It took Devon O’Keefe about five months to find Jack and Jill.

The two miniature donkeys, from Hidden Hills farm in Lisbon, come after an exhaustive search for Ledyard High School of several farms for animals that were “cute, affordable and hadn’t learned any terrible habits,” said Principal Amanda Fagan.

Fagan reached out to O’Keefe, the Agriscience instructional leader, about getting the donkeys last year.

Miniature donkeys allow students to still learn about members of the equine family without having horses, which Fagan said require expensive medical care to own. The department doesn’t currently have the land or resources to properly exercise horses, she said.

In the long term, the miniature donkeys also fit into Fagan’s vision to bring back an old tradition: a fair put on by the Agriscience department.

“You could come up see animals and plant plants,” Fagan said of what was then called the “Vo-Ag Fair. “(It) helps garner interest in the schools and certainly ... the animals are a visual draw.”

This fall, Agriscience students will work daily raising the animals. Sophomores will be responsible for cleaning, feeding and walking them, while juniors will be learning about their medical care and seniors will be able to do things like perform physical exams and training.

The eventual goals of the department include training the donkeys to pull a small cart, and incorporating them into the school’s Pet Partners Organization as therapy animals.

Donkeys are capable of learning a bit of training using a clicker, said O’Keefe, much like dogs or the sea lions that perform at the Mystic Aquarium. Some farmers use them to guard livestock as well.

Many students pick pigs or hens as their senior project, which are raised to produce a product, Fagan added, and training the donkeys for their labor will give students a different perspective.

On Sept. 14, seniors from the Veterinary Science II class came out to watch as farrier Brad Harwood—a 2002 alumnus of Ledyard High—arrived to clip the hooves of the two donkeys.

Jack and Jill, who are 17 months and 10 months respectively, were being held by students Erin Spencer and Brianna Woomer.

Both the donkeys trembled and bucked up as Harwood tried to take their hoof.

All donkeys are scared initially, he said, but with training and more human contact, they will grow accustomed to it

Spencer, a senior in the Agriscience program who lives in North Stonington, plans to work with Jack next semester as part of her senior project.

“He’s hyper and sensitive,” she said as Jack bucked up into the air.

Her goals are to help Jack be able to handle a halter and maybe pull a cart, but in the short term her goals are modest.

“I’m hoping that he’s going to be able to walk to the barn in less than 30 minutes,” she said.

n.lynch@theday.com