Coop Bear Question

[Chauntecleer's Keeper]

I think your only hope is an electric fence.

 

[christytrav]

I would also have to suggest setting up an electric fence. When bears wake in the spring they are hungry and eager. We really juice our fence up in the spring and then lower once the fish start to run and the bears aren't so hungry. They can easily tear through chicken wire and can be very clever. Our home borders wildlife refuge and we had lots of bears in last spring. We didn't have chickens yet but we had pigs and an electric fence around their pin. The bears walked around it but never got our pigs. Good luck.

 

[panner123]

You can build a nice house cheaper than building a bear proof coop. You are NOT save in your house if a bear wants in. I have killed 2 bears coming in my vaction cabin, 1 though the bedroom window at night and the second though the front door in the middle of the day. One of the best things you can do to keep a bear out of the coop is to put a radio in the coop. I have one in all my coops and I have them on talk shows. It seems the human voices work better than music. Look at what a bear can do to a car door if it wants in.

 

[sewchick]

Your probably right. It would be best to get an electric fence. Below is my coop.

I think they could get through the door only. The window has studs behind it. The bear would not fit through the window. Hopefully the electric fence will help keep the raccoons out as well. They are thief's.
Raccoons have no trouble getting in the back side and opening the egg hatch. We had to take care of 2 raccoons last night. They figure things out and steal eggs. Mean little buggers too.

 

[chickensioux]

I agree that bears are basically lazy and don't really want to work too hard for their food, but if hungry enough, who knows. A lock would be small investment to insure a little more security. If he gets one he may come back for more. I would do everything I could and research what that would be to make the bear unwelcome. Yes, they are gorgeous but very dangerous.

 

[Chirpy]

Living in Colorado with lots of Black Bears we hear stories all the time of people who have bears rip off their front doors, go through a window or take the garage door off the runners just to get into a house. If a bear wants in ... he gets in.

An electric fence could possibly deter a bear if he wasn't too hungry. They've even gone through electric fences out here to get to livestock so that's not 100% safe either.

The best thing is to not leave garbage or food (dog food, cat food, bird feeders, etc.) outside - ever as that may draw them to your place.

 

[CityChook]

Chauntecleer's Keeper :

I think your only hope is an electric fence.

I think your only hope is a gun. Wow, that just sounded really Republican of me.

I watched a bear tear down my folks storage shed at their N. Wisconsin cabin one spring to get to some birdseed. Birdseed. It was a plywood shed with 2x4 construction and that bugger took it apart like it was a lincoln log house. Following that incident, my (then 3 year old) daughter's favorite expression was, "oh that naughty bear!"

If they want something, there's not much you can do to stop them. If it's illegal to shoot them, at least a shot might scare them enough to run away.

BTW, your coop is really cute.

Good luck!​

 

[chickenbike]

We have bears in the yard every year and I agree that an electric fence would be beneficial. Our coop has several locks on it and they are used every night.

We also have bear bangers for our shotgun and use them when the bears come in the yard. We live rurally, but not far enough from all neighbors to insure safely discharging live ammo.

 

[eggchel]

Quote:
What are "bear bangers"?



chel

 

[chickenbike]

I had a link to a bear banger description in this thread from last summer (the link is on page 2 of the thread):

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=92682

http://www.ursusinternational.org/en/bangers.html


In Canada, you can buy bear bangers that you use in a standard shot gun. It is non-lethal, and you do not shoot it at the bear. You shoot it upwards and over the bear. Basically, it replicates the sound of an actual gun-shot and scares the bear off.