The period of
gestation with the bitch is sixty days, or sixty-one, or sixty-two, or
sixty-three at the utmost; the period is never under sixty days, or,
if it is, the litter comes to no good. The bitch, after delivering a
litter, submits to the male in six months, but not before. The horse
and the mare are, at the earliest, sexually capable and sexually
mature when two years old; the issue, however, of parents of this
age is small and poor. As a general rule these animals are sexually
capable when three years old, and they grow better for breeding
purposes until they reach twenty years. The stallion is sexually
capable up to the age of thirty-three years, and the mare up to forty,
so that, in point of fact, the animals are sexually capable all
their lives long; for the stallion, as a rule, lives for about
thirty-five years, and the mare for a little over forty; although,
by the way, a horse has known to live to the age of seventy-five.
The ass and the she-ass are sexually capable when thirty months old;
but, as a rule, they are not generatively mature until they are
three years old, or three years and a half. An instance has been known
of a she-ass bearing and bringing forth a foal when only a year old.
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