Dear friends and fellow donkey lovers, if ever there was a reason to break my long blog-hibernation, this is it: at approximately eight o'clock this evening, Molly delivered the foal she has been carrying for nearly 13 months. We were beginning to wonder if she would ever drop that baby... and then tonight, we happened along just in time to find Molly still laying on her side, the foal next to her still half covered in membranes yet already gamely trying to stand.
After making sure that mother and baby were fine, Keith and I left so they would have more bonding time. We came back about 40 minutes later - and the baby was standing and nosing around for supper! We figure that the foal was only an hour old when I took the above photo. We cleaned up the afterbirth, put down more fresh straw and gave Molly some hay - which she ate with gusto along with some well-deserved carrots before returning to cleaning up her still damp little one.
Ambrose wisely decided that this would be a time to make himself scarce, so he retreated to the manger. Keith brought him hay, water, and a few celebratory carrots. Poor Ambrose definitely looks thrown for a loop tonight!
Overall, Molly seemed quite relaxed after her ordeal, taking it all in calm, if sweaty, stride. You can see that the wee one is already the apple of her eye!
Because it is cold and wet tonight - and Molly is a first-time mother and we are first timers, too, we're taking it in turns to check in on them every so often. We can't wait to share more photos - all in time, of course.
What a precious little guy! He's adorable and I look forward to more pictures of him!
Posted by: Janice | Wednesday, January 23, 2008 at 03:02 PM