Seven days after casting a
foal the she-ass submits to the male, and is almost sure to conceive
if put to the male on this particular day; the same result, however,
is quite possible later on. The she-ass will refuse to cast her foal
with any one looking on or in the daylight and just before foaling she
has to be led away into a dark place. If the she-ass has had young
before the shedding of the index-teeth, she will bear all her life
through; but if not, then she will neither conceive nor bear for the
rest of her days. The ass lives for more than thirty years, and the
she-ass lives longer than the male.
When there is a cross between a horse and a she-ass or a jackass
and a mare, there is much greater chance of a miscarriage than where
the commerce is normal. The period for gestation in the case of a
cross depends on the male, and is just what it would have been if
the male had had commerce with a female of his own kind. In regard
to size, looks, and vigour, the foal is more apt to resemble the
mother than the sire. If such hybrid connexions be continued without
intermittence, the female will soon go sterile; and for this reason
trainers always allow of intervals between breeding times.
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