I just bought a baby donkey!

[Alabama ee]

I have had donkeys for a long time.

Donkeys who are protective can be very friendly toward people. Their level of friendliness does not make them a good or bad guard. Not liking dogs, wolves, etc is something that they are born with.

All of mine are very, very friendly toward people. They all are not fond of dogs. However, each has a different level of aggession toward dogs. One of the ones I have would flatten his ears and charge the dogs. I had to slowly get him used to our dogs. Now, he will not bother ours at all . He does not see them as a threat. That is the key. However, if a stray barking dog some how got in, he would not treat it like our dogs. He would go after it.

 

[boykin2010]

I have just finished putting our fence up and it is very secure. it is 5 strands of polywire. And it is electric. We do however have a lot of stray dogs and dogs that have a home but run loose during the day. A lot of them arent very friendly and that is what i am worried about. I dont think that a dog could get through the fence i put up because the bottom strand is very low to the ground and the top strand is very high so they cant jump or go under the fence. I am hoping having a donkey there will help the situation somehwat

 

[NellaBean]

Quote:
I had a 4 foot tall 5 strand of polytape electric fence here. Large and small dogs both could get in. You are better off running a wire mesh fencing (4x4 goat fencing is cheap and will keep dogs out) with electric on the top and a strand around the outside bottom to keep diggers out.

 

[boykin2010]

Well, i got all the polywire off ebay for 80$ so it saved me a lot of money. There is no way i could put the woven wire behind the wire because i fenced in about 4 acres in total. That will cost a lot. I guess if i have a problem then i will consider the woven wire. Is there a difference in the polytape and polywire as far as keeping out predators?
Also, do you think that the donkey will bond with the sheep even if they havent been raised together. The guy i am getting her from said the donkey has been raised around goats and miniature horses in the petting zoo i think

 

[Bunnylady]

At 10 months, this jenny is still very much a baby. If a dog got in with her and sheep, chances are that she would be just as vulnerable as the sheep are. She may have an instinctive dislike for dogs, but the knowledge of how to deal with them is not something she would be born with. She may not even be able to defend herself, but she probably would make a bodacious racket, alerting anyone within hearing distance to the fact that something is amiss - so she might be more of an "alarm donkey," at least for the next year or so. On the plus side, her being so young makes it less likely that she would harm the sheep (my mini mule gave my goats heck for the first few days she was here).

I think it would be wise to consider your fence as the primary means of defending the sheep. I have to tell you, though, that a dog (or a goat) that is determined to get on the other side of an electric fence is not going to let a little pain stop them! They may scream bloody murder, but they will run through. IME, the better way is to have welded wire as the body of the fence (so they can't go through), with a hot wire on the top and bottom to keep predators out, and one on the inside to keep the resident animals from rubbing/climbing on it and breaking it down. An electric fence alone is no fence at all when it shorts out, so check it very regularly.

 

[boykin2010]

ok thanks! I dont know when i will be getting this donkey the guy never set a date with us. Probably some time soon though. I am so excited!!

 

[boykin2010]

oh and i forgot i will check the wires like you said Bunny Lady

 

[Bunnylady]

Quote:
From what I know of dogs, if this "problem" occurs when there happens to be nobody home, you may not have any sheep left to fence in. Seriously.

 

[boykin2010]

OH MY GOSH! AHHHH! Maybe the donkey will help? I know a breeder of sheep about 10 minutes away and i think she uses high tensile wire with 6 strands and she said she has never had a problem with dogs. She has hundreds of sheep though.

 

[Bunnylady]

You'll have to excuse me; I'm a little jaded on the subject of dogs right now. Mine got into my rabbitry not very long ago and dragged several rabbits out of their cages and killed them (not the first time, I might add). Someone on another forum that I frequent lost 4 -count 'em - 4 adult miniature horses to what are believed to have been dogs on Christmas Eve (all were killed, but none were eaten - so whatever they were, weren't hungry). The large horses at the same facility weren't harmed. Maybe the dogs in your neck of the woods don't find woolys inspiring enough to be willing to challenge an electric fence; if so, you may count yourself blessed!