I was thinking that the mothballs would not be good for the chickens. Not the rifle report. Though it did sort of read the other way around. Good luck.
enipla
OK, gotcha. I hadn’t thought about that aspect of things. Those beasts will try to eat just about anything.
Thanks
Testy
I would nuke it from orbit.
Its the only way to be sure.
Just tell him that you’re straight. That always works for me…
Pound a bunch of nails into half inch plywood boards so they are sticking out the other side. Place the boards around the chicken coop, like a big wide spike strip.
If it starts getting into your garbage:
Secure a garbage can on its side and wire a can of bear spray into to it. Use a small piece of plywood and some fishing line as a trigger for the bear spray. Make sure the bear has to crawl into the can pretty deep before it goes off.
Check out the legality of this stuff before you start bragging to Fish & Game
stitchesis
The bear spray in a garbage can sounds do-able. I would rather not say anything at all to the fish and game people if I don’t have to. I’m not so sure about the nails though. A wounded bear might be a bad thing to have around.
Around here, I think a lot of people just use the “shoot-shovel-and shut up” method of dealing with bears and the like. I’d hate to get the guy killed over some chickens though.
Thanks
Testy
I remember my grandfather curing his chicken killing dog with one (long) lesson. He took the dead chicken from the dog and wired it around his neck with baling wire. The dog so hated the rotting chicken around his neck that he retired from killing chickens after a few weeks.
Not sure if that would work with a bear 
jasg
I think it would be great except for the wiring part.
Regards
Testy
The nail boards don’t really hurt them in the sense of giving them puncture wounds. They just make for an impossible place to stand while tearing apart other things. We use 4x8 sheets under all the windows and in front of all the doors of our field camps. The bears can’t bash in the windows and clime in because they simply can’t stand underneath the windows. I’d imagine it would be the same for the chicken coop.
stitchensis
Ahhh, got ya. I was thinking more along the lines of punji stakes and was worried about the potential fall out from that. Good idea.
Thanks
Testy
“a few weeks”?? So the dog spent a couple of weeks more killing chickens… with a dead chicken wired to his neck the whole time? Slow learner.
Bears don’t know what a door or window is. They just go through wherever they feel like it: door, wall, whatever. If your wall is not made of logs, it’s not likely to stop a bear that is after food. This has happened at my brother’s cabin on several occasions. Those are grizzlies, however, and they pretty much ignored the bear boards; just walked over them and tore a hole in the wall to walk through.
We used to have a problem with rabbits in the garden, so we scattered some mothballs around. They did keep the rabbits away. Then we noticed that birds would come around and preen themselves with the mothballs, apparently to get rid of insects in their feathers. Don’t know whether chickens would do this too.
Grizzlies don’t care!
golf clap
One only cared about the food: he only chewed open cans with meat in them. Then he took a huge dump on the kitchen floor and exited through a new hole in the wall.
A golf clap certainly won’t scare a bear!
You need to getsome twinks. Natural enemy of the bear. Sure they might get along at first, but eventually the twink will say something catty about the bear’s fashion choices, and horseplay will turn to tears.
A related question – and this may be good for the OP in case a bear still comes around – is how to escape one. I have heard that one should run downhill, as the bear’s shorter front legs will impede him to some degree. But that may be entirely bogus. Anyone know if this is true?
Are you still alive?
Need answer fast.