Bears!

[hencackle]

My neighbor just called me to tell me that a bear ran out in front of her car as she was driving home--about 1/2 mile from us. There's is a mountain ridge that lies across the street from our houses, perfect habitat for deer and varmints of all sorts. The only critter problems we have had for the past 18 years has been mice, rats & rabbits, so we have been very, very fortunate.

Our local newspaper has reported several bears being trapped in neighborhoods during the past 2 weeks. DH says it sounds like these are young males moving through, trying to find a location to establish their territories. It has been very dry here in northeast TN too, and I'm sure these bears are getting mighty thirsty and hungry. I don't want to be a nervous nellie, but I've heard tales of bears ripping off coop doors.

Got any advice?
Stephanie

 

[Critter Crazy]

I have heard that bears can be a Nuissance to Chicken owners, bUt i have never had a problem. I have a bear that lives on the other side of my horse barn, in the woods, maybe about 500-1000 feet away from my coop, and it has never bothered the chickens nor me. The chickens still go in the woods, and have even been in there while the bear was wandering around, and all they did was perch in the trees, while he was moving around. He never showed any interest in the birds, nor myself who stood there watching!(I know i am a dork!) He has been there for almost a year now.

 

[hencackle]

Thanks, Critter Crazy. I just checked the ezBYC board to see if anybody else had posted about bears. Electric fencing was suggested.

I'm glad you haven't had a problem with your bear.
Stephanie

 

[MTchick]

The thing that would attract the bears most is the chicken feed, not so much the chickens themselves. They can smell the protein, sweet corn, etc and it is very tempting. Make sure that you have your feed bags in a very secure place (like a garage or sturdy shed) and only leave out the feed that is in a small feeder. And never leave cat or door food outside- that is really attractive to bears. Those would be my suggestions as a resident of bear country myself.

-MTchick

 

[CoyoteMagic]

We had to stop leaving the cat food outside when we were over run with possums & raccoons

 

[hencackle]

Yes, I store the feed in metal trash cans in a shed because of the mice and rats. The chickens have several bowls (in the yard) that I fill daily. If I use the hanging feeders outside, it gets emptied at night by rabbits and other critters--I had to stop using those.

It helps that my neighbors on both sides have outdoor dogs to make a ruckus whenever they see other animals. I will tell my neighbors about the dog food since one of them uses an automatic food dispenser.
Stephanie

 

[panner123]

I have had a bear problem. What they can do to a hen house and the chickens is NOT pretty. The Second time the bear got in my 10 year old grand daughter found all the remains. The state trapper was called in and the problem was solved, not by him but Smith & Wesson. I now have an electric fence around my chickens. Since I put it up, I have not had a bear get in the yard. If you do put in an electric fence you must use bard wire. The smooth wire will NOT penetrate the bear's hide, but the barbs WILL. Search Electric fence--how to install. I live in the Sierra Foothills and all my neighbors have lost live stock to bears and mountain loins. We had a mountain loin two blocks from the local high school, that was shot just as the students was to get out of school.

 

[AK-Bird-brain]

We had a bear rip the door off of our Turkey coop at 3:30 this morning. It sounded like someone was messing around with one of our pickup trucks so we set the dog loose. The peeps are all ok. He tore the door clean off the hinges and pushed it into the coop, luckly it wedged up against one of the perches so he couldnt get through the door before the dog chased him off. But the electric fence goes up today! just in case he tries to come back.

 

[chickbea]

Good golly! I never even considered a bear as a chicken predator. Every bear I have ever seen runs like crazy the minute it sees me (except for the time we were sharing the raspberry bushes...neither of us was giving ground that day - they were just too ripe and juicy!

)
Are these black bears you guys are talking about, or grizzlies?
Now I have a whole new thing to worry about...

 

[hencackle]

So glad to hear your chickens are OK, AK-Bird-brain!

chickbea--we have black bears in Tennessee. According to this article, the TN bear population has increased dramatically in the past 20 years.
http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_107416.asp
Stephanie