Reducing the Risk from Wildlife

• Prevent badgers accessing cattle feed and water sources:
  • Keep feed stores closed off and area under feed bins free of spilled meal.
  • Avoid feeding meal on ground at pasture - use a raised trough.
  • Consider using a "badger proof trough" with an anti-climbing roll bar on the side.
  • If providing meal at grass via trough or creep feeder consider feeding in the morning so troughs are empty at night when badgers are out.
  • Hang lick buckets on a pole or stand to keep them out of reach to badgers or use an alternative means of Magnesium supplementation. Lick buckets should be at least 1 meter off the ground, ideally 1.2 metres.
  • Raise water troughs in fields as high as the type of stock allows. (minimum 1 metre off ground).
  • Consider putting electric fencing reels across the face of silos at night.
• Keep cattle away from badger setts and latrines:

  • Actively check your grazing ground for badger setts and latrines Temporary electric fencing is very useful for this - the purpose of the fencing is to keep cattle away without disrupting badger movement.

    
• Make your farmyard as inaccessible to badgers as possible:
  • Consider closing off feed passages at night especially if concentrates are fed on top of silage.
  • Consider if entry gates can be sheeted in or fitted with a rubber flap to prevent badgers getting underneath them or through them. (Gaps should not exceed 7.5cm in size).

  • Silage bales placed tightly together in a row can make a good barrier to enclose open sides of yards.

    

• Avoid grazing fields or using round feeders on ground known to be frequented by wild deer.

KEY POINTS:
• Due to their size and shape badgers can squeeze through very small gaps. (approx. 7.5 cm in diameter).
•Badger exclusion measures do not need to be custom built or expensive. Look for the gaps and block them - homemade barriers can work very well.

For more information, please download Is your Farm at Risk?