How To Keep Animals Away From Chicken Pen

Equally far equally chicken predators go, bears are the worst of all! Non merely will bears interruption a chicken coop to pieces looking for the feed, but they will also eat any chickens or eggs that they find inside. They are huge in size, much stronger than us and can effectively destroy most any coop we take built. Because of that, this post isn't well-nigh keeping bears out of the chicken coop, it's about deterring them from even knowing there's something expert inside!

I know people like to say that bears don't eat meat but I promise you that is non true. I saw it myself. 2 years agone in April the bear in the picture above ate my silkie rooster. I saw the deport in the forest backside the coop and after he left I went to where he had been to run into what he had been eating. All that was left was feathers and a caput. Poor Rusty Roo. Though I don't doubt that self little guy ran correct upwardly to the behave like 'hey, get away from my girls' like he did to everybody and everything else.

The point is, bears will eat chickens.

I'll say it over again for the people in the back....

Bears do eat chickens!

Of form I grabbed my photographic camera a bit late and merely got a few pictures...it was sort of a stressful moment. You can meet how big he is in this one of him walking away (because he was done eating).

Sure, once the berries are growing and summer is in total swing the bears are more probable to eat that stuff instead. However, they volition eat chickens if they can take hold of them easily, or if they're really hungry. Bears are omnivores, they consume everything.

Normally when discussing predators I go down the list of exactly what needs to be done to secure a chicken coop. Non this time. You simply tin can't. Bears have been known to tear open up cars, a wooden coop is not keeping them out.

I have a friend who has a farm with x foot high chain link fencing around his pens. A conduct climbed it one mean solar day, ripping correct through the spinous wire on elevation of information technology. I tell yous this to reiterate the point that you only can't go on them out with regular methods! Now imagine what a several hundred pound conduct can do to a small coop. It's not gonna end well.

So, while a predator proof coop is even so necessary, the number 1 way to continue bears from messing with your chickens is to not attract them in the first identify!

How to keep bears away from your chickens

Then, how exercise you not concenter bears to your chicken coop then? Well, I'm glad you asked! lol I've lived with bears in my backyard for over ten years at present and accept simply always had one chicken killed. I've never had a bear attempt to enter whatsoever of my 5 coops. I've done this 1 important affair for all this fourth dimension.

Don't keep feed in the coop!

If yous practice proceed modest amounts of feed in the coop, keep information technology in sealed containers. Recollect tupperware mode, sealed tightly so no scent can get out! Bears accept an fantabulous sense of aroma and they dear corn. Feed has corn in it and they can scent it's sugariness scent from outside the coop. Blame those necessary ventilation holes, but the bear is gonna scent information technology if it'due south in there!

It makes the virtually sense to feed the chickens in the run and put the feeders away at nighttime. I motility mine to the garage. Bears tend to be bolder at night, coming in closer to homes than they would unremarkably during the twenty-four hour period. If the feed is left out, they will find it. Once they find it they may stick effectually and look for more than. They'll definitely remember where they got a meal and exist back again.

I seal up the craven feed, then I lock it up! I keep ours in sealed bins in the garage. The garage is kept airtight and locked. I too keep gasoline, fertilizer, motor oil and other garage stuff in there. I mention this because my garage smells like a garage, not similar chicken feed. If yous have a feed shed with only feed in it, a bear will often try to rip into it because he tin smell the feed. Seal the feed smell in and the bear won't think twice about it.

Remove bird feeders too. It'due south summer anyway, at that place'south plenty of natural food for birds. If you absolutely accept to have feeders, locate them as far away from your craven coop as possible. Practice skilful biosecurity. Wild birds can carry mites, lice and sure diseases and we don't want to encourage them to hang out by the chickens. I talk almost that more in: How to feed wild birds, merely protect your chickens.

Keep bears out of the coop

If you have a bear problem well-nigh the merely way you lot tin can terminate them is with an electric fence. Fifty-fifty so, their fur might be thick enough that they can push correct through it and barely feel a thing. You can try deterrents like loud sounds or safe bullets, merely since you might non always exist aware when the bear is at that place to use these deterrents, they may not be very effective.

