Birthing Donkeys? Me?

[originally posted to The Modern Homestead]

There’s an impending birth here at Browncoat acres; it will be the farm’s first in 2 years (my son and the 2 surviving chickens were born, and hatched (respectively) in mid-August of 2005). Sombrea (a Standard donkey) came to us pregnant, but her previous owner couldn’t tell us when she’d been bred--we think this one hadn’t been planned or authorized--especially so soon after giving birth to Serenity. So, at this point, it’s a guessing game as to when we’ll be hearing the clippity-clop of a new set of hooves around here. This will be my first midwivery, and I am pretty nervous, but I have to get over that before I get near Big Momma--she'll smell that straight off.

According to Morris (Looking After a Donkey), there are a few signs that we should be looking for: udder swelling, teat swelling, and teat waxing. After all this, Sombrea will actually begin dripping milk; that is when we need to start monitoring her every two hours, day and night. If I’m brave enough, I can also squeeze the base of her tail gently (obviously, that is the danger zone after all) to test for softness. Soft=get your coffee brewing things ready.

Her next bodily preparation will be to eliminate everything from her lower g.i. tract. From here, she’ll start having contractions within a few hours, and we’re to be checking for those every half hour or so. I should make time in the next few days to call Sombrea’s former owner to ask about her foaling history--how many she’s had, if she’s had any complications in the past, and what her last labor (with Serenity) was like in duration. Hopefully, this one won't travel like a shot cannonball.

I’ll post part 2 of this article to TMH this week (and copy it here), before I leave for Kansas, which will discuss the theoretical labor process. Part 3 will be my writeup (and pictures, if we’re lucky) of the birth after it’s happened, hopefully not while I'm gone.