Well designed and constructed exclusion fences have been very effective at preventing wild dogs from entering properties or ‘clusters’ of properties, resulting in increased on-farm productivity and the ability for producers to run sheep without the stress of worrying about attacks. Having the capacity to keep dogs out of a property or properties, and get rid of the dogs inside the fence, is the key to future long term freedom from wild dog predation.
Australian Wool Innovation (AWI) has produced a guide entitled ‘Wild Dog Exclusion Fencing: A practical guide for woolgrowers’ (PDF 7MB) that gives an overview of many types of exclusion fences that are being used successfully by Australian producers to protect their sheep, and also control total grazing pressure.
It has been put together with the help of woolgrowers, fencing contractors, extension officers and representatives from fencing supply companies in Western Australia, Queensland, Victoria and New South Wales, and aims to:
- show you what a number of other woolgrowers have done to manage their wild dog problem
- give you an overview of the most popular designs and materials for exclusion fencing
- help you assess the suitability of those designs and materials for your own business
- identify and resolve challenges that you may encounter when building and maintaining your own exclusion fencing
- provide access to a variety of useful resources (links to fencing suppliers, funding bodies, etc) that may help you when designing and building your own exclusion fencing.
This guide was published in 2017.