Subject: Raising Donkeys

From: [email-masked] (Donald Harris)
Date: Fri, 9 Jul 1993 16:32:46 GMT

Does anyone have any information on raising donkeys?  Donkeys, as you might 
know, are not indigenous to this area of Canada, but they are being used to 
a minor extent for protecting sheep from coyotes.  Wile E. Coyote and his 
relatives have recently immigrated to our fair island and are having more 
success catching sheep than roadrunners.  This has sent the local sheep 
growers on a search for coyote deterents and it seems that donkeys make good 
sheep guards. Watchdonkeys as it were. My neighbor and I are thinking about 
raising donkeys to supply this market and we would like to find out more 
about costs, sources etc. If anyone following this news group has any 
information or helpful hints they would be most welcome.

Thanks in advance
Don Harris
[email-masked]

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From: [email-masked] (Ronald Florence)
Date: Sat, 10 Jul 1993 12:09:50 GMT

Donald Harris writes:

   Does anyone have any information on raising donkeys?  

We have a guard donkey, Rosie, to protect our flock of Cotswolds.  We
got her after we lost a ewe to a coyote, and when she first came here,
four years ago, she was aggressive toward dogs and coyotes.  On sight
of an intruder, she would herd the sheep into a tight formation, then
turn to do battle with the coyote, attacking first with her front
hooves, then trying to bite, and finally throwing a karate kick with
her back hooves.  It was an impressive performance.

Unfortunately, Rosie has lost her edge.  We lost three lambs to coyote
this year, and on the occasions when we've seen her in `action,' she
now seems to behave more like the sheep than the `attack' donkey she
used to be.  We're not sure what has eroded her protective instincts,
but we no longer trust her to guard to flock.

She remains a lovely and amusing pet.  Rosie eats as much hay as five
big ewes, needs a farrier four times a year, annual shots, digs up
what we call `on deck circles' in the pasture (areas of dusty soil
where she rolls over), brays loudly when she thinks it is time for
attention, and generally charms just about anyone with her antics.
Samples: Rosie allows colored sheep to eat next to her at the feeder,
but chases away white sheep.  She insists on being present at every
lambing, brays loudly when the lambs are born, and sniffs them before
she accepts them into `her' flock.  Her head is twice as large as a
lamb; her gentleness with the lambs is astonishing.

Donkeys are extremely intelligent.  Maybe Rosie just figured out that
she would get fed anyway and that guarding the flock was too much work.
-- 

				Ronald Florence
				[email-masked]