REPRODUCTION
 First you should read the book Donkey Foaling Manual.  Then there is a video that will also help called  "Donkey Foaling Video."  This can be purchased through "Miniature Donkey Talk" You will need a foaling kit. The following items will need to be in it:  sterile gloves, towels, iodine, scissors, flashlight, water soluble lubricant, lambs nipple, towels, equine thermometer, string (bailing twine).  It is very important to know all the foaling signs.  Being there when the foal is born will save you many moments of grief.  It is difficult to be there, but it does help especially with maiden jennets.  Here is a website that is wonderful for helping to predict the time of birth.  I have personally used this sight and have predicted the time of birth within a few hours.  http://www.crayonboxminiatures.com/foalingsigns.html  

There are some new rules concerning the registration of donkey foals.  They will either need to be DNA Tested or Micro chipped.  There are pros and cons to each one.  Really both are necessary if you want to ensure that your bloodline is recorded correctly and identify your donkey quickly.  The DNA testing will cost about $35.00 per donkey.  You can go to NMDA and gather information about the process for this.  Micro-chipping will cost approximately $10.00 per donkey depending on how many you buy at a time.  You can go online and order from AVID.  You can buy a five pack, but you will have to call to get that because it is not offered online.  What you will need is the 10 digit chip at 125kHz.  These are not encrypted and can be read by both of the current scanners out there.  There is a 125kHz reader and a 134kHz reader.  Just so that you know there are 15 digit chips and nine digit chips on the market.  Many of the Europeans have 15 digit chips in their animals.  The nine digit chip can not be read by the 134kHz scanner.  The nine digit chips are encrypted so that they can not be tampered with, but they can not be read by all scanners.  You will know that there is a chip, however, the number will not appear on the screen.  This is why you want the 10 digit chip so that either scanner can pick it up.       Microchipping Video  

Foal rejection is something that we worry about.  I had a jennet to reject one and came to find out that she had Mastitis.  This condition caused her so much pain that she did not want the foal to nurse.  This must not be common or has gone undetected.  I would have never known that this could be the problem until a friend of mine told me to check into it.  Even then the vet reassured me that it was probably not the problem.  Guess what?  It was.  The same jennet is now bred and will let me touch her without a problem.  A sign that this might be a problem is when one utter is bigger than the other.  It will be real warm and the jennet will be very sensitive.  This describes most jennets prior to foaling.  That's why it is so hard to detect.  The one difference is that one utter is much bigger than the other.  There is a wonderful book called Donkey Foaling Manual everyone should own and read their copy of this book. 

New tip:  This one saved yet another foal.  I recently learned that prior to foaling some jennets need to be taken off salt.  They can develop edema in and around the milk gland causing great discomfort which may also lead to foal rejection.

SIGNS OF FOALING

First feel for a softening of the muscles above and around the tail.

Next, look for milk production and what looks like testicles.  This is the early sign that foaling is soon.

Once the milk has come in continue to feel the softening, but also feel each morning and night to see if the milk bag on the jennet is hard.  When it is hard in the morning and night then the foal will be born that night or day.  80% of the foals are born at night, however, two out of three of mine have been born during the day.  The milk bag was hard at night and soft in the morning.  When it was hard in the morning I knew the foal was on the way.  Usually the milk bag is hard in the morning and soft at night.  When its hard in the evening they will have the foal sometime that night or early morning. 

Just before foaling the utters will appear to point away from each other.  This is a great warning sign.

You should also look for the foal to drop.  With some jennets it is easier to see than on others.  What it looks like is the belly drops and a point appears.  Some jennets get what looks like waxing on the ends of the teats. 

You can also tell by milking the jennets as well.  The color of the milk will give you some idea.  The milk will go from liquid, to yellowish, to more white.  The closer to white the closer to foaling.

Lastly, if you were to check the jennet from behind the Vulva would look like a purpled pink color.  This indicates that the jennet will foal within six hours.  To date this has held true.  What I have seen is a pink color and then it changes to an even darker red and then a scarlet color.  When you see this happening you know your foal is on the way.

RED BAG FOALS
This is not a common occurrence, but it can happen.  What happens is the placenta prematurely separates causing the foal to be born in a bag that is too tough for it to tear.  Without the oxygen from the mom the foal will suffocate in minutes.  This can be avoided by ridding your field of tall fescue which is know to cause this problem  The fescue has an entophyte that causes this to happen.  One way to stop the fungus is to closely mow your fields.  This will not completely cure the problem.  Bull grass can be sown to replace the toxic fescue.  You can read about Bull Grass.