Pennsylvania donkeys come to the Maritimes with a big purpose

Right off Route 112 in Colpitts Settlement, N.B., a herd of 20 donkeys, that seemingly appeared overnight, have caused quite the buzz throughout the community.

“They’ve definitely been the talk of the town and everybody is quite interested in them. Every time I drive by there’s somebody pulled over looking at them, taking pictures,” said Raine Beckwith, a local farmer who is the current owner of the entire herd.

About a week ago now, she shipped the herd all the way from Pennsylvania to her sister’s front pasture where the group is currently in a 14-day quarantine period.

However, Beckwith didn’t bring them over just to be pets, she brought them to the Maritimes to help fill a need that she’s experienced firsthand.

“I have my own herd of cows … and I have a coyote problem at my house and when I tried to find some donkeys to take care of the coyotes I couldn’t find any available in all of the Maritimes, so I said, ‘I’m not the only one with that issue and I went and found a load,’” she said.

Adding, “a donkey’s job is to guard the cows. I have donkeys who, as soon as I have a new calf, they will not leave the pasture because they know it’s their job to protect them, so I’ve had coyotes dead in the field, killed by a donkey, so that’s their main job.”

Beckwith says there are three main options to help protect a herd of livestock: Pyrenees dogs, llamas and donkeys.

“I’ve strayed away from the llamas and the dogs aren’t really my thing either, but I’m a big fan of the donkeys so that’s my guardian of choice,” she said.

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Four years ago, Beckwith started her search for a donkey and couldn’t find one for sale in all of the Maritimes.

In March of this year, she brought in a group of 33 donkeys from Pennsylvania for the first time.

She says over half went to Nova Scotia and the others were distributed across the Maritimes.

Currently, Beckwith has 10 of her own donkeys at home helping to watch over her fields and she’s noticed a huge difference.

“Before I had the donkeys I actually was calving more in the winter, so it wasn’t that big of an issue, but the first year I calved on pasture, I lost two calves to coyotes,” she said.

“I know for a fact that there’s no coyotes walking through my pasture anymore and I haven’t lost a single calf since I had some in the pasture.”

The current group of donkeys ranged from one-year-old to 15-years-old and are all thoroughly vet checked and vaccinated before they cross the boarder.

Once they arrive, they enter into a 14-day quarantine and, although it’s a long trip, they settle in quickly.

Dawn Beckwith, Raine’s sister, says they’ve been doing their job ever since they arrived.

“It’s definitely been loud with the donkeys braying, it’s like a joke in my family that they’re keeping me up at night, all night long for about a week now, and just any time there’s a dog barking or any type of threat, they go off, at any time,” she said.

“I would say that some of the dogs close by, even my own dog for sure, is something that they’re very aware of, like a little bark can be followed by a quick bray and then coyotes, pheasants, things like that where they hear a little bit of a rustling, and they’re on it.”

Currently, her two miniature donkeys share guardian duties of her goats with her Pyrenees.

On top of protection, the pair will also attend the Green Pig Country Market corn maze this fall, which is a Wild Wild West theme.

Dawn says she’s also had customers at the market asking her about the newest group of donkeys and how to get in contact with Raine to buy one for their own farm.

“The cows can pretty well protect their calves themselves, but it’s right when they’re calving when the coyotes sneak up and the farmers, there’s not a lot of turnaround there already for farmers, so they can’t be losing calves,” said Raine.

“Right now, the price of cattle are pretty good, so if they lose a calf, I mean, they’re losing $2,000 a year. That’s one calf. Not right away, but when they go to sell in the fall that’s what they end up losing.”

Raine says she has no plans on bringing in more donkeys from Pensylvania right now, but a few of her donkeys at home are actually pregnant, so she should be able to sell their offspring down the road.

The herd of 20 will be up for sale as soon as their quarantine is over.

Raine also wants to remind people that although the donkeys are cute, they are still livestock and can be unpredictable. At no point should anyone be entering their field or the property that they’re on.

For more New Brunswick news visit our dedicated provincial page.