casowner

Thank you LL my OH is with them up there all of the time and none of them have, he just told me he found another ewe in the paddock next door this morning and her tail was eaten. I think this one possibly died (very old) and foxes have eaten her tail so I don't think it was related

Bruno some farmers on large properties are using donkeys as they are grazers and are highly protective, they have been known to kill pumas overseas. My mini jenny Willow has killed a fox before and has attacked dogs on the property (foxies) but as she is way too people orientated and spoilt she gets too pushy with our sheep. I have no doubt my big gelding would take on a fox/dog especially after the noise he made the other night Donkey as flock guard This is also very intersesting and goes through different breeds of LGDs, donkeys, alpacas etc Animals for Guarding Livestock

Me too

Thank you Staranais it is a damara x merino x dorper she has the goat hair type wool Amadeus what area do you live in? I definately think it was a dog now and we will be looking for it

Dju it is just the sack the lamb had just been born sorry I forgot about that bit

This is the paddock and you can see how close my neighbours bedroom is to it, the ewe was found very close to this spot

Hesa I just asked my OH and he said the paddock is closer to 3 acres but they had heaps of room I know it sounds a lot but you wouldn't even think that there was that many in there. The grass was way above my knees and they haven't done much damage to it, I just wanted them to mow it as the horses, donkey and camels are not making a dent on it but they have access to another 15 acres also as we keep the gate open. To be honest all they did was eat like pigs the first day and rest yesterday I gave them a bale of hay and they just looked at it. The yard is in between my house and my neighbours and neither heard any commotion which I would expect if there was a pack. Many of the sheep are damara crosses and they normally sit together and are very protective and it was an old first cross ewe down today. The only horse I have down here (the others are next door) is a stallion and he gets too bossy and he is so bonded with the donkey gelding, camels and emu that if one is in they all have to be in however all of them were standing at the gate between the two paddocks this morning. I couldn't have the stallion in with the new born lambs as he would be likely to step on them and if the bull camel is in a mood he would pick them up. The sheep go into this yard maybe once a year otherwise they are rotated every two to five days in the larger paddocks.

Thanks DHO I will look into those especially near my kangaroo pen as this ewe was literally 20 metres away from them. The new pen is being erected now with 7ft fencing, electric near ground level and up the top and also mesh along the bottom and buried 2ft out but they won't be in there for quite a while. The hard thing is our property is very hilly which is why the alpacas have trouble doing their job I guess but then again I have seen a fox walk right past the alpacas and towards a ewe and lamb before. If they see my little sable pom cross they try to kill her though. If they work we could put them around the night camp sites to help a bit as I do expect big fox lamb losses this year too. The property is only 140 acres but is divided into 9 paddocks. I am sending out an email to all of the neighbours telling them what has happened to give them a friendly reminder that they need to keep their dogs contained or risk it being euthanased. We find turtle shells quite often and there is an area in the reeds that is flattened where the foxes catch them but like I said this is very different to what has happened before

I already have 3 alpacas and they "may" help against foxes (I am not too convinced), I have had 2 of them for over 4 years and the entire male for nearly 18 months. Bonza, Thisbee and Pharoah seem more interested in being by themselves than with the sheep, in fact they were pushing the ewes away from the lambs today. Alpacas are not much assistance against dogs and I have seen alpacas taken down too. Edited to add that the yard the sheep were in last night is only about 2 acres and were only in there as it was highly overgrown so we had about 140 sheep in there for 48 hours and the 3 alpacas were there too

My OH has already disposed of the bodies, I would of had a good look at the one this morning but I was carrying my 7 month old son and trying to not get bowled over by over zealous animals. If it happens again I definately will and I am going to invest in a farm camera that is motion sensored and takes photos when there is movement so if another ewe goes down I can set the camera up and check what comes back. This way if it is a dog I can identify it too.

Yes that is what bothers me lilli as the lambs are about to start being born (3 have arrived) and the ewe was almost beheaded, some of the ewes are quite old and are about to go to market and this may explain why they are being taken in particular. It has been horribly cold too so they may have been weaker and easier prey and I have never had foxes take an adult ewe especially with 5 rams in the yard with them. We went from having 20-40 lamb fatalities per season due to foxes to having 2 or 3 for the past couple of years. Granted we ended up hand rearing a lot more as the boy kept bringing them home with him but fox activity was definately much lower. Don't worry we are all highly anticipating our new flock guarding family member when the time comes :D Ben is already hassling me with letting him pick names but seeing though he wants to change his own name to Lion Cub when he turns 18 I am not overly excited about his chances

