bear problems

[Chris Long]

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to keep bears from killing chickens. I just lost my 3 girls and am very sad about what he did to them. I have barbed wire, electric fence, next I think I need is an animal to protect my girls! I have a coop inside a coop and they have a huge pen where they roam during the day. The bear goes over the fence like its not there so I'm thinking I need to fortify the coop better, but just not sure what to use to fortify the coop. Any suggestions??

 

[Matzwd]

I'm not experienced with this, but I just wanted to say I'm so sorry about your loss.

 

[crazy4ChickensNducks]

So sorry!
I think @DobieLover uses Hotwire to keep bears out

 

[Norcal527]

There's not really a way to fortify Coop enough to withstand a bear. My first year in the Sierra Nevadas I had a bear rip the wall off my coop to get to the food and ate all my chickens as a snack. To stop him I put up a welded wire fence All Around The Coop and then I added a very strong electric charger rated for Bears. He never bothered them again after that and I constantly found his scat around the property.

 

[PirateGirl]

Bears can get into anything unfortunately, they break into human houses and cars. You could make bear scat mats by driving a bunch of nails through plywood and laying the boards pointy side up around the coop/run perimeter. Ideally if a bear steps on the nails he will take off.

 

[Sea Wolf]

Sorry for your loss. A good electric fence will deter a bear. Did you have a really strong charger like for horses and cattle? The trick with that is you can't use just one wire. You have to weave the wire back and forth to make several strands, a foot apart, around the perimeter. Take a few pieces of bacon and drape it over several of the different wires. A bear is mostly covered in heavy fur that a fence will not shock through. You need to get the bear to touch the wire to lean that it is there and what it can do. Their eyesight is bad. Tie short pieces of yellow tape to the wires so the bear can see. Hang bacon near the tape and he will make the connection. But you really need a very strong charger.

 

[Norcal527]

Also I would get an electric fence tester and check your voltage... make sure that your fence is well grounded and that it's not touching any High grass or anything that could be shorting out the fence. You need at least 7,000 volts to deter a bear..higher is better. And like the previous poster said run a couple wires near ground level and then a couple higher up on the fence so anywhere he touches on the fence he will get a zap.

 

[cgmccary]

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to keep bears from killing chickens. I just lost my 3 girls and am very sad about what he did to them. I have barbed wire, electric fence, next I think I need is an animal to protect my girls! I have a coop inside a coop and they have a huge pen where they roam during the day. The bear goes over the fence like its not there so I'm thinking I need to fortify the coop better, but just not sure what to use to fortify the coop. Any suggestions??

Three of four LGDs. I keep three Great Pyrenees. I resisted getting LGDs for a few years until it was either losses constantly and always having to carry a loaded gun on me or get the dogs. I have not had to shoot anything since getting LGDs. First I had Anatolians, two of them. Now, three GPs. I have peace of mind & no losses.

 

[Folly's place]

Electric fencing, well set up, with a very good charger, will work fine, and be way less expensive than those two or three big dogs.
Mary