donkeys in North Mississippi...dogs killing my calves

[Warren Allison]

i am close to Oxford, Mississippi

Honestly, the only times I have seen donkeys actually be effective in a cow herd, is when people got pregnant, BLM jennies that foaled in the cow pastures. You can't get a BLM jack, only geldings,. but you can breed these BLM jennies back to domestic jacks, and they still have that predator-killing instinct with their foals. Unless someone is raising Mammoths, your cows are going to be a lot bigger than a donkey anyway. Like someone else said, you'd do just as well getting a couple of Brahma cows. Or LH. Corr, or in your area, Pineywoods.

With sheep, I have seen people use donkeys with success, and often as not, unsuccessfully. People have also used llamas or big billy goats, also sometimes successfully, sometimes not. LGDs are probably the best bet. A neighbor has 2 Pyrenees with his cattle, but to tell you the truth, I doubt they are needed in his Braford herd. Best thing to do is shoot dtray dogs when you can. Traps and poison are highly effective too, if you can do it without putting pets and wildlife in danger. We shoot every stray dog and cat we catch in our Kudzu pasture. Not because of the cows, but stray dogs and cats take more baby rabbits, and more quail and turkey chicks and eggs, than all the coyotes, foxes, bobcats, skunks, coons, and hawks combined.
What kinda cows do you have, @RNW ?

Best dog-killer I ever had was a Gunsmoke stallion I had in the 80;s/ His paddock was about 3 acres and square. He'd see one come under the fence and he'd act like he was grazing and ease toward it. When it got about in the middle, he'd run it down and stomp it. Ever once in a while he might miss one, or it might get away and crawl under the fence before he killed it. But if it lived, it would never get in that pasture again.

 

[RDFF]

Might your stallion also stomp a newborn calf though?

 

[Allenw]

Picked up a big beefmaster cross cow one winter, she had a bad attitude when I brought her in after awhile she settled down and was in my pocket when I had a feed bucket. The kids were little and I was a bit leery of keeping her around and sent her back through the sale barn and a family friend bought her. I seen him later and asked about how he got along with the cow. He had ran her in the hills for six years and never lost a calf out of the herd while she was with them and was looking for another one because he had sold her and was suffering losses again.

 

[TexasJerseyMilker]

Golden Malrin fly bait from TSC on peices of meat. Varmint usually found dead a few yards from bait.

 

[Warren Allison]

Might your stallion also stomp a newborn calf though?

I never pastured him with cattle. But stallions are very protective of foals. They would not perceive a calf as a predator. He never paid any dog I had any attention, either. But, I would not keep one as a guard animal, except maybe one Welsh pony size. as a last resort. I have known of geldings that would try to kill a foal, though. Most horsemen though, know not to pasture mares and geldings together. I have kept geldings in with cattle before, and none tried to hurt a calf.

 

[Warren Allison]

Picked up a big beefmaster cross cow one winter, she had a bad attitude when I brought her in after awhile she settled down and was in my pocket when I had a feed bucket. The kids were little and I was a bit leery of keeping her around and sent her back through the sale barn and a family friend bought her. I seen him later and asked about how he got along with the cow. He had ran her in the hills for six years and never lost a calf out of the herd while she was with them and was looking for another one because he had sold her and was suffering losses again.

We had our Corr herd calving in Feb, and we gathered the calves and sold them late August, right before dove season. We did this all through the 80's and most of the 90's when we were raising Correintes, and we did with the half Brangus until; this year. Scott came over with 2 blue heelers about 20 years ago. Said he was tired of having to ride into the trees and vines and briars to get the cattle out. And tired of getting covered with cuts, bruises and ticks. Said he'd send the dogs into the thick stuff, and they would bring the cows out to us. . They brought them out all right. One came out howling and running with his tail tucked, and about 20 Corriente cows after it. The other wasn't so lucky. Evidently, he had got in there and decided to go after the bull, and ended up getting gored real bad, I think it ended up dying...I don't remember. But we decided right then we didn't need to worry about dogs or yotes at calving after that.

 

[Farmerjon]

Female donkeys = Jennies
Intact male donkeys = Jacks
Castrated male donkeys = Johns

 

[50/50Farms]

I never pastured him with cattle. But stallions are very protective of foals. They would not perceive a calf as a predator. He never paid any dog I had any attention, either. But, I would not keep one as a guard animal, except maybe one Welsh pony size. as a last resort. I have known of geldings that would try to kill a foal, though. Most horsemen tjhoughl know not to pasture mares and geldings together. I have kept geldings in with cattle before, and none tried to hurt a calf.

Great uncle had a cow mare that got turned in to protect calves that for some reason started staying wet after because she'd let calves nurse. That was my first time learning that things can be triggered to lactate without having babies.

 

[ClodHopper37869]

Great uncle had a cow mare that got turned in to protect calves that for some reason started staying wet after because she'd let calves nurse. That was my first time learning that things can be triggered to lactate without having babies.

I have never heard the term "cow mare" before???
but then I aint real bright either!

 

[50/50Farms]

I have never heard the term "cow mare" before???
but then I aint real bright either!

A mare that's a cow horse. Which is statistically not as common as geldings for same. I always prefer mares though, for anything.

 

[RDFF]

I have never heard the term "cow mare" before???
but then I aint real bright either!