Last week we found a ewe dead that had her throat ripped out and her stomach eaten (she was days within lambing). We put it down to foxes either killing her when she was down or eating her after if she had died. One thing kept bothering me - the throat being ripped out, normally foxes eat the back end and/or tail and I have never seen so much damage on a sheep through foxes. The ewes started lambing 2 days ago and are by the house, this morning I looked out the window and saw a ewe down so went to check it out. She was freshly deceased with her throat completely ripped to pieces and no other wounds. The other sheep were standing huddled by the gate but that doesn't suprise me as the feed was low and I was about to move them into the next paddock anyway. The donkey had been braying this morning which he rarely does and the 3 camels were right near the fence, they chase dogs normally too. We had problems recently with the neighbours cockers chasing stock but they haven't been an issue for a few months though. Other neighbours have dogs but I haven't seen them on the property however I have seen paw prints in the mud by the new house next door. I am hoping this isn't a neighbours dog as the outcome will not be a happy one I do not expect and if it is foxes they normally take lambs or feed on carcasses and it frightens me about how the lambing season will go. It amazes me how much we relied on having a flock guardian here and ever since he has been gone we have had major issues with predators. I know there are quite a few dog/stock savvy people here so what do you think dog or fox?

SF I was just in the shower having a cry about this very subject. My little pom cross has congenital heart failure and has always had a heart murmur. She started panting heavily about a year ago and has been on VetAce, flusapex and Vetmedin ever since and has been quite good. She took a downward slide a few weeks ago and after blood tests her medication was varied and she picked up. I noticed she has been stumbling lately and cut her nails but she still does it on ocassion. She has always been happy to stay under my bed with her stash of toys and whatever else she has stolen but the past few weeks she is like a shadow. She seems happy and loves baby Luke and even now sits next to Ben for cuddles for the first time ever but I just laid on the floor with her and as soon as I touched her belly she squeaked. I know the time is coming and she is only eleven and it is so painful especially after losing Jake but I don't want her to suffer as she deserves more than that. If she is in pain I am being selfish as I want her to stay for me to ease my pain and that is just wrong. I am taking her back to the vet to see what she says but I think I need to focus on her behaviour and actions rather than pretending not to see them. I think unless you are in the position it is hard to say what we would really do as sometimes I think we see what we want to see You have my full sympathy and I know how hard it must be for you at this time, take care

If she has all emails, vet reports etc she can either try Consumer affairs as the dog is considered a product or her other alternative is Civil Court

Agree a completely avoidable situation and whilst there is no excuse for injuring the dog or owner it would never have happened if the dog was leashed. Want your dog to run off leash - then go to an off leash area. People should not have to tolerate any dog running up to them unleashed if they are in a leash required area Who knows what anyone is carrying around in their bag or pocket, so why chance anything happening even the dog being yelled at, kicked or in this extreme case stabbed.

We have both decided that we want Central Asians, we want to honour the breed and they will always be in our home but when Shannon goes I want to have a small dog for the family as the CAO's are not a ball playing, beach going family dog that can be taken everywhere. I want a peke, Ben wants a boston and my OH likes Bostons too but he is not at all keen on another small dog so it will be a challenge to get him to agree. We looked after two bostons for a few months and one was just a clown, the other really stand offish (incredibly spoilt) and the clown fitted in perfectly and Ben adored him so we will have to wait and see

Happy Birthday my darling Jake, today is a day when we will shed tears for your loss, honour your memory and give thanks to the devotion and protection that you gave my family and animals. I love you my big boy. The hole that you have left will never close, but your legacy will live in our hearts forever.

Dog Related History only - animal related there is too much and very varied 20 years Grooming (including 10 years training) Senior Trainer Lions Hearing Dogs L3 Supervisor AWL Veterinary Nurse Retail 8 years (animal) Owned and trained by a CAO Livestock Guardian (RIP Jake :D ) Past member of Dog & Cat Management Board Forum Past Member of Dept of Health Legislation (Animal related) Committee Past Member of TAFE SA Veterinary and Applied Science Management Committee Past State Coordinator for PIAA

My kennel guy built this for me, Jake who was close to 90kg and Donkey a large Anglo Nubian goat slept in it together comfortably when Jake was housed in the emu yard. Wholesale cost was $400, however he swore never to build another one that big

I am so sorry for your loss Perse, may she keep your mum company and protect her forever

Happy Birthday Charlie

All sorted thanks to those who contacted me :D

The cars can be taken up too but will not have cover (you can put tarps on), the location is at our new house site but we live next door.

I have a train carriage that can be used for storage but we are at Inglewood (near Modbury), we are not back until late Saturday night and due to heaps of commitments can not help move anything but if the stuff can be brought up after this I am happy for it to be put in the carriage. We have a 10x5 cage trailer and a car trailer that may be able to be borrowed when we return, however I haven't asked my partner about those yet unless they are needed as they are both new and are his.

If she has an AWL tage that just means she has came in as a stray/owner surrender before and either has been returned to her owner or if rehomed she would have been desexed at the shelter