A double delight of big-eared donkey twins

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This article was published 30/06/2016 (3480 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

BALDUR — The wee hours of the morning of April 19, 2011, was certainly a night we will never forget!

We had been quite suspicious for a few months that our dear donkey, Dovey, could possibly be carrying twins. At 1 a.m. that morning, Dovey gave birth to a little red roan female we called Ida, who was 32” at the withers.

About three-quarters of an hour later, Dovey gave birth to a little black male, Ivan, who was born at 26” tall. Baby mammoth donkeys are usually born around 36” to 40” tall.

Both babies were eager to suck within an hour and a half. They were so lively and cute, and because Ivan was so small, I was able to put him on my lap and play with him.

Neither of the twins needed any help nursing — they found their food source all by themselves and their wonderful mother accepted them both right away and took good care of them.

And while we were very excited, with Ivan being so small we wondered if he would make it. However, both babies were very determined little foals.

Our vet recommended that we give them vitamins for about five days. Ron fed Dovey oats every day and she fed the twins till six months to the day they were born, when they were weaned.

Both babies grew very well; however, after a year, Ivan was still four inches shorter than Ida.

We took some photos of the family out in the pasture minutes before we weaned the twins, then they came back to the corral with us and neither they nor their mother put up any fuss at all. Dovey did come back to the yard a few times that day to check on them and then walked right back to the pasture. It was really amazing.

A couple of months later, on June 24, we got a huge surprise when Chloe decided to deliver 16 days early. We brought her home to the shed and she gave birth to a little white female, Prudence — who was notably small at 30” tall.

I looked at Ron and said, “This can’t be happening again!” Sure enough, little black Sherman followed shortly, born at 27 1/2” tall. This pair was closer in height and body size.

Prudence started sucking right away and got a stomach ache — she was rolling on the ground in pain. As we waited for the vet to come, Ron gave her some ‘Eno’ in a syringe and she recovered before the vet arrived. The vet checked over both twins and told us that they were perfectly normal inside and that as long as they nursed, they should be just fine.

We gave them vitamins for five days as well, and Ron gave Chloe oats every day as he had with Dovey. Again both twins were as independent as could be, and we did not have to help them get nursing.

That was another day in our donkey world that we will never forget.

It has been an amazing journey with these twins as we have watched them grow to five years old. After they were weaned, both sets stayed close together, whether in the pasture or corrals.

Each twin holds a close bond with his or her sibling, and both sets like to be together. Each set can be seen eating, walking and lying down side by side.

Many human twins talk of the bond they hold to their sibling but it is obvious these animal twins share a stong bond, too.

Our plan for the twins is to drive the two sets as one team, four abreast.

Surviving twins in the equine world is not common; however, donkey twins survive more often than horse twins.

After five years, Ida” has reached 54” while Ivan measures 53”, still one inch shorter than his sister. Prudence measures 53” and Sherman measures 56”.

With the Canadian Donkey and Mule Association’s guidelines for mammoth height being jennets/ jennys at 54” tall and jacks at 56”, only Ida from one set and Sherman from the other set have made the height.

» Suzanne and Ron Paddock operate the Big Ears Donkey Ranch, near Baldur.