I think we may have a badger sett in the field.

MrsElle

MrsElle

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A large hole has appeared in a hedgerow near a copse over the last few days, with a couple of tunnels leading off the main entrance hole. The holes are quite large, and the excavated soil has a furrow in it, as if something heavy and low was walking through it and leaving a path. It is too large for rabbits, and doesn't smell like fox, hence the assumption it is badgers.

Would badgers bring any disease or problems to the horses?
 
Very possibly badgers as they are rife, if it is, disease or not, there is not a lot you can do about it as it is illegal to disrupt a sett. Don't think they spread too much to horses but the other risk is the holes in the fields and it is possible for runs to collapse.
 
No. We had a badger sett in a field we used. The openings were along the hedge line and had been there for years. The area was fenced off with electric tape so the horses didn't twist a hoof but it didn't cause a problem.
 
I know the legalities regarding badger setts, but didn't know if they carried disease or anything that could be transmitted to horses. I hadn't thought of collapse, hopefully it won't be an issue, the tunnels seem to be heading into the next field, not mine, and the paddock itself is only in use for two months max during the year.

OH will be camped out now, seeing if he can see them :D Something has been digging in the muck heap, we assumed foxes, but perhaps that is the result of badgers at work too.
 
I wonder if you are in one of the badger cull areas? You could try contacting your local wildlife trust (usually cover a county), who could advise you of this and also what you can do to help prevent the risk of injury to your animals from the holes.
 
They can carry TB, any mammal can get TB find out if you are in a TB hotspot. Raise your water troughs so they can't reach them, don't leave any feed lying about. Not much else you can do.
 
We are in the same part of the country as you, Suffolkmare, so not in the cull area.

Don't keep any feed down there FW, none are on hard feed, and water is in large trugs, so don't think a badger would be able to reach them. I wasn't aware horses could contract TB from badgers, I'll ring the vets and find out if we are in a hot spot.
 
I have tons of setts around the edge of my field under the brambles, so they are fenced off with electric tape. One is in the middle of the field, but up a random mound and not always in use, so no problem either. The only trouble I have, is that at they tend to turn over the surface of the paddock, looking for worms I suppose, ruining the grass! Oh, and my stock fencing did go right down to the ground, but it got trashed until I redid it higher up the posts so that large furries could fit under.
 
Badgers are not a threat to horses mine lived with a set for years they used to come out in the evening , you could see them foraging between the horses.
Lucky you I say.
All the badgers around now, how many horses have you ever heard with TB?
If they can get it it's not from badgers.
I envy you that you have nothing more serious to worry about :-(

If You were a cattle farmer however I would say different. And I can see why near cattle they need controlling.
 
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We have quite a few setts just the other side of the fence, we live backing onto forestry commision land . We have no problems with them and often see them at night when we are checking late at lambing time. They have a set route through the fields and we make sure there is another way under the fences. They did up the mole hills looking for worms but dont cause us any trouble other than that.
 
Any animal can get TB from a badger. It is grossly under reported by defra with the focus being on cattle, but it is also rife in deer, alpacas and small pets.

The problem with badgers is they can live for many years while shedding massive amounts of the virus, compared to other animals which die quite quickly.

MrsElle, hopefully your badgers are foxes and if not hopefully they are healthy ones and you aren't in a hot spot. Even if you are in a hot spot, I wouldn't panic.
 
FfionWinnie said:
MrsElle, hopefully your badgers are foxes and if not hopefully they are healthy ones and you aren't in a hot spot. Even if you are in a hot spot, I wouldn't panic.
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Foxes don't dig earths (they'll take over abandoned badger setts) and if this is a new set of tunnels and too big for rabbits. it's badgers! We have at least 5 setts on our farm, only one on the edge of a horse field (the rest are in woodland) and the big risk is that the tunnels are extensive and relatively close to the surface so a horse CAN go through and do leg damage.
 
Our neighbour lost some chickens so set up a fox trap (big wire cage thing with a dead magpie for bait) and caught a badger. They're really big! The poor thing was curled up with a paw over its nose and looked so pitiful I could've wept. Persuaded neighbour he had to let it go which he did very carefully and it galloped off across the fields back to the wood.

More chickens were lost and neighbour kept insisting it was the badger and sure enough, night time filming proved him right. He's tightened his security.

I think we're lucky to have badgers in the area, but wish they'd not make latrines in my field, it seems to be a new one for every time they're 'caught short'! I've also got moles in my stables, if anyone has a way to persuade them to go elsewhere please let me know, I've actually seen the molehills appearing while I'm mucking out (earth floor and rubber mats that don't quite reach the edge in places), cheeky beggars.
 
FfionWinnie said:
Any animal can get TB from a badger. It is grossly under reported by defra with the focus being on cattle, but it is also rife in deer, alpacas and small pets. The problem with badgers is they can live for many years while shedding massive amounts of the virus, compared to other animals which die quite quickly.

MrsElle, hopefully your badgers are foxes and if not hopefully they are healthy ones and you aren't in a hot spot. Even if you are in a hot spot, I wouldn't panic.
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Before too much scare mongering there is no definate scientic evidence that badgers cause Tb in cattle, however that said they more than likely do, you mention alpacas and yes they to are highly suceptable.

I ask again how many of you know a horse that has had Tb ? ( not how many of you know a cow or an alpaca ? )
 
We have had badgers all round us for 20 years and no problems. They pinch the hay for their bedding but that is about it regarding the horses. At home they dig up my lawn (like totally wreck it) and bust in to my apple store (like totally wreck that too).
 
I hope (and think) the hole is the entrance to a badger sett, and not a fox earth. The smell of fox makes me want to throw up, but cant sell fox anywhere on the site at all.

We hope we will see the occupants at some point, I will keep my camera handy :)
 
used to live on a beef/arable farm with lots of badgers, they would occasionally break in to the grain store when the ground was frozen solid (harder to get worms), they knocked over the guinea pig hutch to get GP food that was on top and they broke into the chicken shed to get chicken food/eggs, unfortunatly the fox went in the chicken shed after the badger and killed all the chickens.

we naively used to feed them eggs on the step by the back door-we could sit within touching distance if we stayed still and quiet whilst they ate the eggs, obviously it back fired as above.

bolt holes can and do collapse the combine and other farm machinery often dropped down a bolt hole but obviously they are heavier than horses but it is your biggest risk. just fence them off.

we had over 200 head of breeding cattle (not including young stock) and the farmer had been there for over 38yrs, there was never a case of TB
 
I have badgers in my field. Horses take no notice of them. The holes are so big the horses can easily see them and they are all over the field so impossible to fence off.

The only time I would be concerned would be if I had a mare foaling then I would remove her from the field. I've seen badgers eating living calves that are only partly out of the cow so I assume they would do the same to a foal.
 
We had Tb in our herd 4 years ago... lost one third of the breeding cows. We thought we were on the edge of the Gloucestershire TB area but it had caught us up & has now taken several of our neighbours & beyond. We have one badger sett on farm & also deer, no proof where the tb had come from other than it was the 'local' strain. Now our cattle are tested every 12 months a process we dread in case we get another positive result. The time between the original positive test and the day the cows were taken away was one of my worst farming experiences in 25 years. I wouldn't wish it on anyone.
 
jrp204 said:
Horses are resistant to bTB (apparently).
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All healthy animals and humans have resistance to disease. It's when they don't that we get plague.

Think of native Americans and small pox introduced by Europeans. There are many similar examples.

As long as your horse remains healthy and is not subjected to any extremes, it is relatively safe. As are humans from TB in society. But humans still get TB as can most animals. Hence the pressures to eliminate the disease.
 
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