Wild dogs and foxes continue to be a problem for sheep producers across the state and some are finding donkeys are an effective solution, but only if you know how to handle them properly.
Laurie Abbott at Grenfell said before he brought in donkeys they were inundated with foxes.
"Every ewe could drop a lamb and you could lose the lot, but with the donkeys I was getting 110 per cent," Mr Abbott said.
He said the donkeys would attack a fox or dog that came near them, and he has taught his sheep dog not to go in their paddock.
"A donkey will take on a fox or a dog, no problem," Mr Abbott said.
"It would even run at a pack of dogs and take a few out with it's feet."
But despite their fierce nature towards dogs, he said they were very easy to handle.
"Donkeys will come to you, if you have a bucket in your hand you might have some food," he said.
"They're as easy to work with as a horse or a dog."
Jo-Anne Kokas has worked with donkeys her whole life, starting the Good Samaritan Donkey Sanctuary in Clarence Town in 1989.
Mrs Kokas agrees donkeys can be very effective guards for sheep, but impressed that not every donkey is right for the job.
"Certainly not a Jack. When hormones upset them they can take their anger out on the sheep and kill them," Mrs Kokas warned.
"You need to use Jennys or geldings and the donkeys themselves must be in fit condition, they cannot be an old donkey, they need to have good legs and feet and some go in them."
She also explained that donkeys protect their territory, not a flock.
"Donkeys don't actually guard the sheep, they are territorial and they naturally guard their home ground", Mrs Kokas said.
"The trick is to use the donkey's herd instinct to bond with the sheep, donkeys don't like being alone."
She said this meant that having two donkeys or donkeys in adjacent paddocks to each other could be problematic.
"If you put a donkey with 50 sheep each in adjoining paddocks, the donkeys will stick to each other along the fence-line because they're bonding with each other," Mrs Kokas explained.
"If they're at the other end of the paddock when the dogs arrive, the donkey will stand back and watch the sheep being slaughtered."
But if the right donkey is managed correctly, they have been game-changing for producers struggling with foxes or wild dogs.
"They will put their ears back, screw up their muzzles, put their heads down and charge at the intruders while braying loudly in anger," Mrs Kokas said.
"It frightens the hell out of the dog and if the donkey catches the dog, it's goodbye, they mean business."
