We only have seven acres and we have three guardian dogs. One for ewes, one for rams, and a third for a breeding group or sheep isolated for whatever reason. We are the only farm in our neighborhood who has not lost livestock to predators (we have cougar, coyote, bobcat, and eagles), and all our dogs have battle scars. The dogs collectively eat 4-5 lbs of dog food per day depending on the weather, but we love them. The ewes also go in the barn at night, and we shut them in during lambing (that's actually so we don't have to chase down newborn lambs in the pasture!)
If we are only using two pastures we double up the dogs in one pasture. The third dog is also very helpful if we decide to have puppies. Eileen Breedlove -----Original Message----- From: blackbelly-boun...@lists.blackbellysheep.info [mailto:blackbelly-boun...@lists.blackbellysheep.info] On Behalf Of blackbelly-requ...@lists.blackbellysheep.info Sent: Sunday, May 04, 2014 3:01 PM To: blackbelly@lists.blackbellysheep.info Subject: Blackbelly Digest, Vol 10, Issue 32 Send Blackbelly mailing list submissions to blackbelly@lists.blackbellysheep.info To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://lists.blackbellysheep.info/listinfo.cgi/blackbelly-blackbellysheep.in fo or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to blackbelly-requ...@lists.blackbellysheep.info You can reach the person managing the list at blackbelly-ow...@lists.blackbellysheep.info When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of Blackbelly digest..." Today's Topics: 1. Anti coyote fence ideas (Michael Smith) 2. Re: Anti coyote fence ideas (Jann Bach) 3. Re: Anti coyote fence ideas (Rusty Iron Acres) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Sun, 4 May 2014 08:50:45 -0700 From: Michael Smith <mwsmotorspo...@gmail.com> To: "blackbelly@lists.blackbellysheep.info" <blackbelly@lists.blackbellysheep.info> Subject: [Blackbelly] Anti coyote fence ideas Message-ID: <6c22c670-463a-48b0-89be-6d3faa5da...@gmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii I finally saw it as some list-members described: a full grown coyote run up to my 4.5 foot tall fence and just scale it. It was last night after a previous night coyote attack that killed my two beloved miniature Pygmy goats and harmed my toe other pygmys. The sheep were unscathed. I know lessons in shepherding are hard-earned and I had been thinking about coyotes considering last years June attack. This year I thought I was being safer. Had the animals in the central pasture--which has no holes in the fence, the dog was in the pasture next door. I had been letting her in with the ewes and goats at night, but stopped doing it, since I have two ewes in a paddock that are ready to lamb and I was trying to "not stress them out too much". That was a mistake. So, after cleaning up the mess yesterday and figuring out one goat has a limp and the other has a partially paralyzed tongue, I decided to move Sheila, our dog's home, permanently with the ewes and goats. I have one of those 1000 candle LED flashlights (which, while costing around $80-100, I highly recommend--they go forever and look like daylight ) and went out around 10pm as I had also at 9:00 and 9:30. This time, I was just in time to hear Sheila growl and see a fully grown coyote lope up to the fence and use just a few steps to scale it and hop over. Will simply making the fence straight and higher help? Or I was thinking of doing something like prison fencing where the fence angles at a 45 degree up higher and makes it so a climbing coyote would be almost upside down at the top. http://wolfdogproject.com/fence/leanin2.jpg Seems easier and safer than an electrical system along the top edge, which I am thinking the coyotes might not mind a shock, if there's a good meal Having the dog in there will certainly help, and I plan to try to lock the animals in the smaller gated paddocks at night and also, amend their paddock fencing so they go to the roof. Basically a box, for sleeping in. The other question, can people with a single burro or llama actually claim they have never sustained an attack after getting the larger animal? -MIchael, Perino Ranch Blackbellies Sent from my iPad ------------------------------ Message: 2 Date: Sun, 4 May 2014 12:21:47 -0600 From: Jann Bach <mtnrdgr...@aol.com> To: "blackbelly@lists.blackbellysheep.info" <blackbelly@lists.blackbellysheep.info> Cc: "blackbelly@lists.blackbellysheep.info" <blackbelly@lists.blackbellysheep.info> Subject: Re: [Blackbelly] Anti coyote fence ideas Message-ID: <39787586-218a-4c26-b081-857d77bc6...@aol.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii I put a 4" pvc pipe on the top of the fence. Makes it nearly impossible to scale as they have no traction to grab the top of the fence. I can further elaborate if anyone is interested. Jann Sent from my iPhone > On May 4, 2014, at 9:50 AM, Michael Smith <mwsmotorspo...