Protecting your outdoor pig unit from predators

How to reduce the risk of piglet losses to predators such as badgers and foxes.

Good unit management can help reduce the risk of piglet losses to predators, which can result in stressed sows as well as low staff morale. The following measures can help reduce the risk:

• Have an additional electrified net fence 40 cm outside the main fox fence
• Place matting in gateways to reduce the formation of ruts. Complete the circuit across the gateway for night-time protection with electrified spring clips
• Manage the grass near the fence carefully – ensure timely spraying
• Improve the farrowing field gateway (where tractor ruts were providing an entry point for predators)
• Employ a fox controller
• Block lower strands so predators who are undeterred by high-voltage fencing do not slip through