Back to Eden Gardening

[bobm]

This one will be earning her keep in keeping the 'yotes and bears off the sheep as they rotate through our pastures. I wouldn't have an animal that was just for ornamentation. If she doesn't do the job, she's outta here. With her, she can eat the same feed at the sheep, lives longer than dogs, and doesn't require the training that dogs do.

Donkeys don't eat as much as horses, can thrive better on our brush and briers...that's their native feed...and they don't even drink as much as horses. They are hardier all the way around and they actually perform a valuable function on the place....in a pinch we can also train her to pull, plow or give us a ride if needed. But, mostly she's here as a guardian animal.

If this intensive grazing method works as they say, by year three we won't even be buying much hay at all as we'll have stockpiled winter grazing.

Bee ... you have been reading/ listening to some feel good story regarding donkeys. I have more than 50 years of experience with quite a few neighborhood donkeys. I must say , give the donkey away asap as it will wake you up at 3am much worse than any 100 roosters crowing at daybreak. Want them to do any work... oh, I will think about it. As for guarding sheep ... a neighbor's donkey went through 3 fences, got into my flock and killed 7 lambs. My across the street neighbor raised sheep. He got a female donkey to guard his sheep against coyotes ... early one morning about a year later, that donkey killed 2 ewes as well as 9 lambs .Another male donkey came onto our pasture and almost killed one of my show geldings. Etc, etc. etc. . I hope that yours turns out better , If not, you have been forwarned.

 

[ducks4you]

...We have an animal that can be used for work if equipment fails...and for meat if the need arises.

You have a zoo. Which is this dual purpose critter to which you are referring?

 

[ducks4you]

@Beekissed, or anybody else reading this. I have been a Horse owner for 36 years. I have never owned a donkey, but I did own a mule for a few months. I have owned dogs and cats, and will own chickens again, well, you all know about the November massacre.
Animals are not machines. They require training and guidance. I have experienced already trained horses that helped train in green ones. Same with my cats and same with my dogs.
I can see that donkeys would try to herd with another horse and ignore whatever job you had planned for them.
I don't know who keeps an outside guard dog separated at night from a flock, gaggle, or herd. As I understand it the dog bonds with the flock, gaggle or herd and sleeps With them, especially when the weather is bad and they are all hunkered down in their shelter together.
IMHO you cannot rate one animal as any better than another. PLENTY of times when we vacationed we ran across "Mule People." They constantly berated we "Horse People" bc their mules were steadier and more intelligent, etc. The only time I ever saw a spooked animal out of control at a horse camp it was a mule. The owner got ditched 1/2 way up the trail, had to be medivac'd out and the mule ran past Every horse paddock in a panic. I have seen horses spook at CW Reenactments. They always find some other horses and stop to be comforted. This mule almost ended up on the busy highway as roadkill.
See, T R A I N I N G.
I wish you luck with all of your critters.
Personally, I will take a horse any day of the week over either a donkey or a mule. They are Much prettier. And, they train easily.

 

[baymule]

Donkeys and mules are super notional. Donkeys can and do make good pasture guardians. They have their quirks and sometimes that can be deadly. Some defend their sheep, goats or cattle, some don't. I've had donkeys, but I never had small livestock with them. So I can't be much help to you on that. I did finally sell my mule. When she was on land that we did not live on, it was good. She hated dogs and chased them off the property. Then we moved...…. I didn't want her to stomp my dogs to smithereens. She actually stalked them up and down the fence. Same thing with the sheep, basically she hated any and everything that was not a horse. I grew weary of it and found her a home with a Mule Man that had 7 other mules and loved them. So Baymule no longer has a Bay Mule. LOL

I wish you the best with your donkey. She seems like a sweet girl. You have patience and I know you will work at making this have a positive outcome.

 

[Beekissed]

You have a zoo. Which is this dual purpose critter to which you are referring?

Wow! You folks are harsh! Since when have you known me to be an animal collector? Every animal I have on my place has a purpose and if they don't do the job, they are out. They are either food, making food or guarding food.

