Coyote Problem

[Anonymous]

is there any problem with the donkeys stomping the calves?

Friend of mine had a jenny and an intact llama with his cows. The jenny would attack a cow whiile she was calving and the llama attacked the calves. Spitter and heehaw went to the sale barn and I hope to slaughter.

All depends on the animal. Just as you can get crazy cows, there are crazy any things....I do think the llamas and donkeys are better with goats from what I've seen and heard

 

[ScottyB]

Appreciate all the feedback.
We actually witnessed 7 coyotes eating a calf that they killed earlier this year. We have hunted them with calls, motion decoys, etc. No luck. These are smart dudes. We usually have no problem calling a coyote up. The problem is my neighbor has hunted them pretty hard for a while, and we think they have stopped coming into calls.
Anyways, I found a guy off craigslist giving away two jennies, a mother daughter combo. I am going to try these out and see if they work. They are free so, it aint going to hurt anything. They were raised around cattle, too.

 

[nap]

I am also having a predator problem which is possibly related to coyotes, although we also have mountain lions in our area. I have lost five calves in the last several years all of which are predator related. I am currently trying solar powered flashing red lights. I have just started using them so I don't yet have a verdict. The idea of shooting coyotes doesn't appeal to me at all, let along hanging the carcasses on a fence. Surely, there is a better way of dealing with an intelligent animal that is only obeying it's natural instincts.

 

[Angus Cowman]

Yotes get blamed for alot of livestock deaths they DON't commit
dogs and bobcats are far worse on calves than yotes ever thought about being but a Yote will show up to enjoy what the others kill so he naturally gets blamed

 

[hillbillycwo]

The red light thing won't work. We used strobes and noise makers in our Aircraft Hangers to keep bird out and it only worked for a few days. The figure out quickly that there is no threat and just go about there business as usual.

we have lots of coyotes as well and I tend to agree I have never seen them chasing any of my cows. Typically the domestic dogs are the ones that chasse and kill the calves. Therefore, when we are on the farm we carry a rifle or a pistol always and any dog not with its master gets a dose of lead. We leave it lay and for several months we have no problem with them. The neighbors all know to keep their dogs tied if they want to keep them and they know to keep them off my land unless they are with their animals. No bad blood with any of my neighbors. they would rather me shoot their dogs then have to pay for my dead calves.

 

[curlyann]

I have Great Pyrenees guard dogs and have coyote all around my farm. No problems, the coyotes stay away and if one insists on going after my sheep or chickens they get dead quick. But don't call me unless you have a large place they take their job seriously and can range for a mile or more.

 

[dun]

When the Basque sheepherders came in to the hay fields in the winter they used zon guns (propane canon noise makers). They would work ok for a while but the yotes would get used to them, I never did though.

 

[Roadapple]

Yotes get blamed for alot of livestock deaths they DON't commit
dogs and bobcats are far worse on calves than yotes ever thought about being but a Yote will show up to enjoy what the others kill so he naturally gets blamed

While wolves garner a lot of attention and claim their share of livestock every year, records provided by the USDA-National Agriculture Statistics Office, show the master predator is the coyote, despite being much smaller. Coyotes may only weigh 35 to 50 lbs. their jaws can exert more than 300 lbs. of bite pressure. In 2009, coyotes used those jaws to kill 2,500 sheep in the state of Montana and 12,100 lambs, costing Montana sheep ranchers over $1 million dollars in lost animals alone. However, the damage and stress to livestock caused by coyotes cost Montana ranchers even more. Vet bills, lower rebreeding rates, and loss of weight gain are all part of the indirect costs suffered by herds that have been hunted by predators. Coyotes have also killed full-sized cattle, calves and other domestic animals. The most recent record for predator-related cattle losses came in 2005. In that year, nationwide statistics showed coyotes responsible for 51.1% of all cattle losses due to predators, excluding Alaska. In Montana alone, coyotes killed 1,300 calves in 2005. Predators account for 34% of all sheep and lamb deaths with coyotes claiming 78% of those losses. Overall, coyotes lead the pack as the single largest cause of death,at 26%. "I"m being conservative, very conservative, when I say that in the state of Montana coyotes kill $2-to $3 million dollars worth of livestock a year." said Walt Earl, SR., a retired government trapper. "One of the attractants to a coyote is afterbirth, said Earl, adding they will come in as quickly as possible and clean it up. However, coyotes will also take down a calf or lamb, that's either lying down or one thats already standing and walking around." In 2009 Sheep and Lamb loss by predators: Coyotes; 14,600 Dog: 400 Eagle; 600 Fox: 1,300 Mt Lion; 300 Wolf; 700 Bear; 400 Bobcat; 100 unknown; 300

