Testing Transitory Night-penning in Colorado for Reducing Predation and Increasing Sheep Welfare

Commodities

• Animals: sheep
• Animal Products: fiber, fur, leather, meat

Practices

• Animal Production: animal protection and health
• Natural Resources/Environment: wildlife
• Pest Management: other

Western ranchers are responsible for and rely on healthy rangelands for their livelihoods. Finding solutions to tough problems so that we can maintain our livelihood and also take care of the land is a top priority for all ranchers. One problem that has been growing is the return and recovery of large carnivores (for example, wolves, black bears, coyotes, and mountain lions). Livestock producers are working to adapt to ranching with increased predator density but there is a lack of important information about the efficacy of a variety of different management practices aimed at reducing predation. What is needed is reliable information about the cost/benefits of a variety of practices so that ranchers can make sound decisions about how to sustain their livelihoods and improve the rangelands and ecosystems that support our livelihoods. One practice to reduce predation that very little is known about is transitory night penning where livestock grazed on open rangelands are herded into temporary pens each night. A couple of ranchers from Oregon and Idaho report very low predation losses when using night penning, but impacts on rangeland health, livestock welfare, and ranch economics remain unstudied in western landscapes. We are proposing to conduct an experiment that will evaluate the impacts of night penning on predation rates, sheep welfare (i.e., stress, behavior and weight gain) and the economic costs and benefits of using this practice. Results from our study will be published in a peer-reviewed journal, highlighted through collaborators like CSU extension and Western Landowners Alliance, and shared directly with sheep producers at an annual meeting.

Research Objectives:

• Determine if transitory night-penning impacts the following:
  1. Direct losses to predators.
  2. Sheep behavior.
  3. Sheep stress.
  4. Sheep weight gain.
• Determine the operational costs and benefits of night-penning.

Educational Objectives

• Educate the public about night-penning and sustainable sheep grazing on public land
• Write a peer-reviewed journal article from results
• Share research results and personal experience with night-penning in the following forums:
  1. Colorado Wool Growers annual meeting.
  2. Colorado State University's Western Ranch Management and Ecosystem Stewardship (WRMES) program, results will be integrated into NR 536 Ranch Management and Stewardship Field Course.
  3. Western Landowners Alliance (WLA) outreach materials and meetings.
  4. Colorado State University Extension sponsored meetings and outreach materials