Advice on Securing Your Chickens in Bear Country

[calista]

Keeping chickens is now legal in Anchorage and don't think the local bears haven't gotten the message:

Chicken coop raids by local black bears are on the rise, just as Southcentral moves into its peak season for bear activity, according to an Anchorage biologist.

...Mostly, though, the problem stems from residents' ignorance about bear deterrence in Anchorage, she said.

"I get, on average, a call a day about a bear getting into chickens," Coltrane said. "They're thinking I'm going to come do something about the bears. But what I really want is for them to secure their chickens."

Bear-proofing means keeping the chickens and their feed in a place bears can't get into and stringing up electric fences powerful enough to stop a bear from entering, Coltrane explained. Oftentimes, she said, chicken owners using electric fences don't have strong enough fences or enough power to deter a crafty, determined bear, she said.

http://www.adn.com/2011/07/14/1968554/chicken-coops-proving-a-tasty.html

 

[Hummingbird Hollow]

Thanks for the article. I have had bears investigate our trash cans (they don't go out of the garage until the morning of trash day, but sometimes the empty cans stay out and there is enough residual scent to attract bear's attention) and I've had bears chew through a big Rubbermaid bin of birdseed that I'd left outside by accident. I guess I'm going to have to rethink my coop set-up before I send my babies out there in a few weeks.