Donkeys As Guardians

[cakadu]

I know that some people use donkeys as guardian animals for livestock because they hate anything canine. The coyotes are getting so bad around here and so clever that we are now thinking of getting a donkey on top of a guardian dog and a llama. Unless we pen the sheep up at night, they get attacked, despite the best efforts of the other 2.

We have heard that Donkeys do well as guardians, but what we're not sure of (and the breeder we are buying from) is whether or not if you have dogs, if that will eventually de-sensitize the donkey because it can't differentiate between the dog and a coyote.

I thought I would ask here because maybe someone would have experience with this. We have our pets as well, but only the livestock guardian dog stays outside on a full time basis.

My husband would like to find an answer to this before we bring home the donkey because the last thing he says he wants is to feed something that will eventually just stand around, eat and bray.

Thanks in advance

[bombay_43]

Our donkeys are not fond of our dogs! We do have a border collie, who can herd the donkies without too much difficulty, however, my neighbors cocker spaniel got into the pen where my donkey is, and almost did not make it out alive!

We have not found any dead coyotes in the pen with the donkeys, but continue to find dead foxes, so I don't think the donkies hatred for preditors will change.

None of my cats go near the donkies either, as they have also learned to stay away from them.

Hope this helps.

[cakadu]

Thanks bombay. Boy, the donkeys must really hate if they can get a fox!!! It is encouraging to hear that. How many donkeys do you have and how long have you had them?

The breeder doesn't have too much concern that this donkey will bond to the sheep because she is with sheep where she is now and doesn't like to be left alone.

The coyotes don't seem to be diminishing at all and it doesn't help that we have a seasonal creek bed that they use as a thorough fare to get to another set of dense bush just to the north east of us.

It seems that no matter what we do, they tend to adapt to it. Maybe the donkey is the better way to go if it never looses it's hatred of canines.

[WoolyBear]

One comment I have heard is that 2 are not necessarily better. Our friend said that they often went off in their own direction
and weren't always with the sheep. I wonder if it was because they had a Jack AND a Jenny <grin>.

Kind of a timely topic as we are nearing the point where we should start thinking about some guardian animals ourselves.

[topper]

We have been using donkeys as guardians on our fall calving cattle herd for several years. The reason we got them was because the coyotes where attacking the new born calves killing some and injuring others. At first we had just a Jenny and she stayed with the herd protecting it quite well. The biggest problem with this was that when the cows where calving they usually moved away from the herd to hide the newborn for the first two or three days and this was when we needed the protection. So in my mind the donkey did little good because it was always in the wrong place. We also tried a Jenny and a Jack, but like previously stated, they would often hang by themselves and not stay with the herd. Also I caught the Jack grabbing young calves by the neck a few times and figured he might be a bigger liability than he was worth. This year I have no donkeys in the fall herd and have not lost a calf so I think they where a waste of good grass. I'm not saying they won't work in the right situations. If you have a pasture with no trees so the donkey can keep an eye on it all then I think they will do the job. Also sheep may behave quite differently from cattle at birthing time, I'm not familiar with their habits. For me I wouldn't have donkeys for guardians ever again.

[topper]

I have two donkeys here, but from what I have been told by 'experts' one donkey will serve better as a guard, because they bond with whatever they are expected to protect. Two donkeys form their own bond.
My donkeys hate cats, but after three years, they now tolerate my old border collie. She has never forgiven the eldest donkey for kicking her, so even though they would be friends with her, it is not mutual admiration.
A donkey and a pup that grow up together will form a bond.
A jack donkey will be too agressive and may kill lambs because they think the lambs are 'foreign' to the flock.
Don't underestimate the power of miniature donkeys either, mine are minis and have put the run on large dogs that happen to wander into their paddock, including an Akita that was attempting to chase them.
Donkeys are fairly low maintenance, they do not need high quality hay and little or no grain. The most important thing is to keep their feet trimmed, and keep them wormed.
Linda, there are some very reputable donkey breeders in your area, one that I personally know of is Stony Acres Miniatures, they are located in the Elkton Valley.

[cakadu]

Thanks for all the words of wisdom. Our only experience with donkeys was a miniature jack about 10 years ago now. My husband bought him for me and I really quite liked him. We did run into the problem of him rubbing on the goats' necks and he caused quite a "burn" on one of them. He went to live with a family with 4 young children and I'm sure he was kept very happy there.

Our sheep tend to go off by themselves to lamb, or at least away from the main flock. This is where the llama is outstanding - he stays back with the ewes and lambs a lot of the time.

I don't know how the jenny will bond with the llama. The llama was kept with horses for a time, but hasn't been with a horse for as long as we've owned him and that is about 7 years now.

