[OTTBcooper]

It sounds like you are pretty sure they were dogs, but we have a sheep farmer across from us who loses lambs (and occasionally a sheep) to the coyotes during daytime hours. I agree with a few others that suggest a donkey - if you can find one that will accept your sheep/lamb herd, it will likely keep dogs AND coyotes out of their pens. So so so sorry

[MistyBlue]

Coyote are notorious lovers of lamb for dinner.

However coyote know exactly how to kill their food. They don't keep attacking woolly areas (in order to make those areas bloody, a lot of chewing is needed to get through the wool), they don't leave any downed lambs without large chewed off chunks of food and they kill larger animals (like lamb or sheep) with a choke hold on the throat. Hers had no throat injuries.

[OTTBcooper]

Coyote are notorious lovers of lamb for dinner.

However coyote know exactly how to kill their food. They don't keep attacking woolly areas (in order to make those areas bloody, a lot of chewing is needed to get through the wool), they don't leave any downed lambs without large chewed off chunks of food and they kill larger animals (like lamb or sheep) with a choke hold on the throat. Hers had no throat injuries.

Thank you for this... very good to know. I had no idea!

[trubandloki]

I think what MB describes is the difference between killing for sport and killing for meals. The dogs kill for sport, Coyotes have to eat.

[JanM]

I agree with Misty Blue, and Trubandloki, and there is definitely a difference between killing for food, and killing for fun. A hungry animal killing for food to live doesn't just maim an animal, and then leave it uneaten.

[MistyBlue]

Thank you for this... very good to know. I had no idea!

No problem!

I think what MB describes is the difference between killing for sport and killing for meals. The dogs kill for sport, Coyotes have to eat.

Yup. It's how wardens and/or ACO determine if animal attacks were from coyotes or dogs. Pet dogs often spree/pleasure/sport kill without eating much/any of the animal. Coyotes aren't risking being near humans for fun, they'll usually take the animal down as fast as possible and remove the animal/pieces of it to a safe location or eat as much of it as possible before hightailing it out of there. So they might grab the body/legs of an animal to injure/slow it down, but as soon as they can grab throat and squeeze, they do. So that would show throat injuries.

And if nothing was eaten off or entrail removed, just massive inuries...then it was dogs.

[LauraKY]

I'm so sorry.

[ReSomething]

Very useful information MB. I'm sorry to have to learn it under these circumstances of course.

[jen-s]

So sorry!! Poor sheep.

[AKB]

Would it make sense to run a strand of electric tape a foot off the ground, a few feet outside your fence? I know our dogs hate getting shocked. I wonder if it would help protect your sheep.

[Petstorejunkie]

Get yourself a wild burro from the BLM and a Great Pyrenees, and a good rifle you can shoot from your porch.

[Megaladon]

So sorry for your loss.

[caballero]

They'll be back.

Do you have other neighbors with livestock? Maybe one with a flexible schedule and a good rifle will volunteer to spend the night looking over the pen?

Collect the sheep so there is no collateral damage.

It turns the stomach to come home to that.......

[Chall]

What do you mean "collect the sheep so there is no collateral damage"?

Oh, you mean when the neighbor comes over, he should bring his sheep over, so he can watch over his flock while watching over yours.
Gottcha.

[Hulk]

I am so sorry.

[caballero]

Fence them in a way that they won't be in the line of fire when the same dogs come back looking for them. If that is at all possible.

These dogs have taken a liking to killing and maiming and will not stop on their own.

[caballero]

What do you mean "collect the sheep so there is no collateral damage"?

Oh, you mean when the neighbor comes over, he should bring his sheep over, so he can watch over his flock while watching over yours.
Gottcha.

I wasn't giving advice to you. So whether you understand what I said or not is not my problem.

[JanM]

I doubt that something that could clear the no climb, and has left no evidence of how they got in is stoppable with electric wire or any other way. I think tracking the dogs down, or trapping them is the only way to stop them. Anything big enough or with enough scope to clear the fence is going to be tough to stop. Some domestic breeds, like boxers are great jumpers, and something that could clear the fence is going to be hard to stop. A friend had a boxer that could go over his 10 foot privacy fence easily, so something like a wire no-climb would have been easy for him.

I'm so sorry this happened to your animals, and you had to come home and find them like that.

[BabyGoose]

Thanks everybody for the good thoughts. There was a mix up with sheriff, etc, so we didn't get a trap delivered. Probably not until next week. We have the sheep confined to a small pen close to the house. They were in the pasture right behind the house before, so they were not far away, but now there is a couple extra fences for predators to get through. And our dog run is next to the pen. Unfortunately the dog is older and deaf, but she is a super watch dog so will alert us if she sees or smells something. Animal damage people came out and looked as well. They felt more signs of dog attack, but still not 100 percent sure. One set of tracks looked like dog, the other more like coyote. So we will try the traps and see if and what we get. The even more scary news we got from animal damage person was there has been a mountain lion in our area on an off. The sheep were not killed by lion, but I defintely worry about a lion going after my minis! He said he hadn't seen evidence of the lion in awhile, and it seems to be following the deer. Lets hope it stays that way. We have been so droughty here, wildlife is getting more desperate. So who knows, that could have caused coyotes to behave abnormal in their killing if they are desperate. Although there are so many feral cats in our neighborhood, I can't imagine a coyote being very hungry!

[SanJacMonument]

Oh, I'm so sorry. It sounds like a dog attack though - for sport. Best of luck trapping them and yes, they will be back.