Donkeys protect Chickens Turkeys or Geese?

I was just offered a pair of "feral" male and female donkeys that can breed. I've been struggling with having a successful pasture raised egg situation due to predators, many times this has made me consider a livestock guardian dog, what is the realistic possibility of having a donkey protect a flock of mixed birds instead? I have another herd of cattle, but i've never struggled with predator problems with them, they are black angus and I live in Ohio, where the worst predator we have is the coyotes and occasional stray black bear. Bobcats, are rare and mountain lions are much much more rare. For the chickens/ducks the main struggle is stray dogs killing large numbers mid day, foxes snagging one or two mid day, and raccoons finding a way in the chicken house at night.

I have never used a donkey to protect poultry but I have been on a farm where they were utilize to protect goats. Donkeys will protect what they perceive to be their herd and are very suspicious of anything that is not their herd. They are one of the most aggressive counters to coyotes that I have ever seen. This however runs the risk of having them aggressive against domestic dogs if not carefully introduced.

Hi Joshua,
I have never used Donkeys myself, so take this with a grain of salt.

I would think the geese could probably handle the foxes and raccoons at night easily enough. The dogs and coyotes are a different story. I know donkeys can be effective guards, but I have always heard they defended their territory and so other animals by default, rather than actually feeling like they were part of the herd. If that were true, it should work well enough if they are not moved around a lot.

Donkeys will not protect the chicken because they are territorial.

Donkeys will protect their territory.

It might be possible to have the chickens in their territory and the donkey might tolerate the chickens.

Timothy Norton wrote:This however runs the risk of having them aggressive against domestic dogs if not carefully introduced.

While I'm certain there are exceptions to this, as to nearly everything, donkeys and mules in general HATE dogs.  Depending on the donkey, I'm not sure if even the best introduction would make a difference, so for anyone trying this, please, for the sake of the dog, do this very carefully.  

As others have said, if the donkey and the chickens are kept in the same area, I would expect that the donkeys would do an excellent job against stray dogs.  

Trace Oswald wrote: While I'm certain there are exceptions to this, as to nearly everything, donkeys and mules in general HATE dogs.

I think this point can not be understated at all!

A quick story, when I was a younger man I happened to of dated a farmer's daughter. Being full of pride (and hormones) I offered to help around the farm even though I lacked the experience. This is the place where I had my first introductions to donkeys and he came with the name "Abner". He was kept in the area of where the two billys were and he was such a sweetheart anytime he saw you coming. The farmer had a Bergamasco Shepherd whom Abner never bothered. The farmer had mentioned how rare it was and I didn't really understand it at the time but know better now. Maybe it was because the dog looked like a mop he didn't bother him? Who knows. I still think of Abner! (Not so much the daughter...)

Just saw this thread. I have several friends who use donkeys for livestock protection. The only issue I would see with using feral donkeys is routine care and handling them for those procedures. We used a llama for protection against predation by dogs and coyotes. She was wonderful.  

My understanding of donkeys as livestock protectors comes from spending some time living on a donkey sanctuary. Donkeys are often surrendered because people get them as livestock guardians and then discover that they don't always protect the livestock, and they require some care as well. (For example, like horses, they need to have their hooves trimmed. How one would manage this with 'feral' donkeys is anyone's guess...) Anyway, apparently, if you raise a female donkey (a 'Jenny') with her own foal, and whatever livestock you have, she will protect all of them as her family. A male ('jack') donkey may or may not protect the livestock but jacks and jennies alike are likely to injure or kill any dogs they meet, unless raised with dogs. They can also live to be 45 years of age or more. My two cents.

In my experience donkeys will kill any coyote they see. I don't know how effective they would be against smaller predators like fox, raccoons, or opossums.