The game warden suggested I place ammonia filled balloons covered in peanut butter on my garbage tin can or other places I wanted the deport to stay away from. I didn't desire to do that just if you decide it's necessary, make sure your chickens can't get to them!

Other things that may assistance are motion activated flood lights and loud dogs. A dog tin can make a lot of racket and scare a bear off, simply at that place is a fine line between barking from a safe distance and actually approaching the carry. This works best if the dog is inside a fence and the carry is outside it, obviously!

Here in Pennsylvania nosotros cannot shoot a behave exterior of the specific bear hunting season and with the proper license. Information technology does non thing if it's harassing livestock or not. They take it very seriously and people have been jailed and fined for information technology. Check your local ordinances before doing anything drastic.

My bear problem

The bears are often in the woods around my house but they have simply been in my yard a few times that I know of. Once in winter he stole my suet feeders and bent the heavy metal pole they were hanging on. Incidentally the move light bulb had burned out 2 days before that. After the new bulb was installed I never saw show of him being that close to the house over again.

In one case when the kids had a grand ole time whipping a basket full of spoiled eggs at the copse behind the driveway. That night the bear stood at the edge of the forest (taunting my canis familiaris) licking the trees for over an hour! That prompted a call to Fish & Game commision who provided me with 12 approximate safety bullets and suggested the peanut butter ammonia balloons I mentioned above.

In one case when somebody brought me a literal basket of fruit peels, melon rinds etc and my child dumped them in the compost without telling me. They started to rot considering I didn't add wood shavings and leaves to go the correct mix of browns and greens quick enough. I had simply flipped the pile to mix in more browns and information technology smelled like hot garbage from the house to the street to the centre of the wood and back. The silkie coop is right next to the compost pile. That's the day he got Rusty Roo.

Maybe twice over the years our giant heavy garbage can was knocked down (usually in winter) and several of the neighbors cans were as well. This e'er happened on garbage night and he only walks downward the street trying i tin after another...he doesn't come downward the driveway looking for the tin can on other nights.

As y'all can see these incidents all have 1 thing in common. Nutrient. In fact the smell of rotten eggs, garbage  and overly rotted fruit  tin often be detected by united states of america for a skilful distance, information technology'south no wonder the bear was attracted to them!

Which brings me dorsum to my primary betoken, hide the food and hide it well. That also brings me to the subject of gardens. Several people I have talked to accept had a problem with bears being attracted to their gardens and the food growing there. I take not had that problem, but it might be worth locating your garden and your coop on reverse directions on your property if that's an effect for you.

Luckily, I accept not had a problem with a acquit on my property for 2 years now. It probably helps that we banned egg throwing! lol I refer to the bear as 'he' considering I always run into a huge bear and females are quite a flake smaller. I in one case saw a yearling run into my woods as I was turning out of the driveway, simply whatsoever trouble nosotros've had has e'er been the large guy.

Baby bears

Why am I writing well-nigh this at present, then? Last nighttime as we were leaving the house a medium sized bear with a cub the size of a fatty Pug ran beyond the street in front end of united states of america. Not even 1/4 mile away from the house. Information technology was super cute, merely I'yard non thrilled virtually the addition of more than bears to the expanse. *sigh* So it seemed like a practiced time to get over all my bear proofing merely in case others are dealing with bears near their chickens also.

Bears this young will be sticking correct by their mothers side for awhile even so, simply as they get older they will become out on their own. Y'all may suddenly see one of these juvenile bears in places the older bears accept learned to avoid. With predators this big information technology's pretty important to never drop your guard.

Practise you have bears where yous live? Take they bothered your chickens at all?

Having problems with other predators around your coop? Click here for my previous posts on chicken predators!

~50

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Source: https://www.muranochickenfarm.com/2019/07/protect-chickens-from-bears.html

Posted by: bivenscovest.blogspot.com

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