Any Advice for cow guy getting his 1st donkeys?

[Williamsv]

Here in Middle GA donkeys are free most of the time. At the sale they go for $5, if they can even get that. My cousin caught one trying to kill one of his calves. I thought I wanted one until I heard that. Now I would not have one.

 

[Jogeephus]

Some years back I convinced myself I needed one and purchased (yeah I'm a dumb azz, I actually paid for the spawn of satan) Jesse. Jesse was a beautiful donkey with a distinct cross on his back that I was told proved he was of the same lineage that carried Mary and Baby Jesus around. How cool was that!?!? I was pleased. Jesse had some killer instinct and would chase anything entering the pasture that was shorter than him. I had a good feeling my cattle were protected. Jesse liked the treats I brought him and would follow me around like a puppy. I liked him till he went in rut. At this time he became the devil and ruined one of my best replacement heifers and tried to run a whole group through the fence one day during his courtship. To remedy this I cut him and tossed his nuts on the other side of the fence. I felt sure this had quenched his appetite for his raucous courtship and after some time in solitary confinement he looked as though he was a tame puppy now so I let him loose. I mentioned he would stomp anything smaller than he that he found in his pasture. This was great except my daughter was smaller than him and I saw him eyeing her as she stepped in the pasture and he began working her way. I intercepted what I think could have been a bad situation but my concerns were up. A few days later he got frisky again and ran one replacement heifer into a woven fence where she got tangled up messing up her rear legs and all the while he tried to mount her as she struggled to free herself. I went to help her and shooed him away only to have him chase the remaining group of heifers toward the fence by the state highway. I chased the bunch down in my truck and rolled the passenger window down so I wouldn't break the glass when I shot the ba$tard with my pistol. I stopped him alright but almost deafened myself in the process. So I've learned; donkeys are not safe around children, donkeys can hurt your cattle and never shoot a firearm in a closed cab of your vehicle.

 

[Green Creek]

We have a beautiful white donkey which we had neutered when he was less than a year old. He is gentle and loves his herd. We take him out when calving starts and put him with the bulls. As long as he's with the cattle he's happy but gets really upset when he's by himself. I have never seen him mount a heifer or cow and he hasn't chased anyone away from the feeder. So, I guess we have been lucky after reading about your donkeys. This little guy was kept by a little old lady in a 12x12 pen and never let out. She was good to him but it was not a place for any animal.

 

[djinwa]

I have no experience with horses, donkeys, or anything but cows. I'm thinking of getting a few for coyote protection. We've probably only lost 2 calves last year to dogs/coyotes, but in the last year all of our barn cats have mysteriously disappeared. I'm assuming that the coyotes got them. I"m assuming now that the cats are gone, calves may be the next target.

Did you actually see the coyotes killing the calves? And what were the cows doing while the coyotes were killing their calves? Or did the calves die and the coyotes were just cleaning up the mess?

OP is saying that it was either dogs or coyotes that is killing the calves. I have no doubts that coyotes will kill an unattended newborn calf. Many times a cow will hide their calves for first few days after the birth.

Not saying it couldn't be coyotes, but I saw the word "probably", so wasn't sure if he had witnessed the killings. Many people, if they have coyotes in the area, and they find a dead calf, assume the coyote is the cause of death. So then they go to a lot of trouble to eradicate coyotes, or get an animal to fend off coyotes, based on faith. Doesn't seem to be many witnesses to these coyote killings.

Interesting that in order to protect calves from coyotes, you would add an animal that could kill calves.

Not to mention that donkeys actually eat grass that would otherwise go to cows.

And not to mention that coyotes control vermin which destroy grass.

 

[JSCATTLE]

I've never lost a calf to Cayotes . I saw 8 last week shot 2 . Any decent mother cow will keep them away. I've lost a calf to them damn black headed buzzards though.i wouldn't own a donkey if you paid me . I had one try to climb in the saddle with me penning cows for a guy . I roped it and left it tied to a tree .

 

[bird dog]

If you insist on having one get a jenny. Call the sheriffs dept. or whomever is in charge of estrays and they will have one for you I'm sure. I personally wouldn't have one on my place.

Your cats were most likely killed by something from above like a hawk. I run through quite a few barn cats. The owls get a bunch once they get big enough to venture out of the barn at night. Coyotes look for an easier meal than a calf protected by a mama cow. Dogs are another story. Another reason to call the sheriffs dept. Let him know your troubles. Its not near as bad then when you shoot the neighbors dog.

 

[B&M Farms]

You don't need a donkey. Cows can deal with coyotes and dogs just as well. If your worried about calves, they are the most risk at as newborns and most of the time the donkey is going to be with the herd and the cow will keep the calf off away for a while. Here brahman cross cows will do that job all by themselves. It's the only kind of cow I have so I can't speak for other breeds.

 

[Jogeephus]

You don't need a donkey. Cows can deal with coyotes and dogs just as well. If your worried about calves, they are the most risk at as newborns and most of the time the donkey is going to be with the herd and the cow will keep the calf off away for a while. Here brahman cross cows will do that job all by themselves. It's the only kind of cow I have so I can't speak for other breeds.