 

[dun]

In 2009, coyotes used those jaws to kill 2,500 sheep in the state of Montana and 12,100 lambs,

Well there is one favorable thing about coyotes!

 

[CattleHand]

you must not be raising brahmans or there would be no problem .

Im curious on how the jennys work out so make sure and give an update after you have them a while. But I agree with some previous comments that its the wild dogs that have a bigger impact. But I imagine your jennys would take care of that too.

 

[djinwa]

Yotes get blamed for alot of livestock deaths they DON't commit
dogs and bobcats are far worse on calves than yotes ever thought about being but a Yote will show up to enjoy what the others kill so he naturally gets blamed

While wolves garner a lot of attention and claim their share of livestock every year, records provided by the USDA-National Agriculture Statistics Office, show the master predator is the coyote, despite being much smaller. Coyotes may only weigh 35 to 50 lbs. their jaws can exert more than 300 lbs. of bite pressure. In 2009, coyotes used those jaws to kill 2,500 sheep in the state of Montana and 12,100 lambs, costing Montana sheep ranchers over $1 million dollars in lost animals alone. However, the damage and stress to livestock caused by coyotes cost Montana ranchers even more. Vet bills, lower rebreeding rates, and loss of weight gain are all part of the indirect costs suffered by herds that have been hunted by predators. Coyotes have also killed full-sized cattle, calves and other domestic animals. The most recent record for predator-related cattle losses came in 2005. In that year, nationwide statistics showed coyotes responsible for 51.1% of all cattle losses due to predators, excluding Alaska. In Montana alone, coyotes killed 1,300 calves in 2005. Predators account for 34% of all sheep and lamb deaths with coyotes claiming 78% of those losses. Overall, coyotes lead the pack as the single largest cause of death,at 26%. "I"m being conservative, very conservative, when I say that in the state of Montana coyotes kill $2-to $3 million dollars worth of livestock a year." said Walt Earl, SR., a retired government trapper. "One of the attractants to a coyote is afterbirth, said Earl, adding they will come in as quickly as possible and clean it up. However, coyotes will also take down a calf or lamb, that's either lying down or one thats already standing and walking around." In 2009 Sheep and Lamb loss by predators: Coyotes; 14,600 Dog: 400 Eagle; 600 Fox: 1,300 Mt Lion; 300 Wolf; 700 Bear; 400 Bobcat; 100 unknown; 300

While I'm sure coyotes do kill calves, I have to wonder how they come up with all these numbers and how accurate they are. Do ranchers actually watch as a coyote kills a calf and immediately call the USDA statistics office?

 

[Kingfisher]

When the Basque sheepherders came in to the hay fields in the winter they used zon guns (propane canon noise makers). They would work ok for a while but the yotes would get used to them, I never did though.

Yea those silly noise cannons can suck the serenity out of a Louisiana duck hunt too..........

 

[upfrombottom]

I have to wonder how they come up with all these numbers and how accurate they are.

I'm sure they do it like all research is done. Ten people call in and say they found a dead calf. They go out take pictures of the calf and the animal tracks around it. The ten are investigated and the tracks are identified. Of the ten, seven have tracks identified as coyote tracks so they are found to be caused by coyotes and another can not be determined so they take a vote and 8 out of ten think it was killed by a coyote, so we arrive at the figure of 78% of all deaths are caused by coyotes. The million dollar study runs out of money, and until they can get more funding to look at ten more, that's the way it stands.

