trouble with bears?

[JerseyHen]

We are anxiously awaiting the melting of the snow so that we can get our coop built for our flock due to arrive in april. We think we have a pretty predator resistant coop/run design, but we have a lot of bears around here. How concerned should we be about them and have any of you been sucessful at keeping them away from your coop? Last summer they were around on a daily basis.

 

[Pequena Bandada]

We regularly have bears come through our property (southern foothills of the Rockies) but they've never bothered with our chickens. I suspect the chickens aren't very tempting because they're shut up good and tight at night and the bears don't wander through at daytime. If you're concerned, make sure your coop is strong and that your chickens are never left in the run at night.

 

[dmiravalle]

We do get bears here in the daytime especially in the fall. They have ripped wood siding off buildings, destroyed chain link and will pretty much do anything to get the chickens. We have an overpopulation of bears, (won't go into the whys). We found that the heavy duty welded wire dog kennels, work well, we even have the roof made out of the panels. We place the panels over t-posts that are well sunk to keep the bears from flipping them over. We have locks on all the doors at night and we have a guard dog as well.

 

[dewey]

Quite a while back I came across a coop-dome on google pics claiming to be bear proof...it was a dome made of 1" steel tubing. It didn't look like any fun to build!

 

[drumstick diva]

Is electric fencing a deterent to bears or does that just make them madder?

 

[JerseyHen]

We seem to have the more troublesome type. We are also over run with bears (black bears). We have Id'd 10 individuals in a 5 acre area. Waaaay to many. They were breaking into cars, sheds, and garages last year. Thankfully the NJ bearhunt happened so I think we may have a reprieve for a season or two. They were eating a lot of family dogs and other domestics and the spring is the worst because they are hungry and have new cubs. I like the dog panel idea, but was hoping to keep it wooden (I suppose I could put a wooden fascia over the poles for aesthetic purposes. I was also considering electric tape or wire. Animal control actually trapped and tagged a bunch of bears here two seasons ago because they were harassing us so much. We worry most about our kids, but the furry and feathered ones are at even higher risk...

 

[BlackBart]

Quote:
We used electric fencing to keep Polar Bears out of garbage dumpsters with success. One good zap and the one that got zapped didn't come back. We used cattle chargers because of the punch. I have no idea what brand or strength.
I use electric here for Black Bears and Cougars.

A woman in northern BC had a Grizzly with two cubs destroy her whole farm, ate all her chickens, turkeys, goats and feed too. Ripped all the out buildings apart, chewed her truck up.
Why she didn't put up electric fencing is a mystery. Would have saved her a lot of heartache.

 

[JerseyHen]

Quote:
We used electric fencing to keep Polar Bears out of garbage dumpsters with success. One good zap and the one that got zapped didn't come back. We used cattle chargers because of the punch. I have no idea what brand or strength.
I use electric here for Black Bears and Cougars.

A woman in northern BC had a Grizzly with two cubs destroy her whole farm, ate all her chickens, turkeys, goats and feed too. Ripped all the out buildings apart, chewed her truck up.
Why she didn't put up electric fencing is a mystery. Would have saved her a lot of heartache.

I am pretty set on the fencing after seeing that info. I will also feel a little safer when I am on that end of the property, with my back to the woods to muck out the coop, if I know I have an electric fence behind me. They are big, majestic, pains in the butt... I don't like apex predators hanging around my digs. Btw, love your tag line.

 

[Kathryn4629]

We have Black bear, grizzly, and wolves on our property. Just to name a few

.... I highly recommend electric fencing!! It works wonders. Although I haven't had a problem with the bears as long as you keep the feed elsewhere at night. I store extra feed in the shop and take the feeders inside as well. When we have had bad huckleberry years I will also lay out a large towel under the feed to catch the spillage, easy to pick it up when you lock the girls up at night.

good luck!

 

[JerseyHen]

Quote:
Yikes. Black bears, coyotes, and smaller predators are enough for me. Do you take the feed out of the coop too and lock it up somewhere? We will have a lockable shed, but it will be coop adjacent. I guess we will see who wins the battle of our construction vs. the black bear. I am betting the shed and coop get pretty beat up. That electric fencing sounds better and better all the time. Off to check and see if there are any ordinances against it. If I could only get my neighbors to stop leaving out their garbage and bird feeders we might not have so much traffic.