Anyone built a coop that is semi Bear proof?

[cowdogcadillac]

Friend of mine want me to help him build a coop to hold 15 birds. Problem is Black bears walk thru his property several times a year. Hot wiring it is a start and using welded 2x4 wire with chicken wire on bottom 24" helps but are we just setting up a buffet? Will hot wire if done right deter or stop them when they want in or do they just dine in at leisure when the urge strikes? Any ideas,Pics of coops, successes,failures? Just looking for knowledge that I can build on or fix issues I see holes in. Coop will be free standing 30 feet from the house. Thanks

 

[benjoycei]

Is anything bearproof?

 

[chicken995]

My only suggestion is a hunting license and a rifle. Hopefully somebody will come along with something more helpful.

 

[perchie.girl]

Quote:
I have a habit of blasting through a whole bunch of ideas in no particular order so bear .... no pun intended... with me:

Hot wire may be the best deterrent, though they are pretty insulated by their fur. If you did the hot wire spaced so they would have to shove their muzzle through two strands. Those chargers can give a pretty good jolt. Id do a secondary defense of hot wire too incase the first gets compromized by a swipe of a claw.

If you could do reinforcement in the walls of the coop itself like making it out of cinder block maybe? Put the windows above bear reaching height... Those food lockers that they recommend for storing your camping food I believe are made out of twelve gauge material maybe even ten gauge.

Plus not keeping food outside of the enclosure. Keep your supplies inside the reinforced coop.

How do you keep them out of the house? (probably the first thing I should have asked....

)

I know dogs are a pretty good early warning system.

I only know how to protect against mountain lions.... LOL. Chainlink works for them. Or Horse No Climb fence, twelve gauge vertical ten gauge top and bottom woven and secured with knots.

Ooo lookie what I found..... http://www.udap.com/bearshockfood.htm a Food fence.... how appropriate....

From the looks of it it appears very similar to poultry fencing for free ranging.... http://www.premier1supplies.com/poultry/species.php?source=google&gclid=CPfg_KKIh6gCFRpVgwod6XI9rA But after looking at it, it looks a little different.

Talk to a local Forest ranger or wild life management person in your area to see what other people are doing.

Go to the feed store find people who are raising chickens in your area and ask them what they do.

I will be interested in the feedback too

 

[sacrifice]

Quote:
No!

I live on a bear trail and we have bears (and bear poop - which is really interesting stuff) in our yard throughout the summer. The bears have never bothered our chickens in the 7 years that we have had them. I do not build bear proof coops or runs, just dog proof, because if a bear wants chicken for dinner, the bear WILL have chicken for dinner, no matter what you do.

The things that I do to help prevent bears from getting into the chicken areas are simple: NO food storage, other than what the chickens eat daily, is kept in or near the coop - all food is kept in the garage, and I clean out the pen as often as possible to keep the ground clear of spilled food and to keep the smells down. This has worked so far.

I'm hoping that this post does not jinx my bear luck -

 

[fried green eggs]

Bears looking for a easy meal won't like a 100+mile electric fence charger if its grounded well and with 3 ground rods spaces 15' apart attached to all ground wires in your fence line and run Barbed Wires (hot, ground, hot, ground etc - 6 inches apart 6' high and 6' out from the chicken runs fence)

.
Your chickens should be safe unless you have a power outage. Then you need a gun.

I assume you get snow? I have our electric fence so I can turn off the juice to just the bottom hot wires if the snow gets too deep and would be over it. Also I now use thick insulated underground wire - (much less leakage and last Longer) for all hot to hot connections and use same underground wire to hook up your ground wires in case it touches a hot wire.
Good Luck

 

[wingsofglory]

Something done here in alaska backcountry is make the door a pincushion: by pounding big nails all over it, from the backside, so the nails stick out towards the bear. Big nails spaced about three or four inches apart. You see little cabins and shacks this way and seem to have been left alone. Could do the entire coop that way.

Usuallly you just want to discourage curious yearlings on their own for the first time. Really big bears skip the door and just tear the corner off the cabin to get in.

The old timer pioneers found pork was a bears favorite. And that a heavy log fortress was the only thing to keep bears out of the pigs.

 

[cowdogcadillac]

Quote:
No Bear season in Florida. North Florida to be more specific. Snow ,,,,Nah frost maybe. The ideas are coming in loud and clear. Keep em coming.

 

[HappyChickenLover]

Electric fence is really only option besides eating it

BTW bear is pretty nasty if u don't know how to cook it right

 

[fried green eggs]

Are Bears really a issue in North Florida? I assume you have more problems with Wild Boars??? They respect a good electric fence too. I put a kill switch to my electric fence next to where I have multiple stands and gate handles to open so I don't get zapped

by accident

Learned that one the hard way lol Also a charger should be plugged into a surge protector/gfi outlet and have a replaceable lightning arrester put on it.