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Donkeys
Dec 8, 2015 19:18:43 GMT
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Post by jupiter on Dec 8, 2015 19:18:43 GMT
Does anyone have any advice on owning donkeys? Our five year old is really wanting to raise sheep, & I'm very interested in having two as livestock guardians as we have cougars in our area. I'd like to put them with our calves too for protection. LG dogs are not a option. Had some, could not keep them home. We own horses, so we do have that knowledge, but we don't know anything about donkeys except they are stubborn. I do know to only buy donkeys who have been raised as protectors. I'd love to hear more!
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Post by Deleted on Dec 8, 2015 20:02:04 GMT
some are good and some are bad. what you will find most will kill new goats or lambs unless they were raised in that environment. I have a pair 2 jacks that do well with the cows. they stay in the proximity but are close enough when something strange comes in the pasture. A bawling calf will get the cows attention a lot quicker than the JA's but I have seen them run dogs out of pasture.
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Post by shellymay on Dec 8, 2015 20:02:56 GMT
Donkeys are not good for smaller livestock, donkeys DON'T like change, a full grown sheep is one thing but when the sheep have babies.......babies will walk towards donkey and being smaller size donkey thinks its a treat and will kick a lamb as hard as it can and kill them, everyone I have ever talked to said TRUE/Fact.....
llamas are something that might work better, but NEVER get a male llamas because they will try to mount a female sheep even if she is not in heat/cycle...
Sorry to hear the LGD's won't work for you!
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Post by nyhunter on Dec 8, 2015 20:10:22 GMT
I have two donkeys. Mine have hay at all times and get a little sweet feed once a day mainly to keep them freindly. I try to trim thier hooves once a month but sometimes skip a month and I also worm mine twice a year. Overall mine are easy keepers and since you have horses shouldnt have any trouble with them.
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Post by Maura on Dec 8, 2015 20:12:39 GMT
I had two miniature jennets as guardians. They never harmed a lamb. They were very trainable, but they do not think like horses and some people have a very hard time with them because of that.
While donkeys are good as animals to keep predators away, they can’t really hold their own with a cougar. TMinedid keep dogs and coyotes out of the pasture.
I think you might want to consider LGD’s again. Different breeds behave differently. Great Pyrs are known to wander. Actually, their sense of territory is quite large. Some dogs bark only, others attack. motdaughgrd has a kangal that she is very pleased with. You might want to consider a couple of those.
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Post by bergere on Dec 8, 2015 20:39:16 GMT
My Mini Jenny would stomp the tar out of anything smaller than herself. She was fine with anything her size or bigger. She was also loud, very loud. So if you live near anyone, they might not work out.
I would highly recommend a good fence.With a predator rated charger. Works a lot better than Guardian animals. I can go into the stories of friend and so on, about what happens to them when a Cougar or bear decides to take them out.
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Donkeys
Dec 8, 2015 21:26:29 GMT
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Post by jupiter on Dec 8, 2015 21:26:29 GMT
Thank you all for your responses! Maybe sheep just won't work for us after all.
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Post by aoconnor on Dec 9, 2015 17:52:17 GMT
Jupiter, I have 6 donkeys, and not one of them are really aggressive enough to protect my place when a predator comes to call. They don't like staying with my horses, other than at meal time. While they actually play a lot with my horses and mini mule, they prefer to hang out alone.
You generally get the best protectors out of a Jennet that has a foal on her side, and if the Jack is nearby, he, too, will protect a newborn foal. Otherwise, I have never seen my donkeys go after the coyotes around us, nor after my dogs that at times pester them:-)
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Post by Deleted on Dec 9, 2015 20:39:17 GMT
We have 2 donkeys. Both female, mom (age unknown)and daughter (1.5yrs old) they live with the sheep. We've never had a problem with them hurting any lambs. The youngest donkey was born with the sheep and honestly she is the best protector. Both will run the dogs out of the field and keeps their eyes on sheep always. We had to separate them into another field when we were getting ready to sell some and the filly was beside herself. Stayed at the gate the whole night til she was let back in and then went from sheep to sheep checking on them, like she was counting. I've seen baby lambs climb all over her and snuggle up against her. When the ewes were lambing she went with us to find the lambs and actually got between my husband and the lambs because she didn't know him well. She had no issue with dad and I checking on the lambs but she wasn't going to let him near them. I've always heard that geldings and mares make the best guardians and we've have had no issues with ours. We lost several sheep to coyotes prior to getting them and in the last 2yrs have only lost one since.
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Post by katievt on Dec 9, 2015 20:49:40 GMT
llamas are something that might work better, but NEVER get a male llamas because they will try to mount a female sheep even if she is not in heat/cycle... While intact males llamas will try to breed sheep, gelded males can make great guards. Even ones that were previously used for breeding. We noticed that one or two llamas with the sheep are better than a group - as they seem to realize they are a different species and will form their llama "clique"!
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Post by Deleted on Dec 14, 2015 20:29:12 GMT
Just wanted to share. Yesterday we had lambs born to 2 ewes. Dad found the ewes with lambs in different parts of the field and each ewe had a donkey standing guard over her and the lamb. One appeared to have been still born but the yearling donkey would not leave it until Dad picked up the dead lamb and put it on the 4-wheeler. She then traveled over by the other ewe and lamb and stayed with them while the other donkey left. We have the greatest respect for these two.
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Post by shellymay on Dec 14, 2015 23:31:07 GMT
Congrads on the lambs, sorry about the one still born and for the donkeys on guard!
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Post by grannyg on Aug 22, 2017 2:56:21 GMT
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Post by grannyg on Aug 22, 2017 2:58:17 GMT
I noticed tonight how fat Jimmy, the donkey, was getting...going to have to cut down on his vittles...his new hoof trims did a world of good for him....he never had them done before, so he was so good, amazed me.....he guards the couple sheep we have....they are always around each other.....
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