The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: sabrina on May 11, 2017, 08:24:44 am
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We have had badgers for years going about at night but now one has started coming into the stable barn at night. It gets itself under the feed room door just ! Wrecks the place, has the cat food. The last few nights I have shut the doors which not only stops badger but also the swallows which I always look forward to having. I had rat poison in a pipe behing the feed bins, removed this just in case it does manage to get it out. I have put all my feed bags in an old freezer as the sod was getting the lids of my feed bins and pushing the bins over. i had hoped it would get fed up but we have it on CTV every night trying to find a way in. Having had a young Shetland pony get its face ripped a few years ago and vet suggested a badger I am worried. Its there anything I could spray about the place that would keep it away. I went out one night and chased it but 2 hrs later it was back.
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For us, as we have a herd of cattle in sensitive agriculture area, we need to keep all badgers well away from the farm. You have to keep feeds locked up with no vermin getting close. Badgers are def attracted to feed and the only way is to get a shipping container or similar so that that no feeds can be get at. Once they are getting in they will return.
The only answer is to keep feeds in bomb proof containers so means either putting steel doors on the sheds (clad with timber) or buy a small shipping container.
Badgers are usually on farms where there is an abundance of food. They are vicious creatures and for the risk to our stock will do anything to keep them away.
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You have done the right thing putting your feed in a freezer. They can rip the sides out of wooden building with no trouble at all. You could try leaving the door open so it can go in and see if there is food and when it discovers none it may give up. Leaving the light on might help. I believe rat bait doesn't do a badger any good at all.
There might be a spray deterrent or type of scare device and perhaps someone will come on who has used one.
Does it come at around the same time? If so you could wait up and scare it off. Although I would say once my son and his friend were chased quite a way by an adult badger.
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Can you move the freezer somewhere else? They will rip open the side of a wooden stable. If you can find where they're getting onto your land you could try putting an old towel soaked in creosote in the gap, although they might just dig another hole further up.
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I would contact Scottish Badgers charity. They have volunteers who will come out and advise. They will track to see where the badgers coming into your yard. there may be a reason it has just started coming in, It may possibly due to changes in the structure of its clan - lots of cubs around at the moment or some interference with their normal foraging area and/or food supplies. If this is the case, it may be a temporary glitch in their behaviour.. If you persist in keeping them out, they will probably move on.
Some folk have had success with diversionary feeding - i.e. feed them peanuts well away from your yard. We do this after having a badger in at our chooks. No problems since. There is a risk they get used to it though and will go back to your barn if there's no peanuts.
They are rarely aggressive and will run away if you make a noise and shooo them off. Make lots of noise when you go looking form them in the barn and they'll soon run off - try not to corner them or block them in though.
contact details for Scottish Badgers: http://www.scottishbadgers.org.uk (http://www.scottishbadgers.org.uk) or Species Protection officer on 07866 844 232
Good luck.
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I wouldn't recommend diversionary feeding. If they see your place as a source of food they'll go looking for it if the waiter has forgotten to put out the amuse bouche. By feeding you interfere with the natural selection process and make it likely more cubs will survive, which will not help anyone.
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I've seen it suggested a low electric fence may help. Obviously I don't know your set up but may be possible to run a strand round the yard, just connected at night?
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You could try one of those PIR (sensor lights) but wire it up to a electric radio too. When the PIR is triggered the light will come on and the radio will sound. Hopefully it should be enough to deter the badger. We used to have them visit but the PIR and our terrier who barks at everything near the kennel put them off.
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There are quite a few badger sets around us. They have been using the same run for years. There is no feed it can get to now. I have sheep wire and electric fencing but its getting through after digging under the wire on my neighbours side. the farms around here lose quite a few lambs to them. the plan is to make the feed room door right to the floor. Make sure chickens are shut in and see what happens.
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BLEACH !!!
Scatter it all around the door in the evenings it will soon keep away,much cheaper (60p Tesco ) than electric fence which to be honest they will go through or worse case scenario they get caught up in it and you then have to try to release it :o
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I will try the bleach. badger took my favourite duck last week-she'd been sleeping under a pile of fence posts (badger had to bulldoze through the pile). my fault for not double checking she was in the shed. so mad at myself and I don't want it back sniffing around the pens.
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My only worry using the bleach is my chickens, cats and dogs getting it on them.