Meet Charlie

Little Charlie surprised us by arriving two weeks early! I had been keeping a close eye on Serenity and knew she was getting close. On the evening of June 18th when I went to do the evening feeding, I noticed Serenity's udder was very full and firm. That is a major sign for her! After having our own dinner, the whole family went out to the barn to get it ready for foaling. Garrett hooked up the camera, the kids help to muck out the stall and spread wood shavings and straw around. While we were in this process, we noticed Seren pacing back and forth and acting irritable with the other donkeys. We opened the stall and she went right in. After circling a few times, she laid down (totally abnormal for a donkey unless they are in labor!). I said, "A foal should be here within the hour."

We left the barn and went inside to gather some supplies, the whole time watching the process on the camera. Suddenly, I noticed Serenity pushing and I immediately ran out to the barn. Sure enough, a little nose and two hooves were already out. This stage of the process makes me so nervous just because we have lost a couple of foals at this stage. After she pushed for a while, I took hold of the foals legs and just held on so that it didn't slip back in, in between contractions. Within a few minutes, a dark foal was shaking its head and looking around! It was only twenty minutes from the time we put Serenity in her stall to when her baby was born! They can be quick!

A beautiful jack foal wibbled and wobbled and before we knew it, was walking all over. He is our cute Charlie, with the biggest personality we have ever seen! He looks almost black, but his cross is barely visible so he will most likely mature to be a very dark brown.