How to keep bears out?

[RachelJayne]

We have a pretty steady coop with 1/2 inch hardware cloth windows, and regular chicken wire for the run, which goes around the whole coop. But I also want to get just a single strand electric fence as an extra deterrent.

What kind of fence charger do I need to get to keep bears from coming back?

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

We have a pretty steady coop with 1/2 inch hardware cloth windows, and regular chicken wire for the run, which goes around the whole coop. But I also want to get just a single strand electric fence as an extra deterrent.

What kind of fence charger do I need to get to keep bears from coming back?

Get the most powerful charger your budget allows -- you may also want to rethink the chicken wire on the run, especially since you seem fairly concerned about bears. Poultry netting keeps birds in/out of a given area, but will do nothing to deter even the smallest of common predators. Even with the addition of the electric, *I* would be hard pressed to consider the setup remotely secure with only poultry netting for the run and bears in play.

 

[enola]

My X-husband keeps bees. He uses cattle panels to build a compound around the group of hives and runs 4 strands of electrified wires on posts 8 inches away from the cattle panels.

His theory is the bear cannot just run through the strands of electric wire because the cattle panels prevent that.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

My X-husband keeps bees. He uses cattle panels to build a compound around the group of hives and runs 4 strands of electrified wires on posts 8 inches away from the cattle panels.

His theory is the bear cannot just run through the strands of electric wire because the cattle panels prevent that.

That is an excellent approach, imo.

 

[enola]

He read about it right here on BYC!

 

[enola]

His bee keeping friend had ALL of his hives wiped out in one night. Unprotected hives I might add.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

We have a pretty steady coop with 1/2 inch hardware cloth windows, and regular chicken wire for the run, which goes around the whole coop. But I also want to get just a single strand electric fence as an extra deterrent.

What kind of fence charger do I need to get to keep bears from coming back?

In short a bear of an electric charger.

I would recommend that you use 4 or 5 strands of barbed wire instead of the slick high tinsel type of wire. The reason being that those barbs can reach down through Fuzzy Wuzzy's fur and light up the idea in the bear's mind that he has an important appointment elsewhere.

Going on the theory that an ounce of prevention is worth a train load of cure.... wrap several slices of salty bacon around the electric wires. Salt and h2o are both good conductors of electricity. Once Fuzzy Wuzzy tries to eat this charged bacon off of the barbed wires his wet mouth will provide him a shocking experience with your chickens and their coop. The next best thing to being bare of bears is to be totally lacking in bears who are willing to mess with your coop for any reward, and electricity provides that.