A foal is now being raised by two mums after a "one in a million" birthing phenomenon left a mother without a foal to care for."

Sol, now just one week old, is being cared for by Mary and Starr, both six years old, after one of the donkeys gave birth to a stillborn foal.

Both mothers gave birth at the same time and both attached to the healthy foal.

Farm owner Ben Best, 32, believes the chances of his two pregnant donkeys giving birth early and at the same time "must be one in a million."

Mary and Starr were expected to give birth in June, so neither donkey was set up in the birthing barn.

Since they foaled more than a month early, they weren't being monitored, so no one at the farm knows which donkey is the biological mother.

Now, the pair shares parental duties equally with Sol feeding from both donkeys.

Ben, owner of Dalscone Farm in Dumfries, Scotland, said: "The chances of this happening must be one in a million - I have never heard of it ever "
happening before.

"It's like the best freak of nature moment."

"Usually donkeys have a gestation period of anywhere from a year to 14 months so even if donkeys are impregnated on the same day, they could very possibly still give birth months apart."

"I think just once during the years I've had this farm I've seen donkeys foal in the same week but never in the same day."

"It's because of this phenomenon that both the mother donkeys were able to attach to Saul, because all of them were exhibiting the right hormones and behavior."

"Now they follow him around everywhere he goes and both act exactly like their his maternal mother."

Mary and Starr were due to give in June so neither donkey was set up in the barn often used for births.

The barn is monitored by cameras 24 hours a day, which notify

staff whenever a birth begins so they can help if necessary.

But because both Mary and Starr both gave birth over a month early, they were not being monitored.

No one at the farm actually knows which donkey is the maternal mother.

Ben said: "I just came out one morning to check on them when I saw Sol running about and immediately knew a donkey had foaled."

"Just a few steps further I saw a stillborn foal, which had unfortunately developed its intestines outside its body, so was unable to survive birth."

"Before I knew it, whichever donkey had had a still born was attaching herself to Sol and the family of three was created."

Ben consulted three vets about what to do in this situation and all three gave different answers.

In the end, Ben went with the advice of their local and regular vet, who suggested keeping them together under supervision.

Ben and his farm staff supervised the three donkeys for a week and found that no protective or possessive behaviour emerged.

Ben said: "One told me to separate them after a few days and another told me to separate them immediately."

"The problem with these suggestions was we had no way of telling who the maternal mother is."

"A DNA test would take at least a month and in the meantime I could very well accidentally separate the foal from its biological mother."

"So, we decided to go with the advice of our usual vet who came to see the foal in person and they suggested we keep them together but supervised."

"We supervised for about a week and soon realised that this set up caused no problems for any of the animals involved."

Although it may be a little unconventional, Ben has decided to keep the family together and take them out of supervision.

Ben said: "Neither mum showed any possessiveness or violence towards the other and the foal would feed off and nestle up to both donkeys."

"Donkeys are very emotional creatures, so to have separated one of the mothers would have meant heartbreak for her."

"I figure keeping them together seems to cause no issues and would save either Mary or Starr from mourning a baby."

"Unless it becomes necessary, I don't think we'll get a DNA test because it really doesn't matter."

"They're both Sol's mum and both put in the same amount of effort and care, so why not keep it going!"