@gmail.com> wrote: > > I finally saw it as some list-members described: a full grown coyote run up to my 4.5 foot tall fence and just scale it. It was last night after a previous night coyote attack that killed my two beloved miniature Pygmy goats and harmed my toe other pygmys. The sheep were unscathed. I know lessons in shepherding are hard-earned and I had been thinking about coyotes considering last years June attack. This year I thought I was being safer. Had the animals in the central pasture--which has no holes in the fence, the dog was in the pasture next door. I had been letting her in with the ewes and goats at night, but stopped doing it, since I have two ewes in a paddock that are ready to lamb and I was trying to "not stress them out too much". > > That was a mistake. > > So, after cleaning up the mess yesterday and figuring out one goat has a limp and the other has a partially paralyzed tongue, I decided to move Sheila, our dog's home, permanently with the ewes and goats. > > I have one of those 1000 candle LED flashlights (which, while costing around $80-100, I highly recommend--they go forever and look like daylight ) and went out around 10pm as I had also at 9:00 and 9:30. This time, I was just in time to hear Sheila growl and see a fully grown coyote lope up to the fence and use just a few steps to scale it and hop over. > > Will simply making the fence straight and higher help? Or I was thinking of doing something like prison fencing where the fence angles at a 45 degree up higher and makes it so a climbing coyote would be almost upside down at the top. > > http://wolfdogproject.com/fence/leanin2.jpg > > Seems easier and safer than an electrical system along the top edge, > which I am thinking the coyotes might not mind a shock, if there's a > good meal > > Having the dog in there will certainly help, and I plan to try to lock the animals in the smaller gated paddocks at night and also, amend their paddock fencing so they go to the roof. Basically a box, for sleeping in. > > The other question, can people with a single burro or llama actually claim they have never sustained an attack after getting the larger animal? > > -MIchael, Perino Ranch Blackbellies > > Sent from my iPad > _______________________________________________ > This message is from the Blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's > homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info ------------------------------ Message: 3 Date: Sun, 4 May 2014 14:42:10 -0600 From: Rusty Iron Acres <rustyironac...@gmail.com> To: "blackbelly@lists.blackbellysheep.info" <blackbelly@lists.blackbellysheep.info> Subject: Re: [Blackbelly] Anti coyote fence ideas Message-ID: <63018101-8c1e-42a1-9df1-dc1d4db93...@gmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Our fence is 48" Bekaert high tensile field fence, with a row of barbed wire 3-4" above that. On the same posts (on perimeter fencing) we run a hot wire 7" from the ground, powered by a high quality fence energizer. We have bungy gates at each gate. In the last 3-4 years, we've only lost two lambs (since we added the hot perimeter wire). We often hear the coyotes contact the wire while trying to go under the fence. We have a pile of coyotes (sometimes literally). Two years ago, I killed over 70 on my quarter section alone. Doug Noyes > On May 4, 2014, at 9:50 AM, Michael Smith <mwsmotorspo...@gmail.com> wrote: > > I finally saw it as some list-members described: a full grown coyote run up to my 4.5 foot tall fence and just scale it. It was last night after a previous night coyote attack that killed my two beloved miniature Pygmy goats and harmed my toe other pygmys. The sheep were unscathed. I know lessons in shepherding are hard-earned and I had been thinking about coyotes considering last years June attack. This year I thought I was being safer. Had the animals in the central pasture--which has no holes in the fence, the dog was in the pasture next door. I had been letting her in with the ewes and goats at night, but stopped doing it, since I have two ewes in a paddock that are ready to lamb and I was trying to "not stress them out too much". > > That was a mistake. > > So, after cleaning up the mess yesterday and figuring out one goat has a limp and the other has a partially paralyzed tongue, I decided to move Sheila, our dog's home, permanently with the ewes and goats. > > I have one of those 1000 candle LED flashlights (which, while costing around $80-100, I highly recommend--they go forever and look like daylight ) and went out around 10pm as I had also at 9:00 and 9:30. This time, I was just in time to hear Sheila growl and see a fully grown coyote lope up to the fence and use just a few steps to scale it and hop over. > > Will simply making the fence straight and higher help? Or I was thinking of doing something like prison fencing where the fence angles at a 45 degree up higher and makes it so a climbing coyote would be almost upside down at the top. > > http://wolfdogproject.com/fence/leanin2.jpg > > Seems easier and safer than an electrical system along the top edge, > which I am thinking the coyotes might not mind a shock, if there's a > good meal > > Having the dog in there will certainly help, and I plan to try to lock the animals in the smaller gated paddocks at night and also, amend their paddock fencing so they go to the roof. Basically a box, for sleeping in. > > The other question, can people with a single burro or llama actually claim they have never sustained an attack after getting the larger animal? > > -MIchael, Perino Ranch Blackbellies > > Sent from my iPad > _______________________________________________ > This message is from the Blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's > homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info ------------------------------ _______________________________________________ This daily digest is from the Blackbelly mailing list. Visit this list's home page at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info/ End of Blackbelly Digest, Vol 10, Issue 32 ****************************************** _______________________________________________ This message is from the Blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info
