A Bear…

[McChooky]

Bears usually avoid humans.They're usually after the chicken feed left outside

Prayers for your peace of mind!

 

[StinkyAcres]

Is there fencing you can plug in? I have an outlet nearby and that way I don’t have to buy batteries all the time (that would make the plan more amendable to my family).

Yes, there are plug-in fence energizers (aka chargers or fencers). Then the energizers are attached to the electric fence and the grounding rod with wires (usually with alligator clips). You must make sure you buy the correct type of energizer for your fence though. I believe only low-impedance fence energizers can be used with electric netting.

 

[Evadig]

Everyone’s alive and well this morning but me - I think I have the flu. So we’ll just hope the bear finds something else to eat and maybe one of these days I’ll manage to get some electric fencing around there. Thanks y’all for your help!

 

[StinkyAcres]

Everyone’s alive and well this morning but me - I think I have the flu. So we’ll just hope the bear finds something else to eat and maybe one of these days I’ll manage to get some electric fencing around there. Thanks y’all for your help!

Oh no! Hope you feel better soon!

 

[Brittbee]

I live in an area where we have a neighborhood bears, and many others in a 5 mile vicinity. My experience: the bears are looking for easy meals, which usually is trash, bird feeders, etc (like others have mentioned). This being said, I also know people who have lost their flock to bears, or have sustained damage to their coops and runs from bears who are just looking to fatten up. I would definetely invest in fortifying your coop/ bear proofing. They are tenacious and persistent creatures when they know food is around.

Personally, our neighborhood bear aims for garbage cans. Mine is about 20 feet from my coop and run and so far I have not had issue (not to say the bear will never try to get to my flock).

 

[McChooky]

Sorry to hear you're sick but glad the bears are staying away! Hope you get well soon!

 

[rosemarythyme]

Ponds draw all kinds of wildlife and are well known for drawing predators.
I had a small pond and removed it

Yup, water in general attracts wildlife. And I didn't really think about it until we already had our chicken run in place... pretty as it is, we're going to avoid parcels with creeks/ponds in the future. We call the creek the wildlife highway - otters, raccoons, bobcats, beavers, fish of course, the bear - thankfully they're usually just using it as a pass through and keep right on going, though raccoons are the ones we really keep an eye out for, as they sometimes stop to sniff around a bit.

 

[Evadig]

Sorry to hear you're sick but glad the bears are staying away! Hope you get well soon!

I love the rooster in your profile picture! What kind is he?

 

[Apis mellifera]

I have a hot fence around my bee hives, if I didnt they would be wiped out from bears. The coop doesnt and bears have never touched it. Im not sure why, but thats been my experience with black bears.

 

[StinkyAcres]

Same here, we see bears and signs of them around but we've never had a bear try to get into the coop and my coop is not even close to bear-proof. Raccoons and foxes have done much more damage.