Hey - have been thinking of running goats in coyotee country. How many guard donkeys would I need for 200 goats, and also, if I have more than one donkey, will the donkeys team up and ignore the goats or pick their own group of goats to stay with? Thanks in advance

-- Susan Miller (rover8@wcc.net), December 27, 2001

Answers

Guard Donkys! LOL! that is a good one! Guard Donkys!

about as good as Guard Llamas!

ok, I am done laughing....

then you will need dogs to guard them!

why not by-pass all the donkeys and llamas and go straight to dogs.

Of course donkeys and llamas make good bait.

Will your goats have horns or no horns?

-- LurkyLu (lurkylu@yahoo.com), December 27, 2001.

We have used guard donkeys for over 15 years. We have lots of coyotees. Gives us the creeps at night to listen to them - and so close to the house and barns.

We lost some sheep to the coyotees before we got the donkeys. Never lost any since. The donkeys HATE dogs and coyotees and will put them out of the field.

Yes, the donkeys do tend to stay with each other. But, remember, they are not like guard dogs who patrol the fields and see it as their job to protect the sheep. The sheep are only protected because the donkeys are there. Guard dogs are really ON THE JOB. Donkeys are just there.

If you buy a just weaned donkey and put it with the sheep right away, it will bond to the sheep and stay with them. If you ad more donkeys later, the donkeys will stay with each other, but are usually right with the sheep, too.

They have worked for us and the jenneys give us a colt to sell every year that will bring $500.

-- homestead2 (homestead@localnetplus.com), December 27, 2001.

Contrary to what some people think, guard donkeys are very useful. Even our donkey who was not used as a guard animal would light into any dogs that came into the pasture. Here are some sites that will be helpful to you --

http://www.gov.on.ca/OMAFRA/english/livestock/sheep/facts/donkey2.htm

http://www.agr.state.tx.us/pesticide/brochures/pes_donkeys.htm

http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/livestk/01218.html

http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/livestk/01218.html

http://www.pioneeris.net/blueisland/donkey.html

http://www.conservation.state.mo.us/documents/landown/wild/guard_anima ls.pdf

-- Barngoddess (nospam@incog.net), December 27, 2001.

Some have had luck with any ol' donkey, but it's not the norm. The donk can be disasterous to your stock; they can run the stock into heart attacks or kill them. They may kill newborns. It's best to get a donk that's been raised for guarding. Some have been successful with more than one donk, but it, too, is not the norm; the donks will bond to each other instead of the stock. Some folks, with large flocks/herds, will divide the stock into two or more pastures and use a donk in each pasture.

The Standard donk is used for guarding. Some predators can bring down a miniature donkey. Females (jennys) or fixed males (geldings) are used.

Donks raised for guarding are put with stock (cattle, poultry, sheep, goats, etc.) when they are weaned (about 6 months old) and are raised with the stock.

For more info and a list of guard donkey breeders, drop a note to the American Donkey and Mule Society:

adms@juno.com.

-- ~Rogo (rogo2020@yahoo.com), December 27, 2001.

Don't know about donkeys, but have a friend who had a llama to guard her sheep and goats, and after she got a second llama, a young one, the two llamas bonded to each other, and kept the goats and sheep from entering the barn during bad weather. She ended up getting rid of both the llamas, as she was advised by a breeder that just getting rid of one would not work, evem the older one she had first would still not protect the sheep/goats. Don't have any personal experience, tho. We also have a lot of coyotes here in eastern Colorado, but so far, no problems with them, as all our critters are fenced. Jan

-- Jan in Co (Janice12@aol.com), December 28, 2001.

I live in coyote country and have geese, chickens, goats and dogs. The coyotes do not cross my fence line. However I have a number of friends that use donkeys or llamas no dogs and they work just fine. I for one love the sound of the coyotes at night. We have never lost a goose, goat, chicken or dog to them. Neighbors that do not use donkeys, llamas or large dogs have. Good luck...

-- Ellen from N.M. (histepper47@aol.com), December 28, 2001.

We have had great success with our two guardian donkeys. They really don't guard the goats, in the sense that our dogs do. They don't lick the babies, and let them play with them, or play with the older stock. What the donkeys do is patrol/guard the property. I don't think that my donkeys think, "OH a dog, which I will now kill because it is going to hurt my babies (the goats)" they think "DOGS, I hate dogs, I kill dogs, coyotes, foxes" Where I know my dogs think "There is something out here that is going to hurt my babies, and...." Hurry bark for MOM to come and see!! The Donkeys are also great alarms, though they don't bray for people or cars being around like the dogs, they do bray when they see strange animals.

Do not let anyone tell you that a goat will defend themselves with their horns, to any extent that will save their lives. What you are doing with dogs, donkeys and llamas, is making your place, and your stock less attractive to the predator. Even men. I see it this way, is a coyote going to take a goat from me, my gun, my dogs barking, running after them, my donkeys braying and wanting to stomp them into the ground, plus all the dog and donkey smell, or you gonna go get a free meal from down the road where the goat is staked to the tree for you? :) Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), December 30, 2001.