Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
What a horrific sight there was yesterday on the ole BrokenTap Ranch, which suffice is to say, vastly different then the bunny ranch, but I digress. I heard the donkey bray, and look up to see my Donkey grasping one of the Ewes by the neck and tossing it around like a rag doll. Now this ewe is a fully grown Montadale so it is in the 200-230 pound range. He's is just thrashing on her.
I scream my head off and go tearing after the Donkey. He is not phased, just stomping, biting and grabbing at the sheep. She plays dead...convincingly enough so that I think she is dead and so does the donkey. So he turns on me and I jump back over the fence, call up to the farm and tell Caleb to get the gun. I'm a foster home so I don't have guns here on the farm.
It is 3 miles away so this takes time. In the mean time the Donkey keeps nudging the sheep, so the sheep finally lets out a kick and he starts messing with the sheep again. The Ram gets into the act, but he is only marginally effective, but it distracts the donkey enough so now he is playing chase with the sheep.
The ewe that is half dead, he chases her the most because she is exhausted. She heads back to the sheep barn with no where else to go and the donkey chases her. I was able to get between the Donkey and the Sheep and shut one of the doors, penning her up safely. The Donkey then chases me over the fence again, but I double back and shut a gate, and then pressure him into the shearing shed.
He must have known I was not a very good shot from long range, because he runs into the shearing shed on full tilt, but I shut the door and now he is boxed in.
Caleb arrives 2 minutes later with the .308, and bang, one dead Donkey. So then we run up into the pasture checking over the sheep, but the rest seem okay. In fact even the ewe he had by the throat is okay and won't need to be put down. She is winded, her throat is bleeding a touch and has a chunk taking out of her right flank, but that is about it. She'll live to give birth again this winter luckily.
All in all everything worked out well. It's going to be tough to explain to my sister-in-law why I smoked her Donkey, but you can't have livestock like that around. I never saw it coming that is for sure. He just snapped and went wild. She might not like the fact that her donkey is dead, but I just would not feel right taking it off farm where it could hurt someone else or a kid or something.
As for the donkey, I suppose I could have cut it up for dog food meat, but I gave it away as coyote bait instead so some good will come from hui demise.
You'll want to have that donkey tested for rabies. (Yes, equines get rabies, and it is NOT pretty, and can be very dangerous.) Unless it's had its rabies shots. This is very important, because you might have been exposed.
Yeah a bit, but I didn't lose the sheep and I now know that a Donkey Guard Animal is NOT the way to go. I was just glad I was there. If I saw the sheep afterwards with a bruised body I might have assumed a coyote got to it and would have kept the donkey in with the sheep far longer and been out a sheep or two before I found the right culprit.
You are right...I did lose out Marmac, I am just saying it could, have been, much, much worse.
Maybe I could slaughter the donkey and ship the meat over to Italy..they eat donkey there as a specialty.
You'll want to have that donkey tested for rabies. (Yes, equines get rabies, and it is NOT pretty, and can be very dangerous.) Unless it's had its rabies shots. This is very important, because you might have been exposed.
Ditto on this. I sold a horse to a man who had lost his previous horse to rabies. The poor horse bit his own leg so hard he broke it in his fury.
Has anything changed on rabies testing? The last I knew you needed to have an intact head to test, but maybe now there is another way. It's too late for this equine as he is coyote bait now, but just curious if rabies testing has changed.
Hate to say it BT, but in your shoes, and the donkey had contacted me in any way, I'd be doing the rabies regimen. IIRC, only one person has survived full-blown rabies.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
