Dr. Faith Burden

Just got to change them.

Donkeys like novelty.

Leave the same toy in with them for the whole year.

They won't play with it after a day or two.

Swap it in and out.

And you'll have very happy donkeys.

It never gets old.

I love it.

And I don't know what they're called in America, but we call them wellies, Wellington boots and rubber Wellington boots with no metal pieces.

The ultimate donkey toy.

So when your boots have got holes in them,

you can pass them safely onto your donkeys and enjoy watching them.

Your listener is absolutely right.

It can be anything from 11 months to 13 and sometimes longer.

So donkey jennies just seem to have this ability to hold on to their foals until they're ready and they feel safe.

So it is widely variable and they give much subtler signs of being ready to have their foals than horses.

And

it's again an evolutionary adaptation.

So they probably would just hold back until food was more plentiful or until they felt they were safe away from predators.

But we will often see it when neglected and uncared for donkeys come into our care that are already pregnant, that they'll wait until they feel safe and secure, often longer than we expect.