A jenny who has had a few other foals will encourage the baby to nurse. You may need to help direct the baby to its first meal. This first milk imparts essential antibodies to the baby which help protect it from diseases. Baby donkeys are awfully cute, and you may be very tempted to breed your jenny just for the sheer fun of having a cute little one around. Before you make this monumental decision, though, be sure that the little donkey will have an insured future, and there is someone who will care for them.
There are lots of nice donkeys in need of good homes available through a number of qualified adoption agencies. Her udder is bigger and I think hope we are having a new donkey.
Now I feel better knowing what to do. Thank you! Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed. She was raised on a farm in rural Michigan. She is a mom of three who spends all her free time with her family and friends, her mare Joy, or just sipping her favorite cup of tea. We try to help farmers better understand their animals; however, the content on this blog is not a substitute for veterinary guidance.
Plan Wisely! Many donkey breeders are frustratingly aware of one peculiarity of jacks, which is the added time needed for them to achieve erection and ejaculation compared to horses. Experienced jacks usually need five to thirty minutes to complete the breeding act, while most stallions complete the act in ten minutes or less.
It can take an extremely long time for a jack to cover a female, even when dealing with older jacks and breeding them to jennets. Some jacks may take hours to cover a female or never complete the breeding act at all. Breeding a mare is not a natural, instinctual act for most jacks. Given their low libido, young inexperienced jacks and jacks that have not been raised with mares can be very challenging to use as breeding animals.
Of course there are always exceptions, but generally a jack that has not been raised around horses will not be interested in breeding mares. Though no specific research has been done to investigate this problem, there is much anecdotal evidence.
It is commonly known among donkey and mules breeders, that if a jack is raised with donkeys, mules and horses he will not naturally want to breed mares. It has also been observed that in situations where more than one jack is on a farm, once one breeds a mare, the other jack s will often follow suit in a rather short period of time.
Therefore, it is recommended that separate jacks be used to breed mares and jennets. If you are interested in breeding a jack to both species you should consider artificial insemination. As with stallions, jacks can be trained rather quickly to collect with the use of an artificial vagina.
Donkey semen can be handled similar to that of the stallion, using the same extender and storage techniques. Donkey semen can also be frozen for use at a later date. There are both anatomical and cyclical differences seen in jennets compared to mares. For the horse, the average length of gestation is days while in donkeys it is days or more. The estrous cycle of jennets ranges from days, whereas the mare has a slightly shorter cycle of days.
Additionally, jennets usually have a heat period that averages six to nine days. This can be substantially longer than what is seen in mares, as their heat may be as short as three days or last up to eight days. Ovulation in jennets occurs five to six days after the onset of estrus, whereas mares ovulate hours before the end of estrus. As a whole, jennets have stronger maternal instincts that mares and are exceedingly protective of they foals especially within the first few weeks of birth.
Consequently, they are likely to be too upset by the presence of a jack to stand for breeding during foal heat in a live-cover breeding program. On the second or third heat after foaling, however, they are typically more relaxed, showing less concern for their foal and more interest in the jack. Furthermore, multiple ovulations are much more common in donkeys than horses.
As a result, twinning occurs more frequently, especially in mammoth and standard donkeys. Management of twin pregnancies in donkeys is similar to that of mares in that reduction to one embryo is attempted. Just as mares have complications with carrying twin pregnancies to term, donkeys also experience like problems with twins. Jennets have a longer cervix than mares, however, it is smaller in diameter. There are different methods to diagnose an early pregnancy in mares so we recommend that you contact your vet for advice.
Usually the birth of a donkey foal is a relatively quick process, so it is essential to be prepared in advance. As donkey foaling approaches, the mare will become more solitary.
The udder will swell and subside for as long as four weeks before finally increasing in size, to the stage where the teats and udder are swollen and the udder is almost indistinguishable from the teats. In the last 72 hours milk usually starts to run. During the final 48 hours, the pelvic muscles will slacken and the hindquarters will lose muscle tone.
The mare will usually also become restless, stop eating and roll frequently to ease her discomfort. Donkey foaling usually takes around 40 minutes, from the first signs to the point where the foal is free from the mare.
Like most animals, donkey foals are usually born at night. Normal presentation is a 'diving' position with the head between the forelegs. In most cases, it is best to stand back and quietly watch, apart from carefully ensuring that when the foal is born its nostrils are free from any membranes or mucus.
Most mares deliver lying down but if the mare is standing then you should attempt to catch the foal and hold it close to the vulva to prevent early cord rupture. The cord will naturally remain intact until there is some movement from either the mare or the foal, by which time vital blood will normally have drained from the placenta. Typically, the mare dries and cleans the foal within the first few hours, which aids the bonding process.
Following this, the foal will then try to stand and suckle. The mare should pass the placenta within the next hour. If no progress is made within two hours call your vet. Check that the foal's eyes are open and bright, and that the gums have changed from an initial dark pink to a bright pink colour. The foal's breathing should be steady and at a rate of up to 60 breaths per minute.
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