got a bear video with my game cam on the coop

I am so glad we don't have bears here in Texas. I would never be able to sleep, I would be looking outside every 5 minutes making sure there was no bear.

What part of Oregon do you live in? I viewed your trail cam...scarey isn't the word for it. With that said, you need to totally re-think your setup. I see that you are using plain old chicken wire, that alone is a disaster waiting to happen with any predators, raccoon, fox, weasel, badger, let alone a bear (I'm surprised he didn't tear that good-for-nothing wire down in an instant). It is obvious you live in a predator-filled area and should be using nothing but 1/2" hardware cloth everywhere. I also noticed that you left your pop hole open that night....was that just an accident that night or do you leave it open all the time?

I'm sure others will chime in, but that's just my 2 cents...wishing you well !!

My chicken coop is made of 2x4" welded wire with 1/2" hardware cloth around the bottom 24". I also leave my pop door open at night, on purpose. I do agree with iwiw60, though, that 1/2" hardware cloth is more secure. I just don't have the funds for that, and the 2x4 will keep out most predators. I realize it won't even slow down a mink or weasel, but I'll have to take my chances. Please do either get rid of or reinforce the chicken wire. That bear must not have been hungry or it would have shredded that fencing. I'm not sure, though, that even hardware cloth could slow down bear if it were determined to get in. I have a friend in Alaska who has brown bears to deal with in her neighborhood. She put an electric fence around her chickens to protect them. Here in MN beekeepers in the northern part of the state will put electric fence around their hives to keep bears out.

Holy cow, what do you suppose was going thru that chicken's mind as it was watching that bear?

bobbi-j said:

I'm not sure, though, that even hardware cloth could slow down bear if it were determined to get in. I have a friend in Alaska who has brown bears to deal with in her neighborhood. She put an electric fence around her chickens to protect them. Here in MN beekeepers in the northern part of the state will put electric fence around their hives to keep bears out.

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You're right....1/2" hardware cloth is a piece of cake to a bear....they'll tear it up like it was butter.

iwiw60 said:

What part of Oregon do you live in? I viewed your trail cam...scarey isn't the word for it. With that said, you need to totally re-think your setup. I see that you are using plain old chicken wire, that alone is a disaster waiting to happen with any predators, raccoon, fox, weasel, badger, let alone a bear (I'm surprised he didn't tear that good-for-nothing wire down in an instant). It is obvious you live in a predator-filled area and should be using nothing but 1/2" hardware cloth everywhere. I also noticed that you left your pop hole open that night....was that just an accident that night or do you leave it open all the time?

I'm sure others will chime in, but that's just my 2 cents...wishing you well !! 

Click to expand...

Exactly what I was thinking.
Definitely close the door at least.

I honestly don't think that if that bear decided to get in, a little door right there would stop it. We have a spot light right over our bed that goes on when anything triggers the motion sensor sport light on the coop.... so we wake up and scare off the foxes, bears, whatever..... we did catch one in the run, and his trying to get in the run to get to that little doorway slowed it down enough that we caught it half in and half out...THAT bear had bitten off a corner of the coop itself, so it could have easily gotten in to the main building of the structure...we are not kidding ourselves...we moved to this house knowing EXACTLY what was in our backyard..... that was one of the draws to it...we just have to hone our techniques is all.... we live southeast of Eugene... in the Willamette National Forest----near Dexter

Electric fence can be a great bear educator. Several years ago a bear got into my neighbor's apiary and destroyed several hives. Electric fencing was installed (with bacon strips on the wire), the bear was educated and has not wrecked the hives since. If the bear really wants in, he will destroy the coop as well as the run.

Oh yeah.... forgot to agree with bobbij and iwiwi when it comes to a determined bear: they can smush a cage made out of wood and hardware cloth in minutes... they are strong and you gotta literally make a coop out of welded STRONG metal..... or it will not hold up... so being aware and using the tools you have to alert you are the best way to go about this from what I can tell... I may be wrong..... we lost our pheasants and it was horrible but when we reevaluated, we got what we set ourselves up for..... It was our lack of foresight and prep.... we should have had them in front with the coop and by the cam and light system... don't know what we were thinking but it got our attention and we will try hard nt to let that happen again... so any afffordable ideas, cuz we are on a massively tight budget....are very welcome. THanks all... you guys rock! I would be totatlly lost without reading your posts....