A mare that's a cow horse. Which is statistically not as common as geldings for same. I always prefer mares though, for anything.

Had me wondering too... thanks for the clarification!

 

[RDFF]

We had our Corr herd calving in Feb, and we gathered the calves and sold them late August, right before dove season. We did this all through the 80's and most of the 90's when we were raising Correintes, and we did with the half Brangus until; this year. Scott came over with 2 blue heelers about 20 years ago. Said he was tired of having to ride into the trees and vines and briars to get the cattle out. And tired of getting covered with cuts, bruises and ticks. Said he'd send the dogs into the thick stuff, and they would bring the cows out to us. . They brought them out all right. One came out howling and running with his tail tucked, and about 20 Corriente cows after it. The other wasn't so lucky. Evidently, he had got in there and decided to go after the bull, and ended up getting gored real bad, I think it ended up dying...I don't remember. But we decided right then we didn't need to worry about dogs or yotes at calving after that.

Might just be that throwing a few Corr's in with the herd would be cheaper {....and easier to deal with????????] than an LGD or donkey or two.

 

[Warren Allison]

Might just be that throwing a few Corr's in with the herd would be cheaper {....and easier to deal with????????] than an LGD or donkey or two.

Much cheaper than and as effective as a Pyrynees, about the same price as a donkey but much more effective. As people have mentioned,. Brahma and Br crosses will work, but will cost more than a Corr, LH., etc. And will cost the same as your other cows as far as feed and other inputs. But, using a Brahma or Brahma cross, will probably yield a bigger calf. If you raise Herefords, it wouldn't disrupt your over all plan that much to add a Braford or 2. Or if you raise Angus or Simmental or Charolais, it wouldn't hurt a thing to have a Brahma or 2 in the herd. f1 Brangus or Simbrah or Charbray , especially heifers, are very marketable. But Brahma or their crosses, might not work so well for our northern and Canadian friends. And up there, if they are in an area with wolves, even a Spanish fighting bull wouldn't do you much good.

Speaking from personal experience, if you use stock dogs you might not want Corrientes. 2 or 3 good stock might work ok for catching a Corr that got out or something, but do NOT send them after a herd of 100 with calves and a Corr bull in with them!

Probably out of the last 12 times someone has called me to come look at a calf that they think dogs or coyotes killed, 11 of them were definitely already dead or near death ,and was more a case of scavenging an easy meal rather than a predation. The 12th one, there wasn't enough sign to say for sure.

 

[greybeard]

Best thing to do is shoot stray dogs when you can.

Agree!
If everyone did that with every nuisance animal and predator that came around instead of running them off on to their neighbor's property, the problems would go away.. permanently.
Never make YOUR problem, someone else's problem.

 

[RNW]

Honestly, the only times I have seen donkeys actually be effective in a cow herd, is when people got pregnant, BLM jennies that foaled in the cow pastures. You can't get a BLM jack, only geldings,. but you can breed these BLM jennies back to domestic jacks, and they still have that predator-killing instinct with their foals. Unless someone is raising Mammoths, your cows are going to be a lot bigger than a donkey anyway. Like someone else said, you'd do just as well getting a couple of Brahma cows. Or LH. Corr, or in your area, Pineywoods.

With sheep, I have seen people use donkeys with success, and often as not, unsuccessfully. People have also used llamas or big billy goats, also sometimes successfully, sometimes not. LGDs are probably the best bet. A neighbor has 2 Pyrenees with his cattle, but to tell you the truth, I doubt they are needed in his Braford herd. Best thing to do is shoot dtray dogs when you can. Traps and poison are highly effective too, if you can do it without putting pets and wildlife in danger. We shoot every stray dog and cat we catch in our Kudzu pasture. Not because of the cows, but stray dogs and cats take more baby rabbits, and more quail and turkey chicks and eggs, than all the coyotes, foxes, bobcats, skunks, coons, and hawks combined.
What kinda cows do you have, @RNW ?

Best dog-killer I ever had was a Gunsmoke stallion I had in the 80;s/ His paddock was about 3 acres and square. He'd see one come under the fence and he'd act like he was grazing and ease toward it. When it got about in the middle, he'd run it down and stomp it. Ever once in a while he might miss one, or it might get away and crawl under the fence before he killed it. But if it lived, it would never get in that pasture again.

thanks buddy for the info....i have brangus and angus mostly..have steered away from horns because of my safety at barn time, but i may look into it.

 

[TexasJerseyMilker]

My husband had a dehorned charlaise cow kill someone's dog. Dog went belly up to cower and she just mashed himto death.

 

[Travlr]

My husband had a dehorned charlaise cow kill someone's dog. Dog went belly up to cower and she just mashed himto death.

So is that your husband as your profile picture? LOL... until you said something about having a husband I thought you were the guy in the pic.

Of course who the hell knows in this day and age...

 

[TexasJerseyMilker]

 

[Davexx1]

If you have predation problems consider enlisting the help if a local trapper. Many work for free or cheap and can target a certain species. It's not easy trapping in a pasture with cows but there ways to deal with the offenders. Coyotes, feral dogs, yard dogs, etc usually have a trail they use to and from your pasture and that is what a trapper will look for/ find and focus on. The spots where the killers are crawling under a fence "crawl under" is a perfect area for snare setups. There are other ways to address the issue also but killing the killers is the best way to to stop the carnage now and in the future.