Guard animals also can provide protection to cows that are calving. These trained animals bond with livestock but are aggressive to wild dogs and coyotes. Guard animals lose their effectiveness, however, if the cows go off by themselves to calve. For more information on guard animals, see page 11. Not all coyotes kill sheep.
Coyotes often make routine trips through a sheep pasture without killing sheep.
Coyotes that kill sheep prefer lambs to larger mature ewes. Occasionally, two or three coyotes collaborate in bringing down a large ewe. Coyotes are more likely to kill lambs during June and July when they are feeding pups. They usually kill one sheep at a time and feed on it until it is devoured. A coyote looking for food approaches a flock of sheep much like a border collie.