VanC":tqggid2y said:
AngusLimoX":tqggid2y said:
Anything canine that goes in that pasture is dead, absolutely no doubt about it. With the yote population always seeming to rise that is nice peace of mind at calving time.
Congratulations on your new addition. Now I have a couple of stupid questions. Why are donkeys such good protectors of livestock? Why are they so aggressive against predators but not the cattle they are protecting?
Nothing stupid about those questions. My answer, based on my experience, with one donkey over 4 years is, that generally speaking they seem to hate dogs ( read coyotes ) in particular and they have a strong protective instint for calves in particular and the herd in general.
Our donkey hates any change in the environment ( plowing a snowbank to a different spot, dropping a bale in a strange spot ) and investigates it immediately and aggressively.
Other than trying to compete when some grain is offered ( moving the cattle ) I have never seen our donk kick our cattle. And she normally allows herself to be pushed out of the way once she has a mouthful. :lol:
When the herd is grazing the donk is always with the calves even when the mommas have found a sweet spot elsewhere.
I have seen Molly kick a dog walking by in front of her 3 times before the dog even knew it was being attacked. The dog ended up on it's side 5 feet away and the dog leapt up hitting me in the chest yipeing. ( OK, she attacked our Sheltie, but the Sheltie was in HER pasture! :lol: ).
Our farrier says, yeah horses kick at you, donkeys aim!!
Horror stories - you bet. People almost killed by their donks, calves killed by donks, useless unprotective donks. They are all out there. Like cattle it is a matter of the right animal under the right management. We could treat Molly like a pet, but we know she is happiest with her herd. :lol:
Lots of folks with a lot more experience than me with donks could likely add more. Females seem to work out best for herd duty, and donkeys are pretty widely used here by the "range maggot" folks. ( Thanks dun, I love that one ).