Bear-proof Chicken Coop

[TonyB]

there was a massive wild fire two years ago about 100 miles from here, over 100,000 acres burned and all the wildlife moved out of there and into places like where i live, had a mt lion outside my kitchen two years ago, the bears moved in in large numbers and now it's a regular thing too find their paw prints or scat in my front yard. mainly they have become dumpster divers as we have small dumpsters instead of street side garbage can pickup in town.. potato chip bags seem to be a favorite of theirs. My border collie doesn't seem interested in even barking at them, the chihuahua however would love to take one or all of them on with one of his paws tied behind his back. Electric fence.. three strands? two I would think if you are setting it up for large predators might as well set it so it covers the small ones as well like weasels .. bears are smart, i would think if they hit the wire once they won't be back.. not sure about the IQ of a skunk though....I might try too borrow a game camera setup with vid .. just too see what happens when a bear does touch an electric fence...............

 

[ehanson]

We purchased a basic electric fence, it was the most expensive part of our coop, but knowing that bears are often in our yard, we knew it was necessary. We figured we'd never really know if it worked, but then we actually watched a bear approach it the day after we got our chickens! Watched a bear get zapped in the nose and take off like a bat out of hell. We haven't seen any bears since. Actually, it seems to have benefited both us and our neighbors because we haven't even had snoopy trash bears. If you've got bears in the area, I highly recommend it. It cost us $250, but the cost of rebuilding a destroyed coop and the emotional distress of loosing chickens makes it seem worth every penny.

I bought it at the local feed store in Anchorage, Alaska, but I'm sure it's a pretty common brand. Basically it's this charger unit and all the basic supplies. http://www.fishock.com/store/electric-fence-charger/ss-9000x

 

[worrywart]

I live in bear country and just ordered some rubber bullets for our shotgun. My neighbor said they have worked famously for him and that the bear doesn't visit anymore after getting thumped. No one wants to deal with a dead bear in their yard, it's a mess and sad to kill a beautiful animal. Just another option for you to consider.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

The problem with bears and electric fences is that bears have a thick coat of hair or fur. If his coat is dry the fur acts like insulation. In that case a bear may have its head and forequarters through the fence when it gets the first jolt. This could result in the bear making a headlong rush to getaway from the electric fence. Well there goes your fence.

The idea is to train your bruins to avoid or give your electric fence a wide berth. First put in a LONG grounding rod and the drier your environment is the longer the grounding rod needs to be. Don't stop there, even a better idea is to use some salt cured bacon tied around or draped over the hot wires to lure the bear into eating the strips of bacon off the electric fence. The saliva in a bears mouth and on his tongue, plus the salt in the bacon makes a wonderful path for electricity to follow to ground. I don't know how smart a bear is. But if they are even half as smart as some posters here claim, no bear I know of will want anything further to do with electric fences.

Just hang the bacon out of the chickens' reach.

 

[TonyB]

been awhile since i last logged in and have been reading the posts in this thread.. Bears are smarter then they look, you can teach a bear too ride a tricycle, wear clothes and a funny hat, that should say something about their brains. (probably smarter then some people) as things are now warming up a tiny bit (looks outside at the fresh snow)

I have been going over coop designs, breeds which will thrive in these mountains and how to disillusion predators.

I disillusioned a prehistoric sized skunk earlier this week with a couple of .22 rounds. He was a bad skunk, aggressive and nearly twice the size of your average polecat. He has killed neighborhood chickens before and no one wanted too mess with him because instead of spraying he would put his head down and charge both people and dogs then once he had established who was boss skunk he would turn and spray. I hope i never run into a bear with an attitude like this big boy had (had being the key word).

The various ideas for effective electric fencing sounds like the best way too go and I am thinking 3 to 4 strands, starting at weasel height. and working up with a possible strand surrounding the coop just above roof levels in case a mt lion shows up.
One of my neighbors has a bear skull with 3 bullet holes in the brain cavity in a tree crotch.. he has lost chickens and rabbits to them every year, but i don't want to go that route..i would rather make them feel entirely unwelcome instead

 

[4speedy]

How about using one of these Job Boxes its designed to keep criminals out and away from expensive tools might keep bears out.
They make many sizes might be a idea!


http://www.homedepot.com/p/RIDGID-60-in-X-37-in-Storage-Chest-3068-OS/100186639

 

[twincreekfarm1]

Just read all these posts as I purchased a 26 acre farm in Southwest VA in a wooded area up a mountain, and have my first chickies in the brooder. I have a very sturdy chicken house and lots of electric fences, but have been giving a lot of thought to bears.

