New Arrivals!

Sweet little Milo

Spring is such a wonderful season! Warmer weather, rain, flowers springing through the soil, buds bursting on the trees. The most wonderful part of spring on a farm however, is the arrival of new babies. What is cuter than a miniature donkey? A baby miniature donkey!

Dimples had us on pins and needles and was in no rush to have her foal. It can be a challenge with donkeys because it's normal for their gestation to go anywhere from 11-13 months. I like to average it out and plan on twelve months from when they breed. For the most part, this has been consistently successful give or take a few days. Dimples had almost reached two weeks past this date. We had the camera set up in the barn and a stall freshly bedded now we just needed the baby. There are a few things I look for with the mama when anticipating a new arrival. Dropped, v shaped belly, softened ligaments behind the tail, but the biggest one is the udder. The udder gradually begins to enlarge about six weeks prior to foaling. The teats and bag will get more full and harden slightly. I'll start to express milk from the teats when it looks really full and tight and once it comes out a milky white color, the foal should be here within 24 hours.

Dimples' udder definitely got full but the milk wasn't yet white. In the evening I noticed she was acting peculiar. She was pawing at the ground, laying down and getting back up, her tail was extended straight out. I knew she was in labor!

A few minutes old

After putting her in the stall, she immediately went to work and before too long, we said hello to our newest farm family member. What an adorable, surprisingly white colored jack! He is the first of his kind here on our farm and he is stunning! He seems to glow!

Milo is very friendly and playful and we are trying to figure out a way to keep him (this happens with almost every new baby). What a wonderful start to the foaling year.

Another light colored one!

One week later, we greeted another lovely little jack, Otis. With at similar theme, he is white with light red spots. Penny surprised us again. Each of her foals has been a dramatically different color. Otis is also so sweet and loves to snuggle when you get down on his level.

We have two more mamas left to go! Hurrah for baby mini donkeys!