A Baby Donkey! She Was Pregnant?

We thought the donkeys were in perfect health but one was showing signs of distress. I had gone out to the pasture that morning expecting to see the two jennies, April and Amy, come to meet me. Instead I found April in a clearly agitated state. My mind swirled with possibilities, I had heard eating Loco Weed could poison a horse and I was sure that would apply to donkeys as well. I knew she had fresh water so it wasn't that but something was seriously wrong. Wondering if our vet would answer his phone on Sunday morning, I started to the house to tell Pat, my husband.

We had grown very attached to these two animals after selecting them from the Bureau of Land Management office in Oklahoma. The BLM oversees the maintenance of the wild burros and mustangs. They have adoptions throughout the year at their headquarters in Pauls Valley, Oklahoma. We had heard about it and decided we would like to adopt a couple of donkeys. We had done so about 6 months ago and everything had gone well until now but this really seemed serious.

April was standing beside a little shed but she was she seemed to be shaking and distraught. I thought getting her into that enclosure would help the vet to examine her if we could get him. When I tried to guide her inside the shed, however, she suddenly wheeled and ran to the other end of the pasture.

Pat came out immediately and knelt beside Amy who had fallen to the ground. A thought suddenly sprang into my mind but no .. I had been told several times this wasn't possible... she couldn't be pregnant and having a foal.

The Bureau of Land Management agent, who conducted the adoption, told potential buyers that since these donkeys had been wild until shortly before the adoption some of the jennies might be pregnant. We were thrilled but we ask about the two we had selected, he said they were too young to have bred.

We got them in April and this was September. April's belly was large and I still had a little hope she might be pregnant, When I asked someone about it that I thought would know, however, I was told eating grass caused a distension or "grass belly" on donkeys.