A Bear…

[McChooky]

3 hens stay in the yard, the rest fly over my electric fence and free range in the woods.
My fence doesn't trap my chickens but it deters predators

 

[McChooky]

Just so happened a car hit and killed a 400 lb bear 2 nights ago (less than a mile from me) Same area where a bear reportedly killed a mans chickens and destroyed his coop. Probably the same bear.

 

[David61]

My American bulldog has full access to the yard day and night. What she doesn't kill she corners for me to dispatch.

 

[RedwoodCoastChick]

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.

Absolutely! There's a creek downslope of us behind the workshop & chicken yard, just beyond a stand of young redwoods and Doug-firs where our trail cameras pick up a steady parade of gray foxes, skunks, raccoons, possums, black-tailed deer, the occasional coyote and mountain lion, and several resident black bears. My husband the retired highway engineer (Los Angeles/SoCal area freeways) calls that wildlife corridor "the 405".

First we had to put up 7-foot wire deer fence around our garden/orchard area because "Bambi" eats EVERYTHING, then had to add electric fence to the outside of that because the biggest bear (at least a 400-pounder, he's huge) kept tearing it down to ravage our fruit trees [before we had chickens]. He got royally zapped the first night after we finished & powered-up the fence (3 years ago) and hasn't touched it since...though he shows up on camera looking mournfully through the fence at all the ripe fruit he can't raid any more. The chicken yard is of course inside the deer/electric fence since EVERYTHING wants to eat chickens... So far, so good.

 

[GinasFluffHut]

Can anyone tell me ways of giving my older chickens a supplement for their joints?
I have a heavy large rooster that can benefit from it and a 15 year old hen that is now showing signs of discomfort on her right leg

 

[Evadig]

Can anyone tell me ways of giving my older chickens a supplement for their joints?
I have a heavy large rooster that can benefit from it and a 15 year old hen that is now showing signs of discomfort on her right leg

Hi @GinasFluffHut
I think it would be better to start a thread in the emergency/disease/injury section here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forums/emergencies-diseases-injuries-and-cures.10/ where you would be more likely to get a helpful response.
To start a thread just go to the the link and push the green post thread in the upper left corner. Hope your chicken and rooster feel better soon!

 

[BirdManInMo]

I don't know what state you are in but in Missouri, the law allows lethal force to protect your live stock, yes that includes chickens. Never had to deal with a black bear but have killed coyote, coon, unknown dog, possum, etc that were eating my chickens.

I'm sure protected species like an eagle, endangered owls, red tailed hawk, something like that is off limits. Black Bear is not a protected species.

I think someones earlier suggestion about calling your local wildlife agency would be prudent. Oh......another thing, a black bear can be lethal to you as well. Almost as many people killed by black bear as by Grizzly but the chances of that happening is very slim.

 

[Papaye]

Wow... all of you are so AMAZING!
Are you not afraid bears will attack YOU? They could kill you!!

Can you not call the cops? Or your Mayor...?
Are they not supposed to help you? Bears could dangerous for YOU...!

For your chickens... I understand why you might not want to install an electric fence.
What is the size of their coops?
If they are small enough : when you have enough money to buy an "Omlet" run, you could want to put your coops in these runs, because they are seemingly bear proof.
Here is how I learned that : https://blog.omlet.us/2022/08/09/eglu-cube-chicken-coops-are-strong/
(Impressive, right?)

I don't know if something cheaper would be 100% sure to protect your chickens : bear are so big and and strong... and they also look smart, so...

But since bears come at night, can't you just turn on a battery operated radio at night, and put it ouside? Just so the bear could think there are humans too close for him to come near your home... and at least until he goes away? (Do bears travel?)

(Otherwise, you could also get BIGS dogs...?)

Hi!
Good luck!

 

[itsasmallfarm]

Wow... all of you are so AMAZING!
Are you not afraid bears will attack YOU? They could kill you!!

Can you not call the cops? Or your Mayor...?
Are they not supposed to help you? Bears could dangerous for YOU...!

For your chickens... I understand why you might not want to install an electric fence.
What is the size of their coops?
If they are small enough : when you have enough money to buy an "Omlet" run, you could want to put your coops in these runs, because they are seemingly bear proof.
Here is how I learned that : https://blog.omlet.us/2022/08/09/eglu-cube-chicken-coops-are-strong/
(Impressive, right?)

I don't know if something cheaper would be 100% sure to protect your chickens : bear are so big and and strong... and they also look smart, so...

But since bears come at night, can't you just turn on a battery operated radio at night, and put it ouside? Just so the bear could think there are humans too close for him to come near your home... and at least until he goes away? (Do bears travel?)

(Otherwise, you could also get BIGS dogs...?)

Hi!
Good luck!

here are some of the things we do to deal with bears. Keep in mind i only have to deal with black bears, not grizzly or polar bears there a different story.

yes there is a chance a bear could attack and kill you, as someone who hunts them every year and has bees in the same area i hunt them, the biggest thing is to respect the bears, as i have been told 99% of black bears will fear you, its the 1% that don't you have to worry about.

as for calling the cops, where am from (Saskatchewan Canada) they will do nothing for bears, and even the DNR (or fish and wildlife officers) told me (as for my bees) they deal too much with bears and best bet is to shoot them and just let them know you killed one out of season. in fact even my Province allows us to shoot them 1 KM within our bee hives to prevent issues (there are no shortages of black bears here)

the mayor is even less help, my guess they would either laugh at me, welcome me to the north where bears are common place or most likely tell me to phone the DNR office.


my neighbor uses a guard dog for his cattle, mostly for coyotes and wolves. but has had no issues with bears in his yard. (my other neighbor who does not have a dog has lost calves to black bears in the last year)

 

[rosemarythyme]

Are you not afraid bears will attack YOU? They could kill you!!

Can you not call the cops? Or your Mayor...?
Are they not supposed to help you? Bears could dangerous for YOU...!

Speaking strictly of black bears, no I don't really worry. If they're not overly acclimated to humans they'll try to avoid contact with people. The bears in my area are considered part of the landscape and people regularly report where they've been spotted. If you call county (Fish & Wildlife) they'll tell you to keep your trash inside and remove outside sources of food - that is, it's your responsibility to keep them from wanting to visit.

When my in-laws had the bear on the porch Fish & Wildlife did send out a ranger to shoot it with beanbags or rubber projectiles because it did not leave on its own after 4 hours. Otherwise they originally told them to just wait it out.