should I lock them in at night?

[PHF Fancy]

My barn has in and out stalls with very large paddocks attached to each stall. At night, I lock in all of my minis for fear of coyotes which we have a lot of around here. I leave my big horses out 24/7 since they are too big for anything to go after. Do any of you leave your minis out 24/7? Should I be worried about coyote or wild dog attacks(though none confirmed in this area)? Will they go after a mini horse and 2 mini donkeys? I feel bad locking my guys in on those super hot summer nights and I know they'd prefer to be outside. Any thoughts on this?

 

[lilmiraclesfarm]

I've never had a problem with coyotes and they run right along side my house. Do they make me nervous? YES. Would I lock mine up if I could? YES. We take our dogs around the property frequently to make a scent around the property. Like I said they run right next to us, close enough that they leave old deer behind and our dogs have access to it. eww. I just over worry about my babies.

 

[running in the red]

I know of a breeder that lost a mare and a stallion was severly hurt last summer due to dog attack! I have a smaller paddock for night turn out that has cattle pannel around it . Thankfully no dog problems in my area. I do know about the worring part- the should we or should we not............

 

[jleonard]

Where I lived in CA was right against the foothills and there were tons of really brave coyotes. They jumped our eight foot fence and jumped back over with my cocker spanial, never to be seen again. They also killed several of our neighbors dogs too. When we got the minis, we made the fence extra high (it had thick metal mesh between bars too). Despite all that, I still locked mine in at night, I'd heard too many stories about what coyotes are capable of not to be paranoid. We had other wildlife in the area, like bears and mountain lions, but the coyotes were what worried us most of all. In populous areas, they can be fearless!

 

[Riverdance]

Read what happend to Little America Minis on this forum. He lost several horses to dog attacks and coyotes.

Make sure that they are protected. I have a four foot fence around all of mine 3 bar PVC and then cattle fencing on that to keep any unwanted animals out. I know there are coyotes around.

 

[Hobbit Horse Shire]

We lock our minis up at night too .. We've had a pack of coyotes take down a deer in our driveway .. We have bobcats .. turned out hunting dogs & coyotes & black bear in the area .. I sleep better at night knowing our minis are behind 8 wire electried fence & locked in the barn .. We use fans in the summer to draw the heat up & out the vents .. Our minis love their stalls & don't give us any problems going in at night .. In fact if we are late putting them in they are standing outside the barn waiting for us OH!

 

[The Simple Life Farm]

I leave mine out....... But I have a 5' fence, and two guard dogs in with them. It sure makes me and them sleep better. I figure I can never be too safe.

 

[wildoak]

Most of mine are out at night. The show horses & young horses are near enough to the house/barn and noisy dogs that I don't worry about them even when they are out, but I do worry some over my mares. We've been fine here so far.......and I have 12-15 mares together but if they are in the hay field they are out of my sight. It is field fenced, and we've not seen coyotes on the property since we did that but I know from what others say that they are capable of getting over it.

Guess it depends on your area, how bold they are and how much food is available to them. Where we used to live, cats became their meal of choice - well fed, easy prey. There are lots of horses around us, mini and big, and to date I have not heard of a problem with them being attacked.

Jan

 

[MiniforFaith]

I keep my mini's in at night, always have since the very first night they came to be with me.. Since then, we do now have coyotes in our back woods(I hear them late at night when I step out for my nasty cig habbit). We have had a lot of stray dogs lately, too.. I feel better knowing they are in, and they seem very happy to come in for the night..

 

[Candice]

As soon as our barn was done, mine started going in at night. Not only do I feel they are safer, but it also gives my pastures a "short rest". About 6 mos before we got our minis my neighbor saw a black bear cross between our two properties right along the fence line. We also have panthers, though I'm not sure they are that big of a threat to the adult minis. They're pretty shy.

 

[NoddalottaFarm]

We live on wooded acreage and most of the land around us is wooded also. About 2 miles down the road, there's a field of corn, but that's about it.

We lock our 2 minis up each and every night!

We have a pack of coyotes that comes yipping each night about 6pm. They run through our back yard and I won't even let the dog out at that time! We tried raising chickens and ducks, but lost them each year with only one dying of "natural causes", the rest were eaten by wildlife. We have coyotes and bobcats that we see on a regular basis, and who knows what else. Last Summer, we changed from electric tape fencing to 'horse fencing' which keeps the neighbor's dogs out, but I'm not going to chance a hungry coyote pack taking down one of my boys.