Interesting article, Sheepherder, what do you think?

[Digital_photog ★]

Coyotes Can Protect Your Livestock From Predators

 

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Surprisingly, these researchers found that as more predators were removed, more livestock were killed.

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In populations exploited by humans, coyotes compensate for reductions in population with increasing immigration, reproduction, and pup survival rates.

See the linked article for more.

When I had problems with coyotes getting my newborn calves we used electronic callers with calf sounds and fresh afterbirth to bait them in.  Shot the ones who came in.  No trapping.  Shooting the offending coyotes did eliminate most of the problem. That said we still lost a significant portion of our calves one season before we eliminated the problem.

[late]

I read an article by a farmer that claimed he had worked out a relationship with the coyotes. He said (yes, talked to them) that if they would leave his animals alone, he'd put stuff out for them. So when he killed something, they got the entrails and a few other bits.

He said it worked.

[JerrySTL ★]

Where I lived in New Mexico during the '70s, they put out a bounty on coyotes. It was too effective. The population of jack rabbits and rodents increased dramatically. That cause other issues like rodents getting into the farmer's grain silos. The snake population, including rattlers, also increased. They begged people to kill jack rabbits. Mother Nature can be a bitch when it comes to unintended consequences. 

[sheep_herder ★]

2 hours ago, late said:

I read an article by a farmer that claimed he had worked out a relationship with the coyotes. He said (yes, talked to them) that if they would leave his animals alone, he'd put stuff out for them. So when he killed something, they got the entrails and a few other bits.

He said it worked.

Any idea as to the size of his operation, compared to those that run on hundreds of acres in our part of the world.  You might be comparing apples to oranges..

[sheep_herder ★]

3 hours ago, Digital_photog said:

Coyotes Can Protect Your Livestock From Predators

 

See the linked article for more.

When I had problems with coyotes getting my newborn calves we used electronic callers with calf sounds and fresh afterbirth to bait them in.  Shot the ones who came in.  No trapping.  Shooting the offending coyotes did eliminate most of the problem. That said we still lost a significant portion of our calves one season before we eliminated the problem.

Seems like you were doing what they suggested, by getting rid of the offending animals, and leaving the others alone. We've always used guard dogs or donkeys, but have never run on large acreages.

[Digital_photog ★]

7 minutes ago, sheep_herder said:

Seems like you were doing what they suggested, by getting rid of the offending animals, and leaving the others alone. We've always used guard dogs or donkeys, but have never run on large acreages. 

Our pasture was a partially wooded 38 acres. We  had a large pack of coyotes that would  work together to distract the mother of the newborn then another one would get the calf.  If the calves made it till they could get around good we had no problems.  One year we lost half of our calves till we started the hunting program and eliminated a good number of that pack.  With the heavy hunting the others moved away from the area.

I have heard that you often need more than one guard dog for sheep.  The coyotes will work as a pack and distract the dog and others will get the sheep. Our sheep are kept near the buildings.  Nights they come into a smaller pasture with a 52 inch high fence with electric around the bottom both inside and outside and also above the fence. This is for coyotes and dogs. The sled dogs haven't molested the sheep but we don't want to take any chances.  We also have3 the 2 llamas to guard the sheep.

 

[sheep_herder ★]

Glad it worked for you, but again you are dealing with small acreage compared to those where we live.  I live on a very small place, but many run their sheep on large acreages.  I knew a fellow in eastern Oregon that had guard dogs, but the coyotes would get active on the far side of a hill, and when the dogs went to investigate, others would come behind them and kill sheep.  So yes, you often need more than one dog, and sometimes you need more aggressive breeds in bear and cat country.  I also knew an old rancher that raised sheep in the Jordan country, that indicated he had watched eagles swoop down, pick up a lamb and then drop it back to earth, where the lamb died. Yes, he was a reliable source.

[Digital_photog ★]

Most livestock operations in this area are concentrated feedlots.  We have more pasture than most. With land prices up to $12,000/acre or more you can't afford to use it for pasture.

Most wildlife is not a problem till they become acclimated to being around humans. Once they become a problem there are few ways to solve it other than getting rid of them.  We have people who live trap problem animals in the nearby towns and then bring them and dump them on our farms. All that does is move the problem to us.  Instead of living in the woods those animals will soon find the closest humans and become pests to them. Coyotes are smart enough that if you shoot one or 2 in an area the others will stay away for quite a while.

The family in Ohio that I mentioned who were using multiple dogs are running 5 livestock protection dogs with their sheep on 50 acres.  They hve about 80 sheep.  Still small by western standards but it does give an idea how many dogs it takes to protect a flock. They do live next door to a large state forest so probably have more wildlife than a heavily crop farmed area.

[Parr8hed]

Well if anything, this article had a great pic!

[sheep_herder ★]

7 minutes ago, Digital_photog said:

Most livestock operations in this area are concentrated feedlots.  We have more pasture than most. With land prices up to $12,000/acre or more you can't afford to use it for pasture.

Most wildlife is not a problem till they become acclimated to being around humans. Once they become a problem there are few ways to solve it other than getting rid of them.  We have people who live trap problem animals in the nearby towns and then bring them and dump them on our farms. All that does is move the problem to us.  Instead of living in the woods those animals will soon find the closest humans and become pests to them. Coyotes are smart enough that if you shoot one or 2 in an area the others will stay away for quite a while.

The family in Ohio that I mentioned who were using multiple dogs are running 5 livestock protection dogs with their sheep on 50 acres.  They hve about 80 sheep.  Still small by western standards but it does give an idea how many dogs it takes to protect a flock. They do live next door to a large state forest so probably have more wildlife than a heavily crop farmed area.

Being next to the forest puts them in a totally different situation than most in your area.