I think it would take quite a bit to bearproof a chicken coop. A motivated bear will tear through most anything. Now that he knows where food is, he will be back, especially if you replace the chickens. If the food is not there when he returns, he will move on. A co-worker of mine lives up in the hills of Evergreen at the base of the mountains. Lots of wildlife including bears in the area, so he's used to bearproofing everything, trash, cars, garage, etc. Once, he somehow missed a wrapper from a chocolate bar that was under the seat of his car. The bear got in and went through the seat. Not around, through.
After 5 years a bear finally got to the chickens
- Thread starter PWMDMD
- Start date
Electric fence is probably the easiest way, if you have a regular visiting bear and no pet dogs, or maybe they need to be trained too? Maybe put a bit of chicken skin or juice on it and wet the ground under it... A nice good hard zap to the tongue or nose will have it thinking twice about crossing it....
Eleven of twelve good layers were eaten by a truly magnificent fox.
I got his picture a few days later.
I got his picture a few days later.
They'll eat the guns, too.
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Might have to swap some of those chickens for bear meat and call it even.
AZjeff
$50 Site Donor 2023
That’s pretty amazing. My dad was a poultry specialist for a farm supply company and I remember him telling me healthy chickens will lay an egg every 27 hours. That starts to drop off after around 24 months. @ 5 years an egg a day is really good. They must have been happy!
Will you get the survivor counseling for PTSD?
Sorry for your loss but can’t help but think of all the bear jerky or camp meat that busted door could have provided,even if it did taste a little like chicken.My backyard ring pro light has a speaker that when I’m too lazy to shoot I scare the crap out of the critters.
She is going with a friend with 13 chickens so she's not alone this winter. She is our every-other-day layer and she will occasionally take a month or two off from laying but she is otherwise healthy and seems unphased by the attack. I don't know if it makes a difference but we got all of our chickens from local farms/breeders and not from something like a tractor supply or other commercial store.
That's a thousand yard stare if I've ever seen one...
PTSD chicken tastes like... chicken.
4WD
$50 site donor 2025
Probably need expanded metal on heavy frame …
Unless it was attacking me, a family member or a pet, I couldn't bring myself to kill a bear. Still sucks for OP's chickens, though.
Yeah, the bear is just trying to make a living like the rest of us and I'm not holding a grudge against the bear. Suffering is part of nature, especially at the end of an animal's life. How many animals die from nontraumatic/peaceful deaths? Very, very, very few! If the lion kills the gazelle, the gazelle suffers. If the lion doesn't kill the gazelle, then the lion starves and it suffers. One animal must suffer so the other doesn't.Unless it was attacking me, a family member or a pet, I couldn't bring myself to kill a bear. Still sucks for OP's chickens, though.
I tried bear meat and Well, I did not like the taste.
The taste of bear meat is highly variable depending on their diet. I've had some that was good tasting and some that was pretty yucky. We've got some cousins in Alaska that told us about one bear they shot that must have been eating tons of skunk cabbage as it tasted like skunk. Even their dogs wouldn't eat it.
Bear/deer mix sausage can be top notch. Like cannot stop eating it good. You get the nice lean flavor of the deer and the fatty porkiness of the bear. Hungry now!
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