Nativity plays are being acted out in this pre-Christmas period in churches & schools everywhere.  They are not neccessarily without their problems!  This report comes from America but reflects life with acting animals world wide.

“”Ranging from the humble to the elaborate, live nativities are now holiday staples in many North American communities. The productions draw thousands of viewers, recruit hundreds of costumed church members and townsfolk and often include live animals, detailed props and Bethlehem backdrops. But striving for authenticity often
multiplies the risk of manger mishaps.

“One year the donkey in our stable scene started eating Joseph’s headpiece,” remembers Wilma Bing, an associate pastor at the Auburn Academy Adventist Church in Washington, and director of its “Journey to Bethlehem” live nativity. Later, she says, the sheep “started baa-ing so loudly you couldn’t even hear the actors.”

Back in Kernersville, the donkey playing the part of Mary’s mount flatly refused to participate last year. “We had to use a horse at the last minute,” says nativity director Reid Christman. “The next night we tried a different donkey. He was a little more cooperative.”

Instead of live animals, Smith now uses polyester-stuffed upholstered lookalikes. “People think ‘Ajax,’ the donkey, is live,” she says.

But even minus stubborn donkeys and rowdy sheep, nativities are not without the occasional snag. No-show actors make for last-second costume switches, and still-life nativities — which require actors to hold a pose for up to a half hour while viewers file or drive by — come with another set of challenges, most often wandering eyes or runny noses.”"

In our own play that was written specially for the NEDDI donkeys and that they performed some years ago they behaved perfectly, possibly because they were tethered in front of a big pile of hay, but sadly the same cannot  be said of the young goats who decided that the Virgin Mary’s veil was REALLY tasty!  And once one had made the discovery, they all wanted a try.