Bears

[DebbyW]

Hello,

This is my first post..so Howdy I would really love to have chickens for eggs/pets. My husband and I just bought a house with this in mind but over the summer we had a very frequent bear visitor in our yard and on our deck. We are very careful about inviting bears and keep our yard very clean and free of any type of food. The bearbears have apparently been coming through our yard for many years as this development was once an orchard and still has many trees throughout the different properties. We don't have any fruit trees but many neighbors do.

The problem is I haven't been able to get advice on how to construct a bear-proof coop. Any advice would be very much appreciated.

Thank you,
DebbyW

 

[Momo]

Run a few strands of electric around it.

 

[DebbyW]

Great! I hadn't considered that. Thanks so much.

 

[panner123]

To build a bear prove coop would cost about $35,000. That is material and labor. Momo has the right idea with an electric fence. Since I installed my electric fence, the only time I have had a bear problem is when I forget to turn it on after working on it. I run the electricity though barbed wire. Doing this the barbs penetrate the hairs to shock the bear. Using the little thin wire the hair acts as an insulator and won't shock the bear. Some people say to put peanut butter on the wire, I don't for I don;t want to attract them to the runs. Don't forget your two best friends when the bear comes visiting, Mr. Smith & Mr. Wesson, 3006 or larger will do just fine.

 

[horsejody]

I don't think any coop is 100% bear proof. that would be a pretty big order.

 

[DebbyW]

Thanks for the advice. I am wondering what type of material would need to be used to add up to $35,000. Sounds like a bunker The bear/bears only come at night and have not really been a problem so I definitely want to stick to non-lethal methods. I do appreciate the details on the electric fence though. I am wondering if you have any additional advice on keeping my two Shelties from getting near as I certainly don't want them getting shocked. Maybe a non-electric fence just outside of the electric? Has anyone tried something like this?

Thanks,
DebbyW

 

[scooter147]

The shelties will only touch it once

 

[horsejody]

Quote:
Actually, you probably do want the shelties shocked. You are a lot more likely to lose chickens to a dog than a bear. They probably will learn pretty quick to stay away from it.

 

[panner123]

Quote:
I will agree with you on most people will loss more chickens to dog than bear. But until you see the destruction a bear can do to a coop or any building, you would rather have ten dogs attacking than one bear. Again I will agree, all dogs or any predator should be shocked at least once.

 

[redoak]

Put a dog house near the coop with a dog that likes to bark. This will keep the bears away. My wife and I do alot of camping in the backcountry where there are alot of problem bears stealing "bear bags". We've never had any problems and we just bring our Aussie.