Lots of new foal questions

[GlacierRidge]

I have a few questions I'm hoping some of you can help me with. It is a mini donkey foal that will be 10 days old tomorrow.

First question....I've only seen her poop once, and that was shortly after birth. I've not caught her in the act since, nor have I found evidence. Possibly the mare covers the pile with her own. I would expect I would have a sickly, lethargic foal with a hard abdomen if she was not having regular bowel movements, correct? She's active, alert, and a normal foal in every way. I'm just not seeing the deed, or any evidence. Urination either...although the mom always urinated in the same spot in the stall, and I have since found I had to move where I placed the hay, because it became the place to urinate, I'm guessing the foal started urinating on the hay, then mom followed the tune. It has been a very busy time since she was born, not her fault, with a close family member dying unexpectedly the day before she was born. Obviously not something we could plan, and there was a lot of family stuff that needed to be taken care of, so I was unable to be with her as often as I planned to. (like watching her for hours on end!)

Next question....her bite. This is my first mini foal, and donkey foal. I have read that minis are kinda prone to having off-bites, and I did adopt a 2 year old mini gelding with an underbite last year, knowing so when I brought him home. Are foals often born with "the perfect bite" or do they grow into it? Her gums are showing an underbite. Again, she is 10 days old (tomorrow). Both mom and dad have good bites, I made sure before I had the jenny bred.

Last question....the "herd" my jennet has always been with includes one other mini donkey, two mini horse geldings and two pygmy goats. I know she misses them. When the foal is a bit older, might I be safe to consider introducing mom and baby to them? I'm sure the donkey and the goats would be fine....but I wonder about the mini geldings....who I'm sure have never had the experience of meeting a foal before. How, and when would you consider trying it? One at a time? Not at all?

Thank you for all the input!

Angie

 

[Matt73]

I have a few questions I'm hoping some of you can help me with. It is a mini donkey foal that will be 10 days old tomorrow.
First question....I've only seen her poop once, and that was shortly after birth. I've not caught her in the act since, nor have I found evidence. Possibly the mare covers the pile with her own. I would expect I would have a sickly, lethargic foal with a hard abdomen if she was not having regular bowel movements, correct? She's active, alert, and a normal foal in every way. I'm just not seeing the deed, or any evidence. Urination either...although the mom always urinated in the same spot in the stall, and I have since found I had to move where I placed the hay, because it became the place to urinate, I'm guessing the foal started urinating on the hay, then mom followed the tune. It has been a very busy time since she was born, not her fault, with a close family member dying unexpectedly the day before she was born. Obviously not something we could plan, and there was a lot of family stuff that needed to be taken care of, so I was unable to be with her as often as I planned to. (like watching her for hours on end!)

Next question....her bite. This is my first mini foal, and donkey foal. I have read that minis are kinda prone to having off-bites, and I did adopt a 2 year old mini gelding with an underbite last year, knowing so when I brought him home. Are foals often born with "the perfect bite" or do they grow into it? Her gums are showing an underbite. Again, she is 10 days old (tomorrow). Both mom and dad have good bites, I made sure before I had the jenny bred.

Last question....the "herd" my jennet has always been with includes one other mini donkey, two mini horse geldings and two pygmy goats. I know she misses them. When the foal is a bit older, might I be safe to consider introducing mom and baby to them? I'm sure the donkey and the goats would be fine....but I wonder about the mini geldings....who I'm sure have never had the experience of meeting a foal before. How, and when would you consider trying it? One at a time? Not at all?

Thank you for all the input!

Angie

Just responding to the first question. She has to be defecating or else she'd be dead or very very sick by now (10 days is an extremely long time...Heck, 1 day is a long time for a foal).

 

[kaykay]

I do not think minis are "prone" to bad bites. Bites are hard because from what I have read it likes to skip a generation so unless you know that the grand parents had good bites its makes it seem like it came from no where, when actually it was in the breeding. How far off is the bite?? I have seen some that were mildly off come back straight but others never do.

Shes probably urinating in the hay where you cant see it. I do like to try and find the manure to make sure the milk is going through. The manure will turn yellowish and then you know the milk is going all the way through.

I turn mine out with the herd when they are about 7-10 days old. But I stay right there and watch until I am sure its all going okay.

 

[GlacierRidge]

Thank you for the replies!

Angie