Spring brings new life
Animal gestation periods detailed

By LYNN MONTGOMERY | East Texas Edition

March 11, 2004 -- Feel it getting warmer outside? Is there trouble with the March winds blowing freshly-washed laundry off the clothesline? See the flowers beginning to bloom. Notice the young animals as they run and frolic.

Yes, springtime is approaching. And with this approach, many people can't wait as Mother Nature unwraps with new birth. Soon babies will be everywhere ... bunnies, foals, calves, lambs and kids, chicks, ducks.

So, how long does it take for these little guys, from the date of conception, to be born?

If a baby bunny is wanted for Easter, then better hurry. It takes 32 days for them to be born.

Calves take between 279 and 292 days before they come mooing into this world.

Chicks pip their way through their shell in 21 days.

It seems to take forever for a donkey to be born, 365 days.

A foal takes 337 days on the average.

Ducklings hatch between 26 to 28 days.

Goosling have similar hatching days as ducklings except for adding one day, 25 to 28 days.

A kid, a baby goat, will be born in 145 to 157 days. Their average is 151 days.

Kittens take between 58 and 65 days to be born. The average is 62 days.

Lambs make their way into the world in about 148 days. If this is the first time for you to see a baby lamb, don't be surprised, they are black.

And just in case you've ever wondered, a mouse only takes 21 days, but an opossum takes even fewer than that -- 13 days.

Piglets come a'squealing in 113 days.

Puppies will be born in 50 to 70 days, depending upon the species.

Quail raisers and wildlife specialists know it takes 22 days for quail to hatch.

Swanlings will hatch in 42 days.

Last, but not least, the human baby, which take around 265 days or nine months.