Rare twin donkeys born at Minnesota farm

There were exciting moments this past week at a Webster, Minnesota farm as a rare set of twin donkeys were born. But that amazing moment is one of many at the Rolling Acres Ranch that is just the beginning of a dream come true for owners Darick and Madi Kvam. And the dreams just keep getting bigger.

WEBSTER, Minn. (FOX 9) - There were exciting moments this past week at a Webster, Minnesota farm as a rare set of twin donkeys were born.

But that amazing moment is one of many at the Rolling Acres Ranch that is just the beginning of a dream come true for owners Darick and Madi Kvam. And the dreams just keep getting bigger.

On the farm, busy starts at daybreak and no day is the same. Last Thursday was delivery day for a very pregnant mammoth donkey named "Tania".

"So I look out here, and I see a baby starting to come out like the sack and everything. And so I call him because he stayed out of the house. I'm like, We're having a baby," Madi said.

Minnesota farm gets rare set of twin donkeys [extended cut]

An exciting and unexpected moment at a Webster, Minnesota, farm last week as a rare set of twin donkeys were born. The amazing moment is one of many at the Rolling Acres Ranch that is just the beginning of a dream come true for Darick and Madi Kvam.

And as if baby Millie wasn't enough, something incredible was about to happen.

"All of a sudden we hear this big like, whoosh, like water breaking noise and another baby is coming down. [Wait so you didn't know you were having twins?] No," Madi explained.

Only 1.7% of donkeys have twins, and of that only 14% survive. And so with the joy of twins, came the sorrow of losing one, hours after it was born.

Mama Tania (FOX 9)

"It came out with a little bit of a deformity, so it couldn't stand in a kind or get any milk from mama," explained Madi. "And it was maybe not even half the size of the other one."

But the Kvams know there are always ups and downs in farming, and so far it's been a wonderful, noisy, and sometimes hilarious journey.

It all started in 2020 when Darick was about to be deployed. They bought a few chickens to help Madi stay extra busy. They added goats and were gifted a few ducks then picked up a stray along the way. But just last August, on Darick and Madi's wedding day, they got the most unexpected gift.

"And, you know, later in the night, they pulled up two chairs and had us both sit on these chairs and said they had a gift for us with pictures of the donkey. And that's where we found out at 10:30 on our wedding night," Darick said.

The Kvams (FOX 9)

While the Kvams love the fun of having a farm, that's not where this story ends. In fact, it's just the beginning of a much greater mission.

"But the goal is to be able to, you know, to have produce and protein and meat for our community at an affordable price," said Darick. "Sustainable food for our community would be ideal."

With their first baby in the barn, there are more to come as the chickens and ducks lay eggs, and a couple of the dairy goats are due in the spring. For the Kvams, it's new life to help the lives of those around them.