 Poitou donkeys left on the planet. Attwood has three jennies, named Olympia, Nova and Rhapsody, that wander around her three-acre farm located on the south end of Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve near Outlying Field.

Attwood has been raising the rare donkeys for two years.

“I love that they’re so gentle,” Attwood said while petting one of her donkeys. She said they were a little apprehensive when she first acquired them, but that changed once they became familiar with her.

“Once they do, they’re friends for life,” Attwood said.

She first got the idea to purchase the Poitous when she was looking for ways to get manure for her organic garden.

She thought about buying sheep, but that would have meant finding some kind of guard animals to protect them from the coyotes that roam Whidbey Island. Those animals probably would have been either dogs or llamas, neither of which she wanted. Then she remembered attending the Woodstock Fair in Connecticut 20 years ago and crossing paths with a woman who raised Poitous. The woman, named Debbie Hamilton, raised a variety of rare equine breeds in Vermont.

“There are a lot of wonderful farmland animals that are critically endangered,” Attwood said. She eventually acquired two of the Poitous, Olympia and Nova, and then picked up Rhapsody from a family in Texas at a later date. Eight-year-old Nova is the oldest of the group, while Olympia is a year younger. Rhapsody, Attwood’s newest donkey, is the youngest at 3 years of age.

She said the Poitous can defend themselves against coyotes. They are able to see all four of their legs and will kick or trample any coyote who strays too close. And the three donkeys meets her fertilizer needs for the organic grass she grows.

The origin of the Poitou is vague, but it appeared the breed was introduced to the Poitou region of France by the Roman army, according to information on Attwood’s Web site at www.atthewoodfarm.com. The donkeys have longer hair and are larger than most and were valued for breeding mules.

The Poitous are critically endangered. Attwood said there were approximately 70 of the shaggy, long-eared donkeys in the 1950s.

The numbers have improved over the years and, currently, approximately 500 are being raised thanks to the efforts of breeders in the United States and France.

Attwood hopes to add to that number in the near future. She hopes her three jennies will be pregnant next spring through artificial insemination. The gestation period for Poitou donkeys is approximately one year.

She said it’s best to have four jennies before a male, called a jack, is introduced. She plans to get a jack in the next two years.

Eventually she wants to have about a half dozen donkeys living on her farm, and maybe sell them to nearby farms.

The donkeys make excellent draft animals, which would be good for farming, Attwood said. Although considered an equine, the Poitou isn’t a horse. One of the notable differences is the extra vertebrae it has.

She added the Poitous are relatively inexpensive to keep. They feed on grass, trees and brush that grow on her small farm. They can live as long as 30 years.

As for plans to raise enough to sell, she just hopes the offspring are born healthy and happy.

Attwood added that her Web site, which contains information about the Poitou donkey, farm and a reading list, generates a lot of online traffic. She gets at least one call a week from various parts of the country from people inquiring about her donkeys.

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