Bears broke into my coop and ate my girls

ChickyDoodleDoo

In the Brooder
6 Years
Jul 11, 2013
24
0
24
Two bears ripped the doors off of my chicken coop and chased five of my hens and one of my roosters during the night before Christmas. We called fish and game but we couldn't afford the fee to trap the bear. We've repaired our coop now and have been keeping our chickens in a dog crate in our spare room at night because we just don't feel safe leaving our chickens outside with the bears returning nightly. We are working on hotwiring the coop but even then a bear could easily rip through that. What other steps could we take to protect our remaining chickens at night?

All food buckets, feed bags, feeders, etc are inside our house and we keep the coop clean of large amounts of manure. We're taking all of the precautions we can think of but our chickens still were chased and slaughtered. What can we do??

Addition: we have also installed a baby monitor underneath our coop. It's helped us chase the bear away last night.
 
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A fee to trap the bear? Isn't that what taxes are for? I'm not following here.
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The animal is destroying property. Last I heard, that is their job to resolve. I'd take the issue to the ones above fish and game if they didn't help.
 
See, that's what I said and the wildlife biologist for my country was also astonished to hear about the fee. I live in California and the trappers are run through the federal government. So the federal government is requesting this large fee, not sure where to go from there honestly.
 
So sorry about your loss. Yep, electric fencing is the way to go. If it gives them a good enough zap, they will not want to mess with it. You will just need to string enough of it that they cant get around it. I'm not sure how much it will take. maybe if you Google "bear" and "electric fence" you can find some info on the internet.
 
Definitely go with the electric (some folks place hot dogs on fencing...). Anyway, CA regs: http://www.dfg.ca.gov/LivingWithWildlife/publicsafety.html (you might have felt personally threatened, yes? In fear of imminent injury and certain death? - authorities might just tell you to keep your chickens in the basement or feed them to the bears - they're `just' chickens - if the bears are making moves on taxpayers??? That warrants action.

An old thread with some potentially useful info: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/185540/i-am-the-prey-pictures-page-6

Good luck!
 
Personally threatened is a definite. The coop is ten feet away from the back door and there were claw marks on the deck and pacing points all around the fence and our front yard around our cars and hot tub. My family won't even go outside at night unless we're in a group with an air horn, mace, high beam light, and hunting rifle. You could say that's a bit excessive but both of the bears we saw were at least 300 pounds each and stood taller than all of us. We're terrified.
I have read the California regs before. If I see them in my yard I will shoot them dead and call fish & game again. If only I could keep the bear to make a skin rug for my chicken coop for my girls to poop on...
I just don't understand why a federal trapper would charge a $200 fee to do something he gets paid for whether he traps anything or not.
 
Two bears ripped the doors off of my chicken coop and chased five of my hens and one of my roosters during the night before Christmas. We called fish and game but we couldn't afford the fee to trap the bear. We've repaired our coop now and have been keeping our chickens in a dog crate in our spare room at night because we just don't feel safe leaving our chickens outside with the bears returning nightly. We are working on hotwiring the coop but even then a bear could easily rip through that. What other steps could we take to protect our remaining chickens at night?

All food buckets, feed bags, feeders, etc are inside our house and we keep the coop clean of large amounts of manure. We're taking all of the precautions we can think of but our chickens still were chased and slaughtered. What can we do??

Addition: we have also installed a baby monitor underneath our coop. It's helped us chase the bear away last night.

The city or county animal control might be able to help, depending on where you live. They may bring out a live trap.

If you catch the bears attacking your animals, you can legally shoot the bears. This is true even if you are within city limits. Just make sure you know your background and where your shots are going. I would suggest a shotgun with buckshot.
 
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Sorry to hear about the attack. Electric fencing is one of the best ways to go. Once they start to hit too close for comfort, they should no longer be viewed as these furry, harmless animals. They usually come back for more until they get what they want or feel very threatened, so be alert.
 
The city or county animal control might be able to help, depending on where you live. They may bring out a live trap.

If you catch the bears attacking your animals, you can legally shoot the bears. This is true even if you are within city limits. Just make sure you know your background and where your shots are going. I would suggest a shotgun with buck shot.


We have a shotgun and buck shot as well as two thirty-thirty hunting rifles. I live in the literal middle of the woods so our animal control is fish & game only as far as I know. Everyone here charges big bucks to trap anything - even squirrels, I mean really...
A lot of our difficulties derive from people down south who don't get this stuff that we deal with in the mointains and pass laws to prevent the hunting/killing/trapping of animals like bears because it's far more fun to feed them and see them while they vacation here so they become problem bears in the winter because the vacationers are no longer here to feed them garbage so they rampage on our land. But it's difficult and "controversial" because the people who cause the problem vote against dealing with the problems they cause..
Such a rant but whew!
 
I live in the literal middle of the woods so our animal control is fish & game only as far as I know.

I suppose it depends on whether you live in state of national forest as to which department you call.

I am thinking in this case the best thing to do is put up electric fencing around your coop. If you catch the bears trying to kill your animals, shoot the bears.
 

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