Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Foxy's Surprise


Anyone care to guess?

By way of history, when Foxy came to us we were told by the owners that the people THEY got her from had told them she had an STD (venereal warts) but they had treated it and it was all taken care of, just some scars on her "parts" but all cured... they showed me the scars, just looked like little white spots on her skin, but it was nice to know where they came from...

Over the past 5-6 years we have had Foxy running with Wyatt, Trooper, Austin, Dillon AND Wiley at various times, and she has never gotten pregnant... so we thought that perhaps the STD had rendered her sterile, and quit trying... but at the same time, didn't worry any more about having her around the boys because she was "safe". In hindsight I am wishing I had done some research on this issue... but I didn't take the time. A couple of months ago our volunteers John and Rose were out, and while John was digging up old fence posts, Rose and I were brushing minis and she was asking about the pregnant jennets so I was pointing out the various girls and explaining what stage they were at, I have several that are more than halfway through their pregnancies and starting to get that "pear" shape... we turned to Foxy and then we looked at each other and looked at her and looked at each other and I went OMG! Because I thought she was sterile I didn't keep records on her like I do on the donkeys so I am scrambling to remember when she was where and with who last year... are we going to have a mini horse or a mule??? Checked her udder immediately, nothing to give me concern there at that time, but I upped her mare-and-foal (she was already getting some to put a little weight on, she eats slower than the rest and was missing out on some of her food so I had moved her to private quarters so she doesn't have to share, and giving her extra to get her built up again) and she's been growing ever since...





So I've been checking her udder weekly like I do the donkeys, and on Sunday:

It's FOUR TIMES the size it was just last week! Which on the donkeys means a baby within a month... so at this point I am pretty sure it will be Dillon's baby, as best I can remember she spent the summer with him last year because she eats slow and he won't push a woman away from her food (my little gentleman), AND because she won't push him away from his like his harem does all winter, poor little man ;) (although he thinks it's a fair trade, and I DO make sure there is plenty of food and it is spread out in several feeders so he gets enough).

So she has been moved to the foaling pen and is getting checked several times a day!

And I think she is wishing I would QUIT taking pictures of her and her big belly!

2 comments:

Ms Martyr said...

So does this mean you'll have a mini mule? How adorable! I can't wait to see pictures.

PaintedPromise said...

yes we DID have a mini mule!!! heading to post pics now :)