Dogs and Coyotes

flannelberry · #21 03/18/07, 05:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KSALguy

and that goes for anything from a Spanial, to lab mixes,
calfs and adult goats are at risk as well, i have seen what a coyote can do to an adult goat and sheep,

Here too. We've had a few neighbours loose mid sized dogs to coyotes and cougars - mostly the middle sized poodles and cockers or smaller dogs but some one not too far from us lost a good sized BC. She was working the sheep and was taken by a pack of coyotes. The person went for the gun but by the time there was a clear shot the dog was too badly damaged to be saved. I have been on trail rides when we had coyotes going after the Gordon Setter we had with it. On one ride my friend -who owned the horses we were on and the dog - ran at (and in one case over) the coyotes attacking on horse back and that didn't deter them. It wasn't until I started shooting them that they decided the dog wasn't worth the supper. In case it matters - I was on this ride, this isn't a story or an urban legend. I was the one shooting while my friend was trying to figure out how to save the dog. The dog came out of it in better shape than us I think. I would never, ever have believed that a coyote wouldn't run from a horse until I saw it. It wasn't an especially lean year or any of that. I have never seen anything like that before or since.

I actually have no doubt that my pyr is at some risk from the coyotes out here but she's worth her weight in gold with the prevention she does - ie marking, barking etc. We're looking now at getting a second one in the next couple of years for that very reason.

RedneckPete · #22 03/18/07, 05:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DocM

.... A LGD isn't suitable for most small farms. They end up wandering off the property, killing neighboring dogs, killing the owners pets, getting shot and poisoned, and other horrible things. If you have 100 acres and you choose to let your livestock roam where you can't see them, then a dog is a tool, not a guarantee against predation. If you have 10 or 15 acres, a livestock guardian is overkill and you're in the wrong hobby.

I confine my dogs to my property with the underground invisible fence. I have not lost a single animal to predators since I have done so, and see many footprints in the snow all around the line circling my property. Predators that move onto the wrong side of the line are made short work of.

I don't know about you, but I'm not prepared to patrol my property 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. My dogs are HAPPY to do this for me. That's what I feed them for.

They are also amazing effective against 2-legged preditors. I haven't been broken into since I ran the dogs "loose" on the invisible fence.

Pete

Dogs and Coyotes - Goats

Sher · #23 03/18/07, 05:34 PM

Two years ago..we were overrun with coyotes. I checked on a dexter cow getting close to calving..the coyotes were along our fence line..they started their yippin and howlin'. I had a flash light with me and shined it at them...and they didn't budge. Just got noisier. Thankfully it was pitch dark out...cause seeing this old fart running for the house..would not have been a pretty pic.

I was so upset by the number of them...I called a trapper. There is a sandhill about 200 yards from our fence..on the neighbors side. I told him I thought they had a den up there. He called and had gotten nine coyotes the first night. Who knows how many there were up there.

The point is..one isn't so much of a big deal. Most dogs can hold their own. But around here anyway..they are in packs. One or two will draw your dog out...then the rest go for the target. They think there are a few dogs running with this bunch..that might explain why all of a sudden a flashlight and yelling doesn't deter them anymore.

HazyDay · #24 03/18/07, 06:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DocM

If your "young goats" are in danger of being eaten by pack of coyotes, why have them out in an open pasture? Wouldn't it make a lot more sense to keep them penned up closer to the sights and sounds of the barn/house? I would never keep lambs/kids out in the open pasture, for any number of reasons. The point is, any dog (the OP didn't mention that her dogs were anything but "outside dogs) will chase off coyotes, coyotes don't generally kill healthy livestock of any kind, and an expensive and unreliable "livestock guard dog" isn't necessary or even beneficial on most small farms. There aren't more coyotes in Kansas than in the coast range of Oregon, trust me, I looked it up. This is fawning season, and elk calving season. A coyote is much smarter than you give him credit for. He's not going to go into a populated field to take livestock when there are plenty of unguarded wildlife to eat.

May be true for you, But around here alot of them are shot off even if they are just passing through. P.E.I (in canada!) has the biggest population ever! One sheep farmer spent over 15,000 to fence in all of her 100 + acres. She has 6 wires with alot of power. Once a week she has to clean it all. Before the fence she lost all her lambs in the spring. (her barn is only 10 feet from barn and they killed them there.)
All I know is any dog like animal I see that isn't from around here hears a sound and then falls DEAD!!!!
Hope they don't come back. Try a poisoned piece of meat. (not near where a dog can eat it. ANTI Freez will kill them off. ) Our neigbor owns 20 acres of hay land and he digs a huge hole and puts a lining in it. (looks like a hude bowl) and throws meat in it every few weeks and shoots any thing in it. (Not pision.) And if there is a god he finds the owner or takes it to the pound.

Jillis · #25 03/19/07, 04:42 AM

We have lots of coyotes around here. The dairy farmer up the hill has lost calves to them.

One night my 24 yo son was walking down our road at about 1 AM. He saw about 10 to 12 coyotes walking across the road from one field to another. He stood extremely still. They stared at him with gleaming eyes but kept on going.

Made him a tad nervous.