Donkey or Llama for predator problem?

[medmo]

I don't recommend a donkey for this purpose. They are known to do more damage to other livestock than bears. Donkeys are cantankerous, unpredictable and will kill goats and sheep.

[Crow Hunter]

My neighbor(s) have donkeys with their cows. They have only ever lost one calf that was stillborn to coyotes. I have watched them run down and try to stomp a coyote (and one of my dogs on another occasion) to death. I haven't seen them connect but they don't mess around when canines get in the fences. My dog learned very, very quickly to stay away from the fence.

Donkeys that are very smart, can be a real pain to deal with. There was one that they had that was impossible to keep in a fence. He would get out and wander all over the place. It can be disconcerting to wake up at 2 am to a galloping braying donkey going by your window. It takes a few seconds to figure out if you are hearing the beginning of the apocalypse or not.

The ones they have now are no problem other than the occasional random braying Hee-Haw for no apparent reason.

No clue about bears. Luckily, I am on the other side of the state from them.

I didn't know llamas would do that. My wife loves llamas, doesn't care for donkeys. We had talked about getting cows when we retired. Now she will want llamas too.

[UNK]

Sounds like a job for Great Pyrenees. I know a guy who raises sheep and thats what he has. Two of them actually.

[LittleLebowski]

This is way out of my wheelhouse. A friend just got back into sheep and chickens. He has an Eastern Black Bear problem. They were told a donkey or a llama would be a good protector. They have a female Great Dane who is a pussy cat. I heard they are looking for a donkey or a llama. My thoughts are both animals would dinner for a determined bear.

A casual Google search says both donkeys and llamas are used as livestock guardians but not effective against bears. Anyone have any knowledge on the subject.

Great Pyrenees or Anatolian Shepherd.

[Duces Tecum]

https://www.motherearthnews.com/home...onkey-zbcz1310

There's a bit about the authoress at the bottom of the article. She's written a book, "Livestock Guardians: Using Dogs, Donkeys, and Llamas to Protect Your herd", so that may be useful.

Would be interesting how you handle this. Keep us in the loop.

[GJM]

High end solution is to buy a 1301, case of Brenneke slugs, and a Karelian bear dog.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karelian_Bear_Dog

Budget solution is a couple of Jack Russell Terriers and a case of PBR to drink inside watching what happens.

[randyho]

A moose once bit my sister…but later, something about training llamas.

I've been bitten by a donkey. It has been memorable.

[Robert Mitchum]

I had one .. he was big fast and bite very hard.
A good working Kangal or Anatolian will fight to the death.

[Robert Mitchum]

Eric use to breed good working dogs ..

http://www.luckyhit.net/guardd29.htm

[CSW]

We have 20 chickens.

We live where the fox, bear, coyote, martins, mink, bobcat, feral cats ....well, all the predators are here.
We have to young dogs as pets, but they do a helluva job as patrollers.

What we have done, since we started the chickens, is gather the dog waste and carry into the woods a distance and scatter it around the perimeter of the property.
In theory, the predators smell it, and stay away. We were given the idea by a local resident 'good'ol boy', and I have to say, while we see the predators, they do not enter the area of our coop and home.
We have not lost a chicken since we started this shit.

Keeps the deer away from the apple and pear trees as well.