That was the longest year of my life watching this donkey expand in girth. We gave up guessing - she'll have it when she has it, and we hoped we would be home for it.
One event we are involved in every year is the Renaissance Faire. We had just worked 8 weekends straight, and came home Memorial Day Monday evening. Fed the animals and had a bite to eat, ourselves. Mama wasn't feeding well - Good sign - About 30 minutes later, I looked out in the pasture and she was in active birth! FINALLY! She is so well bonded with us that she allowed us to be right with her, petting her head and waiting. After a little struggling, and the necessary help of my husband (who had never even seen a birth before, but was game to try helping if I talked him through it) Penny was born. It was a gorgeous warm evening, and Lulu was the perfect mother! Penny couldn't decide who her mama was and tried to follow the goat around, once she attained her feet - it didn't take long for her to straighten it all out though, and latch on to mama for her first meal.
Penny at birth 
Day one - Penny sees the goat in the daylight!Now - fast forward 7 months. We had by now bred Cindy the lamancha goat to our friends nigerian dwarf buck. She was due approximately December 29th.
We were finally able to put an expansion on our barn (which was built by us, out of largely reclaimed materials), and we just knew we had another 4 days or so before we should confine her - after all, she wasn't due until December 29th or so. We had finished the expansion on the barn, which includes two goat stalls and a 10' x 10' open space. These stalls just didn't have gates yet. (You should be getting a glimmer of what's to come right about now!) In November, we added a second doe - a mini-nubian that we call Gerie, who was in milk.
December 24th we finished some errands in town, and were planning on heading out into the chilly December weather to finish up the gates for the two stalls. It would be quite the relief to be able to pen Cindy, and give her some good clean deep bedding in which to await the arrival of her babies. And it would give Gerie, a break from the constant harassment by the domineering Cindy. I told my charming husband that I would be ready in a minute and headed to the bathroom, because cold weather work is Always worse if you have a full bladder. As I am unavailable, my mobile phone in the pocket of my jeans goes off with my husbands ringtone - why on earth is he calling me in the bathroom?? *ignore* And he calls again - ok, I'll bite. "What are you doing calling me from the other room?!" I say with some acerbity. The reply couldn't have been more alarming. "Cindy's had her babies and Lulu is trying to kill them! Get out here and help!!"
You know, there just isn't a heck of a lot you can do to hurry up that situation. I finished in record time and made it to the barn to find my husband on the ground trying to protect a brand new born mini-mancha boy, and a little whiskey colored girl with black points from an outraged mama donkey. The report from my husband was that Lulu had trampled him, and stomped his leg to continue to try to kill the kids after he was out there. A few choice words and a lot of action followed.
Without the gates on those stalls, this gets a little awkward - we did manage to move Cindy and the babies into the big birthing stall and get their heat lamp set up in record time - but without gates, it was pallets as a baricade braced on a rapidly screwed in two by four across the entrance. Mama got cleaned up as well as we could, and the babies got their navels dipped in iodine solution then with Cindy and the babies, already named Clarence and Balvenie (well, she is the color of good whiskey!) secured, the donkeys, being Lulu and her 7 month old jennet Penny, were still in a state of utter horror. How dare these little creatures appear out of nowhere and smell of blood - obviously to the donkey they were evil and should be terminated without delay. (Clarence has been renamed for reasons personal to my eldest daughter - he has become Chester - and before he was castrated, Chester the Molester!)
All of the last 10 months of harmonious pasture relations between the donks and the goats flew out the window and we were left to wonder if the guard donkeys were going to ever work out. A few attacks and close calls, and and we were faced with the possibility of having to rehome our donkeys. This indeed made us sad to consider, but we started all this to raise dairy goats. We worked harder -we would would pick up the kids and hold them on one side of the fence or gate for the donkeys to smell. Lulu finally started coming up to the gate with her ears pitched forward and lower her head to sniff them through the fence. *A glimmer of hope!* Penny was now 8 months old and a teenage brat as far as donkey development goes. When they have mingled, she wants to chase them and run them ragged.
At two months into their little lives, they have grown considerably and Lulu isn't trying to kill them! That in itself is amazing, but what happened on our first day of full pasture integration just blew our minds. Not only did Lulu treat them well - she herded her daughter away from them when she was too rambunctious. When the kids were too much, she herded them back up to the barnyard. And there, the kids jumped up into a feed tray and little Balvenie jumped onto Lulu's back for a donkey ride. I'm still stunned - but more so when she let the goat kids nurse from her! Lest you not believe me, there is video footage here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeFVM_PkfgM&feature=related and of the nursing here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vrfdXZBphs&feature=related
The next morning, both Lulu and Penny were giving the kids donkey back rides! Screw the dog and pony show - We have a goat and donkey show!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgXscaca7_M&feature=related
More importantly, Zen had finally reached our acres and we have become Zentopia Acres!
