# Donkey with calves



## petefarms (Oct 17, 2004)

Heard a new one today, upstate NY we have lot's of coy dogs(coyotes) and a way to keep them away from beef cattle and calves was a donkey. That was a new one for all the years I've been around cows. Any thoughts?


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## G. Seddon (May 16, 2005)

Donkeys "can" be used to guard livestock, but not just any donkey. No miniatures, even though people will tell you otherwise; once in a while, a miniature will be very assertive with predators, but in general they are too small to protect themselves from a pack of dogs and end up being dinner themselves. No jacks (intact males) who can be quite territorial and are very capable of tossing a calf over the fence (even a miniature donkey). A donkey that is raised with the type of animal it is going to protect is a better bet. However, donkeys still require health care, hoof trims, tooth floating, etc., and usually cannot have 24/7 access to lush pasture for risk of founder. I'd suggest that you look at an dog breed that is bred and raised as a livestock guardian instead of a donkey.


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## Oregon1986 (Apr 25, 2017)

A lot of people around here have donkeys for that very reason. We have llamas and elpacas


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## wr (Aug 10, 2003)

Not all donkeys make good guard animals and a bad one can cause more damage than a predator. I had much better luck keeping a couple longhorn cows & calves with my herd.


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## hiddensprings (Aug 6, 2009)

I know a few people that use donkeys. We preferred dogs.


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## aoconnor1 (Jun 19, 2014)

Mini mules are the better bet. Donkeys will chase dogs and coyotes, but once they get used to them they stop chasing them. I have 7 donkeys and 5 mini mules, I can attest to mini mules being much more predator aggressive than donkeys.


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## wr (Aug 10, 2003)

I don't feel that donkeys or mules make great guard animals because in both cases, they guard territory rathern that flocks and while there are exceptions, if they do find your new calves to be intruders, they can cause significant damage to your calves and profit margin in a huge hurry. 

If you do a quick search on our site for donkeys/mules, you'll find that most who have bought them for predator control have found that the guard animal has killed or maimed more than predators ever would. 

It is my understanding that if you want a guard donkey or mule, it's best to buy from someone who is specifically breeding them and they can be quite costly.


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## aoconnor1 (Jun 19, 2014)

I believe the OP was asking specifically about having them in with calves, and I have my own mini mules in with our cattle with no issues. They will protect whatever area they happen to be grazing in at the time. Mine intermingle wtih the horses and cows, I have never seen the mules mess with new calves, or with foals. 

In our area, almost all of the big ranches have donkeys or mini mules or even full sized mules running with their cattle.


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## wr (Aug 10, 2003)

aoconnor1 said:


> I believe the OP was asking specifically about having them in with calves, and I have my own mini mules in with our cattle with no issues. They will protect whatever area they happen to be grazing in at the time. Mine intermingle wtih the horses and cows, I have never seen the mules mess with new calves, or with foals.
> 
> In our area, almost all of the big ranches have donkeys or mini mules or even full sized mules running with their cattle.


I'm happy to hear you've had good luck them but many have not. I had one dumped in my pasture who would cross multiple fences to kill calves and by the time I found him a home, he killed a couple calves and injured several others.


aoconnor1 said:


> I believe the OP was asking specifically about having them in with calves, and I have my own mini mules in with our cattle with no issues. They will protect whatever area they happen to be grazing in at the time. Mine intermingle wtih the horses and cows, I have never seen the mules mess with new calves, or with foals.
> 
> In our area, almost all of the big ranches have donkeys or mini mules or even full sized mules running with their cattle.


I understood the issue was calves but typically new calves happen each year or do US cattlemen breed differently?


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## CIW (Oct 2, 2007)

If you are concerned about predators, getting a brahma cow in your herd will stop any potential problems. They are noted for being good mothers and they stand and fight. That will rally all the cows to fight. And they also will produce a calf each year, so they aren't a liability like feeding a donkey is.
The only time I personally have had any problems like this is when we had a young male lion came down the river. He paid with his life. I didn't see what killed it but there were sure a lot of cow tracks around the carcus when I saw it the next morning. 
Gramma College said that she had to close her windows because the cows were bellerin up a storm all night, keeping track of their calves. And they had the calves bunched up in the north end that morning. So something must have been disturbing them that night.


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## Maura (Jun 6, 2004)

We had B size mini donkeys in with our sheep, big enough to ride. They were very protective. They always stood up to the neighbors two dogs, even after years of living across the road from them. Donkeys hate dogs, but will tolerate a family dog. Not because they get used to them, but because of your obvious acceptance of the dog,

Predators want lunch, not a fight. This is why domestic dogs are worse than coyotes. Domestic dogs will run your livestock, nip at lambs, and otherwise play with them. It is hard to run off a dog that thinks hunting is a game. A coyote will go away. We have lots of coyotes and coy dogs, they never took a lamb. But a loose dog did. I have friends with sheep, five to fifty and they use jennets. Two are better than one as they will work together.

It depends on your predators. Jennets live with the livestock and eat what they eat. If I had cattle, though, I'd consider an aggressive cow, like the longhorn because, as mentioned above, you get a calf every year.


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## aoconnor1 (Jun 19, 2014)

I get calves every year out of my Brangus cows and Charolais cows, they are great, protective mothers. But to make sure that new calves that are bedded down in deep grass are safe when moms are grazing away a bit, I have mini mules and a few standard sized donkeys out with them. The calves are never bothered by the equine, and I have not lost a calf to a predator since we started running cattle here.

My mules definitely will chase a dog off, my donkeys don't always run the dogs off. We do have a lot of stray dogs around, but so far (thankfully) dogs have only gotten chickens, no calves.

It really is heartburn trying to keep predators at bay in our area. But, we are proactive and keep a close eye on our herds, as well as keeping mini mules and standard donkeys in our pastures. It's all we can do aside from sleeping in the pasture with the cows! I rely on my guards

And yes wr, of course we have calves every year as do all of the cattlemen in our state. I simply stated that a lot of them run donkeys or mules with their cattle and that seems to work quite well for them all. I'm sorry you have had such a bad experience with a donkey killing calves. I am thankful to say we, and none of our neighbors or friends who use donkeys or mules to protect herds, have had losses caused by predators, either.


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## agmantoo (May 23, 2003)

wr said:


> Not all donkeys make good guard animals and a bad one can cause more damage than a predator. I had much better luck keeping a couple longhorn cows & calves with my herd.


 Ditto on the above! I personally saw a donkey kill one of my calves. I sold both the donkey and its mother promptly.


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## wr (Aug 10, 2003)

agmantoo said:


> Ditto on the above! I personally saw a donkey kill one of my calves. I sold both the donkey and its mother promptly.


The can and many do. HT has many threads started by people who found the same so I'm not inclined to think our experiences are isolated. 

The only foal and calf I've ever had killed, were killed by a donkey but I did find that keeping a couple extra maternal range type longhorn cows & calves with my mares and cattle ensured that I had no 2 legged or 4 legged predator problems but I have returned the odd dog carcass to it's rightful owner and I always have something to put in my freezer each fall.


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