My sister owns 35 acres in the Shenandoah near the national park and has lots of bear visitors up there. She bought her land from an elderly orchard man and his wife and the bear stories will give one food for thought. For instance: orchard man Alvin built a lovely rustic cabin near his largest orchard for weekend getaways and for the kids and grands. His wife came to the cabin on summer days and cooked lunch for him and the orchard crew. She was minding her own business and the cooking one day when a bear decided to rip the front screen door off the cabin. The bear was part way through the solid interior door when she ran out the other door and into her car. (no cell phones in those days). She drove down into the orchard to get Alvin and he came to the cabin, toting a heavy gun. The bear was partway in the house when Alvin shot him dead.

Moral to the story: I agree with those not wanting to kill "beautiful creatures", BUT, if a bear is ripping through my back door or my coop, HE is going to die, go to the meat packer and take up residence in my freezer. I don't think AR's are the way to go unless you have no neighbors. I keep a large game rifle and I know how to use it. There are 130 acres of farmland behind my farm and no roads. I bet there are more impressive critters out there than you can have in a nightmare.

My life has taught me that it is best to be prepared for the worst and hope it will not ever happen. I sleep better at night that way.

My coop is a large and heavily-built storage building with windows lined with galvanized hardware cloth and solar powered fans. Tight wood floor is off the ground. (I could live in there if I didn't have so many dogs). Coon proof latches. Runs have three kinds of fencing and electric tied to grid. The guy before me raised valuable alpacas, and having seen mountain lion, and worried about bears on the property, was well prepared. I think my spoiled chickens will be fine. Shortly adding goats and miniature donkeys and will probably get a livestock guardian dog to take care of everybody, including my numerous smaller dogs. Then I will REALLY sleep well at night!!

I do have a 1700 lb draft horse, but no creature on earth is going to take him on......not even the odd dinosaur left over from the extinction!!

Interesting caveat to above though: even if these chickens steal my jewelry, rat me out to my relatives, bad mouth me to the neighbors and spend my money gambling, drinking moonshine and shooting pool.....I will never be able to kill one of them!!

 

[Queen Bee]

Peanut butter smeared on the elec. Fence will make them lick it... also be sure you do not have any trees close to the coop, because they will learn to climb the tree and drop into or onto the run or coop! A friend has bees and the bears learned to avoid the fence going in by climbing trees BUT after destroying the hive's ran thru the fence coming out. Here there is a 10k fine for killing a bear. So please ck your laws...

 

[TonyB]

a couple of things about shooting a bear.. one is if you mess up your going to get messed up.. they are the top of the food chain and big and strong its best to always keep that in mind.. in one's home.. yes that could be cause to shoot a bear.. in one's coop.. well chickens can reproduce at a very fast rate , bears can't.. chickens are easy to replace, bears aren't.. you can call the state wildlife service and they will transport the animal somewhere else unless it's a multiple offender then r i p mr or mrs bear.
Always choose your battles wisely especially with something that can bring a whole lotta hurt to you and or your loved ones in a big hurry.. oh..a car door will not stop them if they are intent on getting too you.

 

[twincreekfarm1]

I believe that. A friend of my has beehives in a compound that looks like Fort Leavenworth. I tease him that the fences and concertina wire are worse than the prison I used to work at. I read the laws here and this IS bear country. There are no fines for killing a bear on your own property that is threatening human life or livestock. They do like for you to report it as the biologists are tracking the age and origin of bears that are threatening human and livestock habitats, as well as their movement over the area. Some of them have radio collars that need to be turned in. They even have a way to let you know how old the bear was that you killed with a bear hunting license.

I grew up in Wisconsin and traveled to Minnesota every summer to canoe in the Superior Quetico wilderness area. There you have bear and moose. No joke, those big powerful animals.. I guess I got sensitized to big animals at an early age and I respect them and their ability to wreak destruction. I feel a need to be prepared.

Recheck your laws. Killing any animal out of season results in a huge fine, but defending your home and livestock is usually a different story unless you live in a close-quarters suburban or urban area. I live in the sticks.