A donkey with its foal in an indoor barn setting, surrounded by children and another adult female. The scene is set inside a barn on what appears to be spring or summer day. 19:57
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Freedom the donkey guards her baby

Freedom the miniature donkey had her baby early one morning, before anyone made it out to the barn. By the time her family found him, she had decided that nobody was getting close. more

Daniel Arms had stepped out the back of the barn to throw corn scratch to the chickens when he saw the new foal on the ground. The little one hadn't even stood up yet. The family had waited a long time for this birth, and they missed it by 30 or 45 minutes at most.

A donkey sits inside a barn near wooden shelves, with part of a person visible beside it. A headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
Freedom's foal arrived early in the morning, shortly before Daniel came out to feed the chickens.

The timing was tight. Daniel, his wife and their three children, Weston, EmmaLee and Houston, were about to head out for two softball games. Their 110 wooded acres were already home to hens, goats, dogs, alpacas, ducks and donkeys, and now there was one more.

Freedom made her feelings plain. "What's the matter, Freedom? You being a good mama, keeping me from your baby?" Daniel asks. Then her back legs fly. "Chill, Mom," he says. "I just about got kicked in the face. I just want to get around you."

A donkey with its foal in an indoor barn setting, surrounded by children and another adult female. The scene is set inside a barn on what appears to be spring or summer day. The headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
Freedom the miniature donkey had her baby early one morning, before anyone made it out to the barn.

The foal's father, Steve, was on her side too. "I would love to get close to it," Daniel says, "but mom and pop here are not letting us." Freedom has good aim with those feet, he warns, and when she tries again he adds, "She may be little, but she packs a punch."

So the family kept a safe distance. The foal's ears were huge, and no one could tell yet whether the baby was a boy or a girl. When he finally jumped up, he was about the size of a goat and taller than Daniel had expected.

Daniel wanted to hold Freedom by the neck so the family could love on the baby while he was only a few hours old and get him used to people. The softball games couldn't wait, though, so the plan had to keep until they got back.

A day and a half later, the foal was a confirmed boy, and Daniel had learned the trick. Freedom doesn't like anyone near her baby until there's food. Steve was the first to come over and eat, and Daniel told him, "You know what's good for you."

A woman with curly hair, a white shirt and a watch sits on the grass, sunglasses pushed up on her head. A headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
Freedom only lets the family near her baby once there's food on offer.

Up close, the foal is mostly ears and legs. "Look at the size of those ears," one of them says. "Geez, buddy, you're all ears." He's bigger than anyone expected from a newborn miniature donkey, but only because of those super long legs. "I wouldn't say big," comes the verdict. "I'd just say tall."

Daniel's wife scooped the foal up and held him the way she would hold her own baby. Nobody has settled on a name yet. And Daniel, speaking from experience, wants everyone to know that miniature donkeys kick extremely hard. A few kicks have already landed on his legs, and he figures his thighs will be black and blue before long.