The donkey is an experiment, just as are the LGDs for that matter. There are horror stories from both sets of guardian animals....I've been reading up on both of them for a few years now and dogs have killed as many~or more, as more folks are using dogs~sheep than the donkeys thus far.

The dual purpose of the donkey is in being a guardian animal....and, in a pinch, the donkey can be trained to do some work~in a real pinch, she can be eaten...and I'm not joking on that. I also need more hooves on the ground and manure production as I develop pasture, while also needing an animal that can utilize brush as part of their diet. If you'll look at most 3rd world countries, donkeys do most of the draft work there. Donkeys were an integral part of the settling of this country. Are there horror stories about donkeys? Yep. Just as many about horses of all breeds.

I've got just enough sense to sell the donkey if it doesn't work out....I don't get attached to animals like most of you folks and think every animal I get is a pet. They work or they are gone. If they cause me excess headaches, they are gone. They are economical to keep or they are gone....I'm VERY frugal, as you all know. Period. And by gone, I also have no problem shooting an animal that gives me problems, whereas many of you wouldn't do that if you were paid to do it.....I've done it before and I'll do it again. I'm not running a zoo here, but a food production system. I actually raise them, kill them right here and preserve them all by myself...more than many of you ladies can say.

I appreciate the heads up and @bobm, good to see you on here......been missing you! I haven't been reading feel good stories about donkeys at all....in fact, most I've read are from people who get them and expect that they will guard the sheep or goats but they get two of them or they get a mini and it doesn't work out~but those folks are not me. Some say the donkey tries to kill the lambs when they arrive...this donkey didn't want to do that, she wanted to mother one and it was just as lethal a situation for the lamb and the ewe~but I got it handled right away and all were safe. Still are.

The thing is and I know it's very hard for y'all to understand this.....I don't make a move on this place without first consulting the Creator and then I listen for an answer. I don't proceed unless I think I've gotten that answer, then I trust the answer. There have been times when I didn't wait for the answer and rushed ahead and it didn't work out, but God was still there to guide me out of my mistakes. As He will this one if it's indeed a time when I have rushed His timing.

I prayed about this donkey, God provided one and we'll see what He has in store for the donkey and for us. It could be the donkey isn't supposed to stay here but stay only long enough for a learning experience for me. It could be that the donkey is supposed to stay here and I have to learn to trust God while an adjustment period is under way. Whatever the reason the donkey is here, I'm content to trust that God is in control of the situation. I do appreciate the warnings and I've already heard all of them through stories from others....but I'm not the typical woman farmer. A bit more crusty than that.

Animals are not machines. They require training and guidance. I have experienced already trained horses that helped train in green ones. Same with my cats and same with my dogs.
I can see that donkeys would try to herd with another horse and ignore whatever job you had planned for them.
I don't know who keeps an outside guard dog separated at night from a flock, gaggle, or herd. As I understand it the dog bonds with the flock, gaggle or herd and sleeps With them, especially when the weather is bad and they are all hunkered down in their shelter together.

Not sure what you are talking about, but the dogs didn't get a chance to bond with these sheep due to the circumstances nor will they stay in the high tensile long enough to do so now....the only alternative was to get an animal that WILL stay in high tensile and provide some semblance of guarding them. These sheep won't be in shelters but moving through the pasture every 2-5 days with the help of polybraid in constant rotational grazing over 18 acres...and that's all year long. No barns, no shelters, just trees and natural shelter out on the land. The donkey eats the same thing they do, so it's a natural fit if she does her job. If she doesn't, we also have a young pup we are fetching tomorrow that we will introduce into the sheep flock also, to see if this one will actually bond with them.

I don't think the donkey is a machine and training is ongoing....I just got her this past week, so you can't expect me to get her trained right away. I don't have another horse, so she can't herd with another horse....not sure what you mean by that?

IMHO you cannot rate one animal as any better than another.

Personally, I will take a horse any day of the week over either a donkey or a mule. They are Much prettier. And, they train easily.

