This is the back of our henhouse. Notice the trees. Our property is surrounded by lots of woods.
Which makes me a little concerned because in our town we have daily sightings of a mama bear and her two cubs.
When I teach chicken workshops, I tell people that the best way they can spend their money is to get a secure henhouse. Don’t fool yourself into thinking those little prefab ones at the Tractor Supply (I like to call them “Tinker-toy coops”) are going to protect your flock.
They aren’t. Your chickens would be gone in a heartbeat.
Our coop is built to housing standards and all three doors close with a lock.
Here is nesting box door.
And here is the side door from which we humans enter and clean out the coop.
The interior yard door which the girls use to go in to and out of the coop is also locked every night and finally the enclosed pen door is inspected and firmly locked each night.
That’s a lot of locks, and while it’s probably good enough to keep away the raccoons, foxes, skunks, and maybe even a fisher cat. No matter how many locks we have, I don’t think it would be enough to keep a full grown bear, who is looking for food for her cubs, out of our hen house. If a bear wants our chickens, I think that a bear is going to get our chickens.
And that’s why each evening when I lock up the chickens, I look at the metal star on the side of the coop and make a quick wish on it to the chicken gods above for our flock’s safety throughout the night.
