How do guard animals work exactly? Do I really need one?

[kelsey2017]

I will be bringing home two Shetland ewes in a week, they will spend the rest of the winter in a corral and then this spring be let out on pasture. I was planning on them pasturing within an electronet fence at first, fixing up my existing horse fence (which is about 2 acres) and then letting them out on that when the horses move to their summer pasture. Their previous owner said they are easy to catch with a little feed and will be put in the barn at night. I do have coyotes and wolves. Do llamas really deter them? Or do they just keep the sheep from freaking out and running, therefore not triggering the chase? I wonder if my horses would be enough or if the sheep wouldn't cue into the horses the same way. I won't keep going through scenarios, but please POST info. I don't really think I want another dog, we have one already and he is loose at night and keeps the coyotes away good then, but we have also lost two huskies to the wolves in the last year and a half. Daytime is when I need the protection and I would rather have a dual purpose guard animal (fleece) probably not a donkey, but I will listen to all advice. Thanks

 

[patandchickens]

If they are in the barn at night and within a well-fenced hot-wire-added area during the day, and there are only 2 of them, I think you should be pretty much as good as you're gonna get. Unless you have unusually bold predators. In which case I would question whether a llama would really be adequate anyhow.

JMO speaking as someone with five sheep (locked up at night in a pretty predatorproof night yard) and no guardian animals.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[SDGsoap&dairy]

I think it really depends on the specific needs of the individual, so what works for me may not be the best solution for your situation, but personally I won't be without an LGD. My biggest concern here is domestic dogs. Our newfoundland has done a great job of protecting the free-range chickens (one predator loss in 2 years, to a raccoon in the middle of the night) and keeping strays of the property, but she's aging and after we added the goats we decided to add a Pyr. He's still just a puppy, but he should be grown by the time we lose our newf to old age.

People have a real problem keeping their dogs where they belong. Two days ago I FINALLY caught an intact male, ~70 lb pit mix that my newf has run off AT LEAST 6 times in the last 3 months and animal control picked him up. There's a very real possibility that if it wasn't for my dogs my free-range chickens would have been an appetizer and my goats the main course.

If you only have a couple sheep (and good fencing) and they really aren't pets then it might not be cost effective to keep a LGD, so again, it really depends on your needs. But I will ALWAYS have one.

 

[ksalvagno]

With a llama, you have to make sure that it really is a guard llama. While it can protect the sheep from the coyotes by stomping them, it can't protect against a pack. A llama probably couldn't protect the sheep from the wolves. With only 2 sheep, you might be better off putting up the electric fence since you plan to lock them up in the barn at night. A dog would be able to protect them from the wolves but no single animal can protect them from a pack.

 

[kelsey2017]

Thanks guys, I won't sign up for a Llama just yet. My dog that I do have gets let loose at night and keeps the coyotes away and also he can be very unfriendly to strange dogs. I have heard him go after the coyote pack and they do leave. I only rarely see a single coyote during the day, mostly looking for rodents in the rock piles out in the field. That pasture is for my landlords cattle and he has never lost a calf to anything. Mind you the packs sound large but they really are only a few animals. The coyotes are scared of the wolves more than the prey animals are, you can tell they leave when the wolves are in this part of their territory. I see single wolves more often than coyotes. I know the six strand electric high tensile fence will help immensely, and I would rather put the money into that than another animal. Well maybe that's misleading because I'll be able to justify more animals next year!