Official Poll: How do you protect your livestock from predators?

[cjc]

We struggle with coyotes. When we have lambs we lock them in their shelter at night which is very sturdy and near impossible for them to get into. The pigs really stand their own haha but we use cattle gates as fencing around their pen and we find the coyotes cannot jump over the fencing because of the rounded edges. We do have a donkey which we have seen to be a great protection animal but ours is way too friendly and thinks anything that looks like a dog is a friend. We have just added a Giant Rat Terrier aka Decker Hunting Terrier. He is 35lbs and we haven't seen anything we didn't want on the property since we got him. He is always on the prowl! Our chickens are in a secure coop at night and we haven't had any issues with them...our biggest day predator for the chickens are owls, hawks and eagles.

There was a cougar last month that was spotted a few doors down from us that took out a yearling cow one night and a goat and a llama the next!

 

[TIPPY THE HIPPY]

We have trail cameras mounted to get photos of trespassers and or predators. That way, when we shoot a dog for damages, we can prove it was that dog who did said damage.

 

[Bonnie Jo]

I put up predator lights at all of the gates and vulnerable places around the pasture. It's a red blinking light that is supposed to keep coyotes etc. away because they are afraid of humans. So far no predators. Don't know if it's the light or the dogs or the well built fence, but I figured you can't be too careful.

 

[Bonnie Jo]

Oh, and we have a good gun as well.

 

[bonbean01]

Coyotes are crazy here this summer....a large tract of woods were cleared for soy bean fields and deer and coyotes moved forward...as in our back property. Have a field fence ....only 4 feet tall I think...and three strands of hotwire on the outside of that....and our LGD is only 1 year old but barks like a grown dog....and all sheep are in paddock and off pasture for the night....flood lights...not sure what else to do...so far we have not had a loss, but losing much sleep over it. Thinking I should look into those red blinking lights also?

 

[Bonnie Jo]

Coyotes are crazy here this summer....a large tract of woods were cleared for soy bean fields and deer and coyotes moved forward...as in our back property. Have a field fence ....only 4 feet tall I think...and three strands of hotwire on the outside of that....and our LGD is only 1 year old but barks like a grown dog....and all sheep are in paddock and off pasture for the night....flood lights...not sure what else to do...so far we have not had a loss, but losing much sleep over it. Thinking I should look into those red blinking lights also?

You can look them up on amazon. There are mixed reviews, but I read about them on a guinea fowl sight. Guinea fowl are notoriously stupid and are often taken by predators. This woman who had the predator lights said she hadn't lost any birds\livestock yet. She thought it was due to the lights so I bought some and gave it a whirl.

 

[greybeard]

Primarily, a Weatherby .270 with a Nikon Monarch 3-9X40 scope.
Backups...
SKS 7.62x39
12 ga Mossburg pump
20 ga Mossberg pump for the wife if I'm not home.
Ruger superblackhawk in .44 mag

 

[Kelly Wolf]

We have a John Donkey (gelded donkey) and a Great Pyranees. While they are both family pets, they have their jobs to do and spend 100% of their days and nights with the critters (sheep, cow(s) and chickens)

Both the donkey (Tucker) and the Pyranees (Haley) are wonderful at their respective jobs ... I have seen them hold off a small rout of coyotes long enough for me to get the shotgun and make the varmits reluctant to return. They earn their keep daily and I wouldn't trade either of them for anything.

 

[Lilythefarmer]

Normaly I put fence around my garden but I have a snake that slips through but for my rabbits I am planning of buliding a shed for them, and I got inspired for getting a chicken so I might have rabbits and chickens

 

[Beekissed]

Primarily, the dogs...they are always on guard. That takes care of wild preds. The crows help keep the hawks at bay, as does developing a flock that is wary and has good survival instincts out on range and having plenty of duck and cover.

Then there are the homestead firearms for backup. Usually those are used on stray dogs, as that is the one thing my dog is much too friendly towards. We've not lost any to strays yet due to vigilance on this matter.

We are surrounded by thousands of acres of woodland and have the usual suspects all around us but have lost not one to any four legged predators and only a few to hawks~my fault for hatching chicks in the fall, right before a hawk migration~in the last 10+ years of free ranging.