Um...having been on a farm my whole live and I have owned many kinds of livestock. I have raised and trained many horses my whole life. Im going to have to agree with PineBurrowPeeps as sad as reality may seem.
Your donkey really serves no purpose in the big picture if you are unable to handle him. Especially to a working farmer (most of the people who own enough land to sustain an animal like that) who just MIGHT take another mouth to feed if this farmer was desperate for a guardian and said donkey was FREE. I know very few that would take an animal that was unmanageable and even less that would actually pay money for something like that. Most of the farmers I know including myself and family would not pay to care for such a useless animal...let alone use up feed on it. If it were to get injured, I would have to spend a lot of time to run it into the stocks and then drug it just to deal with it. Animals like that can hurt you even when drugged. Not worth it IMO..... A lot less trouble when you can find animals that have been handled. (Not your fault it wasnt!)
If a wild animal like that goes to the stock yards, he is going to go really really cheap, probably not cover the cost of gas it took to get him there an would probably be bought for slaughter. Have you been to a livestock auction? You can get decent animals there for under 50 bucks if you know what you are looking for and have the experience and TIME to deal with it.
If there is a slaughter house in your area, he's lucky....if not, he will be without food and water in a cramped trailer until he reaches his final destination.
Animals like this either need to go to a trainer who has the time and facilities to work with it, be put down, or be given a forever home to roam around on and be drugged occasionally so that it can be taken care of. Donkeys have pretty hard feet, but they need to be trimmed to keep them even. Also he would need to be vaccinated for things like Eastern and Western encephalitis and tetanus along with deworming. How is he going to feel when he gets cut and dies out there of lockjaw?
Go to an auction (or look on the internet) and see what 400 will get you...usually a started broke manageable animal. Sure the money would help you out, but whats it going to cost to feed him if he runs out of food again? Better off seeing him gone ASAP.
I hope that you can give him away for FREE!
Best of luck!!!!!
