🍼 Joey
Also known as: kangaroo joey
The young of a kangaroo, which grows in the pouch.
A baby kangaroo is called a joey. It is born tiny, about the size of a bean. It is blind and hairless, and its back legs are barely developed. Right after birth, the baby crawls through its mother's fur to the pouch by itself. This takes 3–5 minutes.
In the pouch, the joey latches firmly onto one of four teats and lives there on milk for a long time. The make-up of the milk changes as the joey grows. Amazingly, a mother can make two different milks at once: one for the newborn in the pouch and another for an older joey.
After about 190 days, the joey peeks out of the pouch for the first time. It leaves the pouch for good at about 235 days; the timing differs between species. But even after that, the mother feeds it milk until it is about a year and a half old.
How it connects to milk
🍼 Joey ← feeds ← 🦘 Kangaroo → feeds → 🥛 Milk
Links
- Fed with milk by
- 🦘 Kangaroo
Frequently asked questions
How does a joey get into the pouch?
Right after birth, it crawls through its mother's fur by itself. This takes 3–5 minutes, and then it latches onto a teat.
Is it true that a kangaroo makes two kinds of milk at once?
Yes. One milk goes to the newborn in the pouch, the other to an older joey.