Here too. Unless you think she just wants you to walk over and pet her and if I actually believed that I wouldn't be typing this. :lol2:

 

[greybeard]

Seen some, you better have a good zoom camera to even get that close of a picture.. ..........."Feet, don't fail me now!"

 

[Lawson Farms]

Well I passed on the Donkey sale. I might try to find a young one I can raise with the cows and calves rather than putting an old one in with them. I guess i'll just have to sight in the 30-30.

 

[musicalcowman]

I guess everyone on here is quick to write off donkeys but I can tell you from personal experience that they have worked for me. The main thing is that you can't just buy an old donkey that has been running with other donkeys or horses and expect them to be a good fit for what you want. The donkeys I have running with cows were all put with the cows when they (the donkey) was first weaned. This makes them think that they are part of the cow herd so they stay with them and even look after the calves. This way you don't have to worry about them hurting calves or anything. I used to raise Boer goats and the donkeys made the difference between staying in business and not. Maybe I wouldn't of with or without the donkeys but since I been in the cow business I haven't lost a calf to predators yet. (thank God)

 

[lavacarancher]

Yeh, don't do it. I did the same thing and all the dam donkey would do is chase the cows and bite their hocks and pick up the calves by the neck and drag them around. Finally had to put the donkey down.

 

[hicky214]

I guess everyone on here is quick to write off donkeys but I can tell you from personal experience that they have worked for me. The main thing is that you can't just buy an old donkey that has been running with other donkeys or horses and expect them to be a good fit for what you want. The donkeys I have running with cows were all put with the cows when they (the donkey) was first weaned. This makes them think that they are part of the cow herd so they stay with them and even look after the calves. This way you don't have to worry about them hurting calves or anything. I used to raise Boer goats and the donkeys made the difference between staying in business and not. Maybe I wouldn't of with or without the donkeys but since I been in the cow business I haven't lost a calf to predators yet. (thank God)

I totally agree. My Donk was born in a field with cows and she thinks she is one I do believe. She is a bad Biatch when it comes to something messing with her cows/ calfs. She plays with them they play with her etc. She has never hurt a single one. I have neighbors and friends that have had problems with there Donkeys and calfs. But everyone I know that has had one that has been with cows from birth have zero issues. I go coyote hunting at night with all night vision and thermal imaging equipment with zero light. Don't get to close to the call if she is in the same field as you when the call starts if you do a mating coyote call etc. She goes nuts. And if she's in the field the coyotes wont come go to the next field beside her and we have called as many as 14 in at one time. My beagle was with me feeding cows this past winter and I got out to cut the wrap off and she jumped out the tractor. The donkey was not amused, the chase lasted until my beagle realized she was not playing and trying to kill her. I didn't know a beagle could jump that high to get back in the tractor. I love my Donk!

 

[Caustic Burno]

I have a jenny that is 30 at least she will not tolerate a dog or any other varmit.
I wouldn't own anything but a jenny . Problem with donkeys is finding one that will bond and not be
destructive, or kill the farm dog. Neighbor went through three or four before he found one
worth keeping.

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

Have an intact Jack (not for long), a Jenny, and a 6 week old Jenny in with my cows. Never had one lick of trouble with the donkeys and cows. In fact I witnessed a 2 week old heifer chasing my Jack around just the other day. I've also seen my donkeys chase coyotes and wolves as far as they could without going through fences.

My donkeys are all miniatures and eat so little feed that its hard to quantify. Wouldn't be without them.

 

[Taurus]

Have an intact Jack (not for long), a Jenny, and a 6 week old Jenny in with my cows. Never had one lick of trouble with the donkeys and cows. In fact I witnessed a 2 week old heifer chasing my Jack around just the other day. I've also seen my donkeys chase coyotes and wolves as far as they could without going through fences.

My donkeys are all miniatures and eat so little feed that its hard to quantify. Wouldn't be without them.

There are no wolves in MI and I've considered miniature donkeys to be less aggressive with cattle but too small to be a guard animal.

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

We have a healthy population of wolves UP here. The mini's are plenty big to be a guard animal, neighbor had a dead wolf that was stomped and kicked to death by 3 of his mini donkeys.

 

[Taurus]

We have a healthy population of wolves UP here. The mini's are plenty big to be a guard animal, neighbor had a dead wolf that was stomped and kicked to death by 3 of his mini donkeys.

Must be an awfully tiny wolf. There was a news video of a Minnesotan wolf broke in the barn and kill a mini donkey two summers ago.

 

[Quickdraw Farm]

You have to get one that's really young, just weaned, and immediately put it with your cows. The donkey must be raised with the cows in order to care enough to protect the herd. The donkey protecting the cows theory does work, but you can't just throw a grown jack out there and expect him to become a soldier of protection. And you can get a young donkey for free. At least here you can here, lots of farmers are begging to give them away at every cattle auction.

 

[Rafter S]

Here you go: http://collegestation.craigslist.org/grd/4795314597.html. "Better than a donkey".