HUH? Didn't you just do that? I never said anything about donkeys being better than horses, so I'm seriously not getting what the problem could be. Right now the donkey is an unknown element...we've never had one, heard it may work and has indeed worked for many people...and not for many also, and we needed a solution right away.

Wow, folks.....not sure if being socially distanced has made y'all cranky, but you've seriously underestimated my ability to cope with my developing farmstead. I've got a handle on it....or rather, God does, so I don't stress it all. Donkeys have a good resell value right now, so if she doesn't work out, I can sell her. Got a pup on the way, not sure if it will work out, but we'll see how this one goes. Ben is going to a home with fences that can handle him and a loving family, so that's all good too.

That takes me down to two dogs....far less than most of y'all have, a small flock of sheep, a donkey, a chicken flock and a few ducks. Hardly a zoo. Oh, forgot to mention the two barn cats....I guess that may move it into zoo category? Not sure.

Will be adding two rams and several ewe lambs later on this summer.....to my homestead(which I'll now have to rename "the zoo", I suppose?), so if youins have any warnings about those, now's the time to get it out of your system while you are still in the mood for it.

 

[baymule]

Beekissed Zoo that has a nice ring to it.

 

[ninnymary]

Bee, I applaud you. I love your attitude and process. You are one of the few that I highly respect your experience and wisdom. Keep being you!

Mary

 

[flowerbug]

i don't keep animals other than my mini-zoo's in the buckets. outdoors things are wild as much as possible with as little hunting as i can get away with.

the past few days i've had to deal with a robin trying to make a nest above my patio door. it hasn't gotten very far yet and any time i see it i get up to scare it away. this is good exercise for me. i put a rubber snake up there to see if that would stop it. the bird stayed away the rest of the day, but this morning it was up there and when i went to scare the bird off again it knocked the snake down too. it didn't mind that the snake was up there.

then i went outside to beat and cut apart more pallets. no birdie around this afternoon or evening. it will probably try again tomorrow.

um, no, there's no real connection here to the donkey/mule flap going on here other than i'm reading along and wishing i had some popcorn and jr. mints... 🍿

 

[henless]

Whoa people! It's not like Bee is new to homesteading and is wading in with her eyes closed. She's got a problem and is trying to fix it. I'm sure she is tougher & knows more about homesteading than all of us put together. She was raised on a homestead, in fact, the one she is on now I believe.

Since when is having FARM animals considered being a zoo? I don't get that one.

 

[Beekissed]

Thank you, Henless! Now, this is going to make youin's anti-donkey folks real happy. The donkey garnered strike three this morning of unpredictable and irrational behavior with potentially lethal outcomes and she is currently listed for sale.....tons of responses right away, as donkeys seem to be a hot ticket lately.

That lamb she tried to steal the other day when it was born? She wasn't trying to steal it, she was trying to kill it. We rejoined that ewe and lamb with the rest of the flock(still in with the donkey at that point, along with their lambs...which the donkey completely ignored) and the donkey immediately started stalking that pair and tried to stomp the lamb and the ewe when the ewe tried to defend the baby.

She also tried to stomp into the ground the new LGD pup we had in the same paddock...she wasn't in there for no amount of time before the donkey started to stalk her, then tried to stomp her. The pup I could understand~though I figured a puppy wouldn't be a threat to her~as she is a dog and dogs are the enemy to donkeys. But the lamb was the decider....no reason whatsoever to single out one lamb out of a flock for death.

The lamb and ewe were fine and we hustled to get another paddock portion done to day so as to separate her from the flock...and promptly listed her for sale. A very nice donkey to humans, gentle and polite at all times....but totally unpredictable for all other creatures. Who wants to wait and see if that starts happening our us or the grandchildren?

So, experiment over. Donkeys do not work in our situation. Ya never know until you try it. Dogs I can train, but I'm not even sure anyone can train a donkey not to kill a lamb if it's determined to do so.

Bobm, now you can say "I told you so!"