 

[highgrit]

Coyotes are bad on newborns up to 3 or 4 days old. I have shot coyotes eating calves and trying to sneak up on calves, both in FL and in GA. I have more trouble with vultures trying to kill my calves then any other predators. We shoot at all predators all the time and have fun doing it.

 

[BRYANT]

Hanging a dead one on the fence to keep others away. will not work I know a man that shot one standing eating on one that was hanging on the fence. kind of like dog eat dog but it was coyote eat coyote.

I have used a jenny I personly think they are better than a jack but neither is 100% to keep them out.

You ask about poison being legal I do not think it is BUT I know of someone , that lives somewheres in the world that will use it on coyotes and wild hogs ,not the same kind of poison,on coyotes he uses that bright green stuff you put in your car radator mixed with old meat puts it in a cut off barrel, says they will lick it dry just don't let the cows near it.but you better check to see if it would be legal cause it would be hard to tend to your cows from jail

 

[Jogeephus]

Coyotes are bad on newborns up to 3 or 4 days old. I have shot coyotes eating calves and trying to sneak up on calves, both in FL and in GA. I have more trouble with vultures trying to kill my calves then any other predators. We shoot at all predators all the time and have fun doing it.

Same here. Digital call and a Jack in the Box and the coyote "problem" is now an opportunity. As for the mexican vultures I agree and have learned if you hit the first one low in the gut and not kill it the bird will dance around the field and serve as a wonderful live decoy for the others to come back to.

 

[djinwa]

I have to wonder how they come up with all these numbers and how accurate they are.

I'm sure they do it like all research is done. Ten people call in and say they found a dead calf. They go out take pictures of the calf and the animal tracks around it. The ten are investigated and the tracks are identified. Of the ten, seven have tracks identified as coyote tracks so they are found to be caused by coyotes and another can not be determined so they take a vote and 8 out of ten think it was killed by a coyote, so we arrive at the figure of 78% of all deaths are caused by coyotes. The million dollar study runs out of money, and until they can get more funding to look at ten more, that's the way it stands.

That's about how I figured it'd be done, though I like how you laid it out.

Reminds me of the forest ranger years ago who was trying to determine if the range was overstocked. He was counting the cowpies on the road and plugging the numbers into a formula to determine total cow numbers.

 

[Jogeephus]

Reminds me of the forest ranger years ago who was trying to determine if the range was overstocked. He was counting the cowpies on the road and plugging the numbers into a formula to determine total cow numbers.

This must be what they mean when they say if you use $hitty data then it will yield $hitty results.

 

[TexasBred]

I have Great Pyrenees guard dogs and have coyote all around my farm. No problems, the coyotes stay away and if one insists on going after my sheep or chickens they get dead quick. But don't call me unless you have a large place they take their job seriously and can range for a mile or more.

Same here...And they're great with kids too.

 

[spinandslide]

Im going to agree with those who talk about livestock dogs.

I just recently learned more about them, from a lady whom I bought some sheep from.."Bob", her Ant/Pyr cross is HUGE and she says the coyotes DO NOT come up to her house. She said that if you shoot coyotes, they actually end up reproducing faster and having bigger litters. She feels the livestock dog does what needs to be done(keeps them away) without the potential to cause more to be born.

I hate poision..I dont even poison mice..I use traps and my cat. Ive heard to many stories of domestic animals getting into it and dieing..and it is a horrible way to die. I kill pests, but I just dont "do" poison...at all.

I will also say, my Brangus cow does a damn fine job of keeping anything that shouldnt be in the area(animal or person) out. We joke if anyone tried to rustle our small herd, we'd find a grease spot in the dirt in the morning, with the cow standing over it, a cowboy hat in her mouth. :lol: