Bear!

[NHMountainMan]

We've always had black bears. This year was the first time we had one do serious damage to our coop and run and kill all of our chickens. Yes, that's a heavy gauge aluminum roof that was bolted to the welded steel run.View attachment 1859634 View attachment 1859635 View attachment 1859636
We now have a 5/8" plywood roof with 2"x4" ribs and supports covered with Ondura corrugated asphalt blend roofing bolted to that same steel run. The pop door has been redesigned entirely, and the main coop door has been repaired. View attachment 1859642View attachment 1859644

The final addition was a nice electric fence - 164 feet long, 4 feet high. We still have bears; that's part of life in our mountains. Hopefully, the new 8 week old chickens we got recently won't end up as a snack for one of those bears. One thing's for sure, the next eggs we get from our own chickens some months from now will be some pretty expensive eggs!

Wow. That’s some impressive destruction. Makes me question my construction talents!
Though I’m new to chickens (13 pullets now 13 weeks old), I’m an experienced bee keeper with tons of black bears. Bear are drawn to eat bee larvae- but they learn honey scent means larvae. I bait my electric netting with bacon regularly. It gets the bear to touch the fence with sensitive parts- nose or tongue. The resident bear have stayed away. It’s the young yearling males that show up every October trying to fatten up for winter. They quickly learned to avoid the netting. I highly recommend baiting your fence if you don’t already.

 

[chrissynemetz]

Wow!!
This makes chasing coyotes with a broom in my pj's seem kinda boring...

 

[Cryss]

We've always had black bears. This year was the first time we had one do serious damage to our coop and run and kill all of our chickens. Yes, that's a heavy gauge aluminum roof that was bolted to the welded steel run.View attachment 1859634 View attachment 1859635 View attachment 1859636
We now have a 5/8" plywood roof with 2"x4" ribs and supports covered with Ondura corrugated asphalt blend roofing bolted to that same steel run. The pop door has been redesigned entirely, and the main coop door has been repaired. View attachment 1859642View attachment 1859644

The final addition was a nice electric fence - 164 feet long, 4 feet high. We still have bears; that's part of life in our mountains. Hopefully, the new 8 week old chickens we got recently won't end up as a snack for one of those bears. One thing's for sure, the next eggs we get from our own chickens some months from now will be some pretty expensive eggs!

I'm so sorry. This is my greatest nightmare. Now I'm looking at your new pop door and trying to figure out how it's made and works.

 

[HopeSprings]

There's been a young bear hanging around here lately, even strolled across my porch just a few feet from the open slider! I'm hoping the scent of my bear hound is keeping him away since then. (Tho Buzz the Plott hound was asleep on my bed when the bear visited!)
My neighbor recently lost 2 chickens to coyotes in the middle of the day. My coop is further from the tree line and the birds do love to free range, so they'll be out again today.

 

[cmom]

I have never had an encounter with a bear but I have went out to the garage at night to get something and have run into predators such as coyote, fox, possum, skunk, coon, owl. Now if I have to go out there at night for any reason I make loud noises and so far no encounters. Many years ago hubby and I were on a trip. We checked into a lodge. There was a back door in our room to a small patio. The next morning hubby in his underwear went out with a cup of coffee and when he stepped outside there was a bear. Hubby came back in quickly and was as white as a ghost. He told me about the bear. I of course had to go out to see and when I went out I saw it running around the corner of the building. We saw it later down the hill in some vegetation behind our room.

 

[chrissynemetz]

I've thankfully never encountered a bear. I've had foxes, coyotes, raccoons and skunks in my yard. I've had the occasional mountain lion stalking the perimeter of my fence, but so far they've never ventured any closer. Once I walked around the side of my shed to find a really testy badger. That was different...
Oh and a few summers ago DH and I went camping. I was rudely awaken by a surprisingly friendly cow licking my face. (Sleeping in a tent in open range territory can be an adventure all to itself)
But so far no bears

 

[Sequel]

@DobieLover, you do have a way with words - that created a hysterical visual/audio for me. also bringing to mind the 'unclothed' encounter mentioned below.

To the OP - many years ago there was a frequent bear sighting in the area. One night my dogs were alarm barking so I hurried outside, flashlight unlit but in hand. Right off the back porch I collided with something big and dark that snorted. I swear my heart stopped. Somehow I got back on the porch and turned on the light to see the neighbor's pony standing there.

 

[WNCcluck]

Ex

Wow. That’s some impressive destruction. Makes me question my construction talents!
Though I’m new to chickens (13 pullets now 13 weeks old), I’m an experienced bee keeper with tons of black bears. Bear are drawn to eat bee larvae- but they learn honey scent means larvae. I bait my electric netting with bacon regularly. It gets the bear to touch the fence with sensitive parts- nose or tongue. The resident bear have stayed away. It’s the young yearling males that show up every October trying to fatten up for winter. They quickly learned to avoid the netting. I highly recommend baiting your fence if you don’t already.

We've considered the bacon option. We haven't done that so far though it's a very common tactic with all the beekeepers and chicken owners in this area. Our bears come out mostly in the spring and through the summer. We have enough population density in both people and bears that the bears quickly figure out the trash routine and go from neighborhood to neighborhood raiding trash cans, chicken coops, and beehives. It's not unusual for us to see Mama Bear and triplet cubs in addition to the yearlings that have been kicked out of the den. Our destruction bear is one of the yearlings. Time will tell if we need to go the bacon route.

 

[WNCcluck]

I'm so sorry. This is my greatest nightmare. Now I'm looking at your new pop door and trying to figure out how it's made and works.

Google "guillotine chicken door". Ours is a variation made with 2x4's and 2x6's bolted onto the steel mesh of the run and the side of the coop. Our door is also thicker than most. There's nothing quite like losing your whole flock to a bear to make you adept at over engineering a chicken fortress.

 

[WNCcluck]

There's been a young bear hanging around here lately, even strolled across my porch just a few feet from the open slider! I'm hoping the scent of my bear hound is keeping him away since then. (Tho Buzz the Plott hound was asleep on my bed when the bear visited!)
My neighbor recently lost 2 chickens to coyotes in the middle of the day. My coop is further from the tree line and the birds do love to free range, so they'll be out again today.

Both of our destruction bear attacks were during the day. Prior to that we had a yearling snag one of the girls off our deck when they were out free ranging. We're only 10 or so miles from you. Let that Plott hound (great breed!) tree the bear a few times. The bear will think twice before coming back.