Brookfield Farm is managed by Andrew Cockburn and covers 55 hectares (135 acres), including 4 hectares (10 acres) of woodland. The farm is perched on top of a hill at the end of a beautiful valley, which is lovely in the summer but can be cold, wet and battered by the wind in the winter!
The farm is home to about 300 donkeys, mules, ponies and horses. It was purchased in 1976 and was first run by Charles Courtney who moved on to be the head of the Welfare Department before retiring. Malcolm Salter was the second manager who left in December 2007 to set up dog kennels in Stockland, Devon.
The donkeys on the farm are some of the youngest and fittest within the Sanctuary as the fields leading down to the valley are very steep so it would not suit the very old donkeys.
One of the donkeys living at Brookfield is Joseph, who was relinquished to the Sanctuary in 1998 by a family who owned him as they thought he was lonely and would enjoy the company of other donkeys.
Claire, one of the grooms on the farm, says: "Joseph has got the biggest personality of all the donkeys here at Brookfield. If there is a yard broom he can steal - he will. If there is a pot of paint he can stick his nose in - he will. If there are builders or workmen here that he can follow around and annoy - he will."
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