Saturday, July 10, 2010

Donkey Defenders

 Paco the horse and Eyeore the Donkey (note he is not purple) live next door to Val and Cookie. Robert called them over to the fence for me. 

 Robert told me ranchers and farmers use Donkey's instead of dogs for Guard Donkey's. Who Knew? Not me! 
I found this on a blog, Howling For Justice don't miss all the info he has on donkey's. This blog has so much info I will be reading for awhile.

Guard Donkeys Help Ranchers Protect Herds


Aug 7, 2007 9:59 am US/Central Associated Press

 
The donkey stays close to Paco to keep the flies off both of them, you can see in the series they were rubbing against each other, and removing the flies. 2 tails are always better than one for swishing of pesty flies.


Jennies rather than the Jacks of the species are superior pasture guards because of maternal, protective characteristics, Gersbach said. Donkeys, or burros, gravitate toward bonding with whatever livestock happens to share their pasture, whether it is horses, cattle, sheep, or goats





However, too many donkeys in one meadow will encourage herd behavior and yield less effective protection. The most effective pasture guardians arrive at a young age and grow up among their animal neighbors. Donkeys have the advantage over working dogs in pasture settings because they eat the same food as other livestock, Gersbach said.



 More and more ranchers and farmers are using Donkey's with their live stock. they call them Donkey Defenders. I want one!
Cookie will be getting a donkey defender as soon as it can leave it's mother. Skeeter will be coming to live with the family in a few weeks.

14 comments:

DawnTreader said...

Cute donkey and a lot of info that I never heard before. I've sometimes seen two horses stand like that though and help each other with the flies. But farm life never really my "thing"...

Madeline said...

Love the donkey. I did not know all of the info either. Good blog. Interesting. I am sure you and Bob can fit a donkey in the back yard with Jake and Baby. Go for it girl!

Unknown said...

Mules, Donkeys, Burros...And whatever, I don't know the difference. Great blog, and information. Imagine having to play ball with one of those. You go girl.
Snapper II

Ginny Hartzler said...

I want one!!! I never thought much of or about donkeys till I read this. Your pictures are great. Isn't that a strangly beautiful marking over his neck? It looks almost like a necklace. I've never seen anything like it before, it almost looks painted on. The other blog is very good!! It has real fancy, prettified donkeys. And I love that one shot of the human baby and the donkey baby! I never would have figured that a donkey would win in a fight with a coyote or jaguar, though! Especially when I think of shows where large cats take down huge wildebeasts and animals much bigger than they are. I don't know how that man can keep both his dogs and the donkey.

Dawning Inspiration said...

Beautiful pictures! How sweet. Love the "learnin'" here!

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Well I have never heard of that before. I learn so much from blogging. If someone had have told me that Donkeys are used as 'guards' for horses --I wouldn't have believed them. Now I do!!!!!!

Thanks for such an interesting post.... And to think that they help keep the flies off of the horses. Wow!!!!

Hugs,
Betsy

S. Etole said...

Great information and photos ... had always just heard of them used for pack animals.

Heidrun Khokhar, KleinsteMotte said...

Donkeys, eh? Bloggers are so creative at passing new tidbits on. Now I'll be reading for a few hours Thanks.

Kilauea Poetry said...

Hi there Sandra..no, I never knew this and will definetly check that link out this evening when I'm relaxed. Ahh, that makes perfect since about the grain..how interesting! What brought all this to your attention (or you said and I forgot right now)? Now, your header is tops!! I love it as well as all these fine grassy green captures!
Fantastic post! Hope your enjoying your weekend-

George said...

I hadn't heard of donkey guards or donkey defenders before. Thanks for the fascinating information and for the great pictures.

Argent said...

Well, I certainly learned something new today!

Judy said...

I really enjoyed meeting Paco and Eyeore. They followed me all along the fenceline while I took pictures of mushrooms.
The information on guard donkeys makes a lot of sense. The more I learn about Mother Nature, the smarter she becomes!

Arija said...

We had a couple of pet donkeys given to us and took them in since they supposedly kept the foxes from the lambs. Unfortunately one of them had such a strong frustrated maternal instinct that it kidnapped a lamb and almost killed its mother. We had a a shocking time sorting out the problem and the donkeys were passed on where they could do no more damage.

I noticed on your comment at Meda's that you also have been experiencing problems with blogger. I could say blogger had been a cow lately, except that that would be maligning cows and they are such intelligent and restful creatures.

SquirrelQueen said...

There are a lot of horses in this area and I often see donkeys in the same pastures but I had no idea why. Thanks for the information and great photos.

Howling for Justice is a very interesting blog. I have to admit it is the wolves that really captured my interest. I became a fan of his FB page to stay updated.