Who owns a guard donkey & how effective are they? what can they guard from & what not?

Question

can they be used or trained to alert of people on your property. will they just bray or do they bite or kick. This is a serious question.

Answer 1

i watched a video on youtube where a mule killed a mountain lion. so i think a donkey would be pretty effective to.

Answer 2

Though I don't own one, several ranchers I know do.  They are mostly used to guard other livestock from predators such as coyotes, wolves, etc.  Because they are more aggresive and protective of the rest of the herd (horses, cattle, goats, etc.), they can be effective for this purpose.  Llamas are often used for the same thing.

Never heard of them being a "watchdog" for people or property.

Answer 3

I do!!

here is her picture..

http://www.picable.com/Nature/Animals/Fu...

http://www.picable.com/Nature/Animals/Pi...

I have owned 4 donkeys.. 3 standards.. one mini...

they bray when I come home.. bray when peopel come over.. bray when I am late for her dinner..

no matter where she is.. if I come into the pasture.. she will find me...VERY smart.. of course she is friendly to me.. and probably would be friendly to other people.. BUT would approach them differently which might scare them because people know they can be dangerous..

they DO NOT like dogs.. they will KILL dogs they do not know.. they will also go after coyotes.. as such they are often used to protect sheep or other livestock...

this is 2 others I have owned.. and do not own now.. you can see they are curious...

http://www.picable.com/Nature/Animals/Do...

http://www.picable.com/Places/Farm/Donke...

lucky for the cat... the donkeys know him...

donkeys kill more people every year than die in plan crashes.. my wife was kicked once.. very sudden - no warning.. she was hurt.. no broken bones.. but hurt..

the mini was a stud so he was rough with the other livestock.. we sold him for this reason..

we love our Aggie!!!

Answer 4

We own a couple of donkeys.  They make good guard animals for two primary reasons:  one, they don't typically run away from true prey animals such as coyotes and wild dogs, which are the two major issues we have with killing young livestock.  

Horses will typically run, which encourages the coyotes to chase (the "hunt" instinct).  Cows won't necessarily run, but they are quite slow to respond.  A donkey will actually turn toward a dog or coyote and attempt to chase it, which often confuses the canines and they give up the hunt.  

Second, donkeys do bray.  Lots of people hate the sound, but I particularly like it.  Our donkeys will approach people coming into our yard or driving by very slowly, riding bikes, pushing baby strollers, or anything that looks unusual.  They'll make that incredibly loud bray that scares most people, and of course, just like having a dog that barks at strangers, the simple noise will scare away most amateur thieves (neighborhood hoodlums & such).  

Plus, we have motion lights outside, so if the donkeys come up to investigate something in the middle of the night, the lights come on, once again frightening away dogs or people.  

They're not for everyone, but I've always said that living with a donkey is like living next to a railroad track.  After a while you get used to the noise and actually enjoy the sights -- they are often playful, and we sit on the front porch swing in the evenings and enjoy their antics.

As for biting and kicking, each animal is different.  I tell everyone, they have teeth so they can bite.  They have feet, so they can kick.  Some are more prone to being "proactive" and attacking, but most I've been around are actually quiet laid-back.

Answer 5

Like poster above, they are primarily used for livestock.  However, my in-laws had a pet donkey and it made an unholy racket anytime anyone went in the yard.  So it would make a great alarm system.  Bad news was if it saw a light go on in the house it would start up, so they would have to crawl into the kitchen to make coffee every morning so as not to start up the donkey.

Answer 6

My grandad had one. Both now dead. But he used it to guard a small orchard he had. NO ONE stayed there too long. It brayed first and then charged. No one there to kick by then.

Answer 7

I live on a small permaculture farm, and raise meat goats, and at times sheep.

I'm in contact with a LOT of other goat and sheep farmers, so I've heard all kinds of stories about livestock guardian animals.  

Bottom line is donkeys and llamas are prey animals.  Donkeys will keep neighborhood dogs out of the pasture, as will llamas.  They will also usually keep coyotes away (but not always).  

Male donkeys will also often kill newborn kids (goats) or lambs.  Much better luck if you go with a female donkey.  You cannot own a horse, nor should anyone who's pasture fence touches yours.  The donkey will make friends with the equines, and hang around any horses you own, or your neighbor owns.

Donkeys do the job best, if they are introduced to the goats or sheep when they are still very young.  

Donkeys will NOT keep wolves away!  Donkeys and llamas are reguarly killed by pit bulls, feral dogs, and if they are in a remote area cougar, bears, and wolves.

I have Great Pyrenees that guard my herds.  I purchase my Pyr's from a 120 year old sheep ranch, here in Idaho.  They graze their sheep in VERY remote areas, often near Yellowstone.  If the flock is in a wolf area, they have AT LEAST 8 Pyrenees guarding the herd (if not more dogs).  These are 125+ pound dogs.  Huge, athletic, and nothing to mess with.  A wolf pack will pick one or two Pyrenees off every evening, until the sheep flock is unguarded.  Wolves are very smart....donkeys do not stand a chance against the big predators, like wolves, bears, cougars, pit bulls, and feral dog packs.

Some areas have huge feral dog pack problems.  One genteman I speak to via the internet lives in Alabama.  He raises llamas, and also has a few alpacas and sheep, as well as a Great Pyrenees.  He watched a pack of about 20 dogs leaping the gate (the only part not electrified) and run in among the llama herd.  They took down a cria (baby llama) immediately, and then killed the stud llama, and nearly killed the Pyr, before he got his gun and went out shooting.

A donkey isn't terribly likely to alert you to people on your property.  If they think the person is coming with food, they may start to bray and alert you (and your neighbors) but otherwise, they are not very likely to do anything about the two legged predators.

If you are looking for hands down the best (and least expensive) "watchdog," then get geese.  There is NO better watchdog than geese.  A small flock of 4-6 geese are always on alert.  They will alert you to any predator, or two legged varmit.  They won't do anything about it, but they will alert you.  Exception would be if they have goslings....then geese will go into active attack mode.  So if you are just looking for an alert system, geese are it.

If you want something to actually protect your flocks, then get TWO livestock guardian dogs.  NOT herding dogs....but actual guardian dogs.

By the way, donkeys would be dead easy to train to "alert" you to any person on your property.  Just have a very large bag of carrots.  Every single time a person (friends obviously)  come onto your property, have them feed the donkey a few carrots.  The donkey will quickly come to expect carrots from every person it sees, and will set up a fuss if it doesn't get any.

~Garnet

Permaculture homesteading/farming over 20 years