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Tips For Protecting Livestock From Predators

1. Protect Your Livestock Using A Guardian Animal

There are many guardian animals that you can get such as dogs, donkeys and even llamas that can help to protect your livestock. They also naturally lower the stress of the herd. When livestock has less stress to deal with, this helps them to gain weight which is quite desirable.

Now, the type of guardian animal you choose would be dependent on the type of livestock you have, the predators as well as the layout of your farm. You can even get animals that are non-guardian that can help to indirectly protect your animals. For example, you can get barn cats and they will help by reducing the rodent population and ensuring that eggs are protected from rodents and other pests. Roosters can also help by alerting you whenever there is a predator or other danger present in the chicken coop. Be sure to do a lot of research based on your particular situation so you can determine the best type of guardians for your livestock.

Once you have figured out the type of guardian or guardians that you want to get, make sure to introduce them to the herd when they are young. It is best to raise them with your livestock. In most cases, dogs are typically used as guardian animals and they usually have the same sleeping and working pattern as the house. As mentioned previously, donkeys and llamas are also great livestock guardians and they are naturally aggressive which means that they can offer around the clock protection against any threats and predators. However, it is wise to not put donkey guardians with dog guardians since they have an intense like of dogs which also helps them to protect the herd against wolves as well as coyotes.

2. Create A Buddy System

Next, if you have different grazing animals in your herds such as cows and goats, it is best to allow them to graze together. This is because the large size of the cows will help protect the goats from predators. Also, when you have herd animals, they usually bunch together when threatened. Cows and goats do this to prevent predator attacks since predators usually prefer to attack single moving animals as opposed to animals that stick together and stand against them.

3. Get Good Fencing

It is very challenging to keep your livestock in areas where you have fencing against predators. There are lots of predators that are capable of jumping fences or even squeezing through gaps such as coyotes. Also, there are birds of prey that can attack your livestock from above. Thankfully, there are other types of fencing that can help provide better protection. For example, you get electric mesh wire fencing as this is a superior barrier when compared to multi-strand or single strand electrical fencing. It also requires much less maintenance. The great thing about living fencing is that it provides much better protection against predators and they also act as excellent windbreaks which help to protect against soil erosion. This type of fencing also helps protect your livestock against birds of prey, especially chickens. You can even use the fishing line on the top of your chicken coop and use the line to hang old CDs or any other type of reflective material. This will work quite well to scare predators away. You can even use motion activated alarms and lights around the perimeter of your property and this will go a long way in scaring off ground-based predators. See here ‘high security fence‘.

4. Change Agricultural Practices

You can make changes to how you conduct your agriculture business in order to help protect livestock. You should also regularly alter your grazing schedule or even regularly move your livestock so that predators remain confused. It is also a good idea to figure out the patterns of your predators so that you can adjust your practices to give your livestock more protection. For example, coyotes typically attack more often during the summer and spring months. This is due to the fact that they have pups at these times and are looking for food to feed them. So, it is best to ensure that your livestock doesn’t give birth at the same time.