We have no intention of getting another donkey and she is one that the breeder is not going to use in their breeding program, so she might just as well come and do her job here. It may take a bit for the sheep to get used to her, but we are told that if she is the only donkey, she will bond with the sheep quite quickly.

This isn't an easy decision to make, but we have to do something because the coyotes are just getting far too many free meals at our expense. The breeder has been quite honest in her dealings with us - as she was the one who pointed out that they don't have dogs, so she didn't know what the donkey would do in relation to all of ours.

It's not easy being a sheep farmer when the coyote population seems to be steadily on the increase.

[kato]

I raise donkeys. We're up to 9 at the moment. You have gotten some good advice from the others here. One donkey is better than two. With sheep, I would use a jenny as well. They are a lot gentler on them. A gelded jack is also good.

As for dogs, if you can teach your dog not to try and herd the donkey, they'll be OK. Our dogs get along just fine with ours, and we have a real killer of a Jack! but they also know enough not to be agressive around the donkeys. My donkeys know the difference between a dog and a coyote, as well as the difference between our dogs and other people's. (Much to the dismay of a couple of local cattle chasing hounds.)

After a while, the local coyotes learn that your pasture is a bad place, and you will find them staying away on their own. They are no fools.

Another advantage is that a donkey costs a lot less to feed than a dog.

I have rented them out in the past. Would that be an option for you? That way you can find out if you want to keep her, but I bet you will.

[cakadu]

Thanks for all the words of wisdom. Our only experience with donkeys was a miniature jack about 10 years ago now. My husband bought him for me and I really quite liked him. We did run into the problem of him rubbing on the goats' necks and he caused quite a "burn" on one of them. He went to live with a family with 4 young children and I'm sure he was kept very happy there.

Our sheep tend to go off by themselves to lamb, or at least away from the main flock. This is where the llama is outstanding - he stays back with the ewes and lambs a lot of the time.

I don't know how the jenny will bond with the llama. The llama was kept with horses for a time, but hasn't been with a horse for as long as we've owned him and that is about 7 years now.

We have no intention of getting another donkey and she is one that the breeder is not going to use in their breeding program, so she might just as well come and do her job here. It may take a bit for the sheep to get used to her, but we are told that if she is the only donkey, she will bond with the sheep quite quickly.

This isn't an easy decision to make, but we have to do something because the coyotes are just getting far too many free meals at our expense. The breeder has been quite honest in her dealings with us - as she was the one who pointed out that they don't have dogs, so she didn't know what the donkey would do in relation to all of ours.

It's not easy being a sheep farmer when the coyote population seems to be steadily on the increase.

[bombay_43]

We have one full size Jenny, two miniature Jennies, and one Miniature Jack. (also two Jack babies and one more any time) It's nice to have a little ass around!

We also have llamas.(5) We did run into a problem this summer, when our large Jenny came into heat. Our male llama chased her relentlessly, biting her until her leg was tattered and bleeding! We thought we would have to put her down, it was that bad. It came really close to having "llama burger" for supper! Might catch on at McDonalds!

We are somewhat of a "funny farm" here. We do have sheep....one ewe and two lambs! (Keeping them for a friend) Nine miniature horses. (seemed like a good idea at the time) One quarter horse. (I tell everyone we thought it was a miniature - 1/4 the size of a regular horse!?!)

Our main farming is beef cattle and mixed grain and oilseed. We don't really care if the extra "critters" around here eat too much grass or grain. We enjoy them even though they can sometimes be a pain! They are alot of fun to watch and play around with.

You don't have to be "crazy" to live here.... but it helps!

[bombay_43]

my main purpose for buying one donkey was to use as a NANNY to the calves when they were weaned. They followed the donkey everywhere and by the end of the first couple of weeks were pushing and shoving to get pats on the neck when I was petting the donkey. The result of that experiment is that I now have two and three year old heifers that are very quiet and behave when people are around.
The only problem with that was that in the summer the one donkey was very lonely and would try and get out of his paddock one way or the other so I bought him a companion gelding, and the two of them get along well with the calves through the winter and eat the grass in all the ugly areas of the yardsite in the summer.
I have put one donkey with a four year old bull and the donkey ruled the roost when I put some grain in the trough, and the donkey isn't 350 pounds soaking wet !!

[cakadu]

All of this sounds like it is worth taking a chance on the young lady. She is just over a year old so she should fit in nicely around here. We're at our wits end and want to try something that may throw these coyotes off. She's not the best in conformation, which is why the breeder doesn't want to use her - she's got a bit of a knock knee - but that doesn't matter to us so long as she bonds to the sheep and helps to look after them.

With any luck, between the 3 of them we can do enough to make the coyotes decide that lamb is just off the menu.