Attack of the bears.

[Cayuga momma]

So this morning my 2 TSC 80 lb food storage containers were missing out of my run. My run is just a large area fenced in by chicken wire. They pushed 3 parts of the fencing down and drug my containers 200 ft away into the woods. They managed to get the lids off (which is impressive) and ate half the food in each. Then they tore open two trash bags.
It doesn't look like they tried to get into my coop. My coop is a 10'x10' shed. The coop doors have locks and so does the main front doors which I also prop a pallet up against too.

I put up a game cam to see if they come back tonight. I will post pics if I catch them on the cam.

So crazy. We have never had any bear problems in the 3 years we have lived here.

 

[The Dapper Duck]

Yikes! Those must be some tough containers if they took them all that distance to get them open. Have you thought about putting up a hot wire? I'm moving to a new place on the edge of the redwoods and I'm gearing up for just this sort of thing. We have an insane density of black bears in our area.

 

[N F C]

Hot wire sounds like a good way to go! Glad your flock is ok.

 

[Cayuga momma]

Yep as soon as I get the money I'm getting electrical fencing to put around my runs.

 

[Fishkeeper]

You definitely need electric fencing if you have bears, and also for your unsecured run. Chicken wire isn't secure at all, it barely keeps chickens in.

 

[Cayuga momma]

You definitely need electric fencing if you have bears, and also for your unsecured run. Chicken wire isn't secure at all, it barely keeps chickens in.

My chickens and ducks free range all day, so the run is only suppose to keep them in when I need to.

 

[sourland]

Secure the coop and all feed - they will be back.

 

[Cayuga momma]

Secure the coop and all feed - they will be back.

My coop is as secure as a coop can be, but I've seen bears break into homes so I'm hoping they will leave the coop alone. I'm gonna start bringing the containers inside my house.

 

[ShrekDawg]

I think the hot wire is a good idea because I was going to suggest possibly stronger wire too like hardware cloth, 2x4 welded wire, or cattle panels but I think even the stronger wires would be no match for a bear. So I think the hot wire is probably the only way to go. Although the other wire may at least be a bit of a deterrent for now.

 

[The Dapper Duck]

Yep as soon as I get the money I'm getting electrical fencing to put around my runs.

Have you done any research into which products you might get? I just got some netting that is around the coop at our new place, but I will be using that for pasturing birds later. I was thinking a single or double wire or ribbon around the coop/run. Any thoughts?