Natural Livestock Protectors: Guard Llamas, Dogs and Donkeys

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Livestock guardians are also a more sustainable solution to the problem of predation. They keep livestock safe 24-hours a day without farmers having to resort to poisons, lamb collars, rifles or other dangerous deterrents that have mixed results at best. Some ranchers even report that poisons only aid the coyote population around their property, by ensuring that the savviest bait-avoiding ’yotes make up a large part of the gene pool. So instead of putting up with fewer predators, they have to deal with progressively smarter ones.

So in lieu of standing in a guard tower with a .22, wrestling poison-baited collars onto  lambs, spending thousands on reinforced electric fences or building extravagant enclosed animal housing, more and more farmers are employing the ever-so-vigilant llama, donkey or dog. Perhaps one of these bruisers can help you watch over your own?

Determined Dogs

Dogs such as the Polish tatra, Slovak cuvac and Italian maremma are just a few of dozens of guardian dogs still being bred today. They are introduced to their sheep as puppies and grow up part of the flock. But unlike their wooly brethren, when danger rears its ugly head they don’t run away, they stand their ground. These dogs will work alone or in small packs, scaring off wolves, coyotes or wild dogs; some have even been known to bark at circling birds of prey. Dogs of these protective breeds have been doing this for centuries. Their ancestors trotted outside ancient Rome, Tibet and Turkey.  Some say these dogs are higher maintenance than llamas and donkeys, but they are usually the most effective livestock guardians out of those three species. It’s hard not to be intimidated by a full set of sharp teeth.

Low-Maintenance Llamas

While llamas are fairly new to the livestock guardian scene, they are proving to be effective and for a lot of people they offer the protection of a dog without the added maintenance. A llama will generally eat the same feed your sheep or goats would eat, so you might save a lot of money on kibble. (Most dogs aren’t satisfied when you point to a lawn and say bon appetit). Llamas also don’t bark, scare neighbors, gnash teeth or snap at wandering 3-year-olds. They also don’t seem to wander as often as their canine counterparts. (Wandering is one of the top reasons people lose their livestock dogs.) Also, a llama is more likely to respect that fence than a large leaping dog.

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