This is a timely thread.  My neighbor recently suggested we get a donkey to protect our turkeys from predators after we lost our last female during laying season.  The ones that seem to get ours are raccoons and possums, both of which are plentiful around here and do their damage between dusk and dawn.  Would a donkey protect its territory at night from smaller predators like this?  So far nothing has gotten into our chicken coop after it is closed up at night, but the turkeys roost in a black walnut tree inside their own large fenced enclosure.  They have a shelter with roosts that is open on one side but rarely use it.  So they are sitting ducks at night for anything that can climb a tree.  

Wouldn't a single donkey get lonely without a herd or at least one equine companion?  Or are they different from horses in that regard?  Our turkey enclosure might support grazing for one small donkey, but doubtful for two plus the turkeys, and I don't want to get into having to buy feed except in the dead of winter.  

I started taking my two 80 lb. dogs out at dusk after the one surviving turkey tom has flown up to roost but before it's completely dark.  They run around the enclosure for 20 minutes or so, peeing on stuff and leaving their scent around the perimeter.  We've had no issues with predators since then, but it's a hassle to have to leash the dogs, take them out there at just the right time, let them go, then corral them back onto their leashes to go back to the house and their own fenced area.  I want to get our tom some new girlfriends, but first I need to figure out the predator situation so I don't just lose them too.

I have used donkeys for livestock protection with mixed results.

I initially put donkeys in the same paddock as poultry and they trampled and killed some chickens, and broke into the poultry house and ate wheat, which resulted in bloat.

Secondly, I put donkeys in a large paddock with chickens in a smaller, portable yard within the larger paddock, with solar powered electrical netting. This was moderately successful, with no losses due to predation, however the donkeys soon learnt that whenever the electrical current in the netting was disturbed (touching grass, lack of sunlight etc), they could push through the fence, with the same results as above. They did prevent any predator from entering the paddock, which in my area is mostly foxes, wild dogs and feral cats. They also tried to kill my dogs and domestic cats (and they were very tame donkeys).

Donkeys are very intelligent and curious animals. My donkeys learnt how to unscrew a screwtop barrel of chicken feed. They will get into everything, and eat literally everything... trees, ornamental plants, anything that was once a plant (e.g. paper, books, cardboard, cotton clothing etc).

Lastly, I let the donkeys run with the sheep and goats during lambing and kidding. We have not had any losses due to predation, as they are very effective at preventing predators from entering any paddock they are in (including domesticated animals).

I have also used donkeys to eliminate unwanted weeds and improve pasture. In south east Australia, we have an invasive grass called African lovegrass, a low quality stock feed that is difficult to contain or remove, as seeds drift in on the wind. But lovegrass does not like excess nutrients or shade. I have used donkeys to strip a paddock of lovegrass and deposit manure, which resulted in improved pasture of clover, plantain, wild brassica, dandelion and Kikuyu spontaneously growing from the residual seed bank. I then planted it with tagasaste, mulberry and acacias to provide tree fodder and shade, so hopefully the African lovegrass won't return.

Donkeys need regular hoof trimming if they are contained or on soft soils and additional minerals if they don't have access to trees to browse. They also need the company of other donkeys. Donkeys make wonderful pets and companions with the right care and management.

Doesnt Australia have many MILLIONS of feral donkeys that are wreaking havoc there? Someone was just remarking about one more bad situation for Australia....

Don Ritter wrote:Doesnt Australia have many MILLIONS of feral donkeys that are wreaking havoc there? Someone was just remarking about one more bad situation for Australia....

Yes, feral donkeys can be a problem in Australia. But for permies, the problem is the solution...

https://youtu.be/ircmbPxfaK0?feature=shared

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-11-04/grazier-using-wild-donkeys-to-regenerate-land-in-legal-battle/104445766

Donkeys are very intelligent, if you can convince them your chickens are part of their territory they will protect them. My son has a horse rescue ranch, they have a blind horse, they have a donkey they use as a seeing eye donkey for their blind horse. He wears a bell to help the blind horse locate him and they are best friends.

Anita Bellefeuille wrote:My son has a horse rescue ranch, they have a blind horse, they have a donkey they use as a seeing eye donkey for their blind horse. He wears a bell to help the blind horse locate him and they are best friends.

I want video of this!