Coop survived bear attack

[Mtnboomer]

At about 10pm this evening a large black bear (350lbs +) attemped to break in to my chicken coop. It managed to rip open a nesting box door and remove the interior feeder before moving onto our "bear box" (trash bin) and our house trash can on the deck.
Thankfully, none of our birds were harmed before we heard the commotion and I (accompanied by my dogs) ran outside and frightened it away.
Point of this post: If a bear wants to get in, and has time to do so, it will. To deter them and most predators:
1. Elevate Your coop (28"+ from ground)
2. Anchor it into the ground (4x4 min. Sunk 2ft deep or to frost depth and backfilled with concrete)
3. Secure all openings with locks and/or wire fencing.
4. Secure siding
These measures prevent easy access. Hopefully, the bear, fox, coyote, coon, etc will have enough difficulty gaining entrance and move on without damage. If determined enough to continue its attempt, it will make enough noise to be detected and frightened away.
We live in the mountains with every predator VA has to offer yet to date, our neighbors pitbull that he voluntarily allows to roam has killed more of our chickens (17) in one day (key: daylight attack on free range birds) than all the native predator attacks we've had over 5yrs combined (4) (0 nighttime fatalities).
These suggestions have worked for me against nighttime attacks. Thought id share and maybe they may help you as well.

 

[New duck mommy 2021]

At about 10pm this evening a large black bear (350lbs +) attemped to break in to my chicken coop. It managed to rip open a nesting box door and remove the interior feeder before moving onto our "bear box" (trash bin) and our house trash can on the deck.
Thankfully, none of our birds were harmed before we heard the commotion and I (accompanied by my dogs) ran outside and frightened it away.
Point of this post: If a bear wants to get in, and has time to do so, it will. To deter them and most predators:
1. Elevate Your coop (28"+ from ground)
2. Anchor it into the ground (4x4 min. Sunk 2ft deep or to frost depth and backfilled with concrete)
3. Secure all openings with locks and/or wire fencing.
4. Secure siding
These measures prevent easy access. Hopefully, the bear, fox, coyote, coon, etc will have enough difficulty gaining entrance and move on without damage. If determined enough to continue its attempt, it will make enough noise to be detected and frightened away.
We live in the mountains with every predator VA has to offer yet to date, our neighbors pitbull that he voluntarily allows to roam has killed more of our chickens (17) in one day (key: daylight attack on free range birds) than all the native predator attacks we've had over 5yrs combined (4) (0 nighttime fatalities).
These suggestions have worked for me against nighttime attacks. Thought id share and maybe they may help you as well.

So glad your flock is okay
Great advice on trying to keep them as safe as possible

 

[Lor]

Glad to hear your chickens survived. Hope there isn't too much damage to the coop.

 

[Nodakj]

That is one predator i am truly worried about. Hopefully my electric fence will deter them. Glad your flock survived !

 

[NorthwoodsChick]

Glad to hear your flock was unharmed.

 

[Nomadicus]

Bears are the only predator that worries me. I know that there are some south of me in the FL panhandle but there seems to be 50-60 miles of buffer between me and a know bear location.

 

[PankakeZillA]

Bears are incredibly strong, I've watched one tear the door off a pickup truck to get to a bag of dog food. We also had one destroy our coop a month or so ago and unfortunately it got a handful of ours. It kept coming back until we got an electric fence put up. Haven't had issues since, thank goodness!

 

[McChooky]

Bears are incredibly strong, I've watched one tear the door off a pickup truck to get to a bag of dog food. We also had one destroy our coop a month or so ago and unfortunately it got a handful of ours. It kept coming back until we got an electric fence put up. Haven't had issues since, thank goodness!

When one did the same to my neighbors flock he refused to invest in an electric fence and kept losing chickens.

 

[Mtnboomer]

This incident was a mamma and 2 cubs. We usually have 4 or 5 different bears every spring-fall roaming our property but have rare interactions (1-2/yr). We chose to live here and see the bears as a cool addition to our land that is to be respected but not feared.
We take precautions to minimize attraction, interactions, and risks but ultimately they are curious and eventually have to stop by and check out that smell.

 

[McChooky]

My neighbor across the street came home late last week and saw a bear in her driveway. It had found and ate 2 big bags of dry dog food under her carport while she was gone and ran back into the woods as she pulled in.