Years ago we had a coyote that would raise her pups not far from the main house. Since she never bothered the cows, we would leave her alone. It was common to see a coyote following the herd during calving season, they really like the little milk poops, the new calves leave behind.(calf chewies)
Since they banned trapping in this state, the coyote population around here has boomed!
One evening we had to bring in a calf with a hurt leg. 4 or 5 of us went out and cut the calf and the mom from the herd to walk it the half mile to the barn. I remember looking at Johnnys calf, and thinking how nice he looked.
The next morning dad called to tell me coyotes were attacking a calf, within sight of his house.
We believe, Johnnys calf was left behind when the herd followed us to the barn and a pack of coyotes found him. I ended up shooting three coyotes that week, off of that calf carcass.
I had heard rumors that a neighbor down the valley had been having coyote attacking his calves, those from what I heard, were with their moms.
I watched one run off with my fave roo not long ago. That one messed up and came back the next morning for seconds, I was ready for him!
Southern New Hampshire, Regarding Coyotes with any herd, especially young ones. I've have friends a few doors down from me that recently experienced coyotes taking 2 (day old) calves and badly injurring another from a large herd of Scottish Highlanders. The highlander's are known for being very protective, the problem was 6 coyotes working the herd. Very sad and unfortunate. Problem solved,...if you are open to 2 great Pyrenese or similar breeds listed below,...... these beautiful white mountain dogs were bred for just this very problem. To top it off, they are nocturnal and built for extreme weather conditions like the Highlanders. If you have a barn or shed for them this can make for a perfect solution. If you goto www.petfinders.com, there are so many Caucasion Mountain, Great Pyr's, and Orcharka's that need to be rescued. Just do you research for they are extremely protective of their families and their herd, so it's important that you know about each of these breeds. Make wounderful pets as well. I'm in the process of adopting or fostering one of these breeds.
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* No Spam. Spamming is posting the same thing several times. "Bumping" (posting to move a thread up on the forum list) and cross-posting (posting the same thread in several forums) are examples of spam.
Im in the process of getting a milking shorthorn cow and the guy in getting her from says she lost her calf last year to a coyote. It was her first calf.
Its almost that time of year again....calving time.
The smell of newborn calves, afterbirth and all the gooey chewy mess that comes with it is like a neon sign saying "JOE'S DINER" on it for every coyote and carnivore within 5 miles.
We watch the coyotes run through and around the fields all fall & winter--in the daylight--searching for rabbits, slow deer on snow and road kill.
We lost a twin newborn calf to coyotes 5 years ago. it was a freak accident, since no one knew the cow had twins and only found one calf in the field. No serious problems since then.
However, we do everything we can to prevent the foxes, the coyotes and every other small and large predator from wanting to come into our 10 acre barnyard calving area to attack newborn calves.
The cows are protective, but can not fend off several coyotes at the same time.
We check our cow herd 4 times a day for new calves and remove the afterbirth if the cow has not eaten it within 3 hours.
Luckily we have enough family dogs who eat the valuable calf poo as we check the herd each time. This has really cut down on the amount of foxes running into the barn areas for a snack.
A 85 lb coyote was shot in our field during hunting season. The size of that animal stunned us all and keeps us finding ways to prevent conflict with the wildlife and the livestock.
I have been loking at all the Maremma LGDs for sale in our Ag newsletter. They are growing in popularity up here.
Anyone using any LGDs and what kind are you currently using ?