Chicken Wire vs. Hardware Cloth

amaranth320

Chirping
10 Years
Sep 23, 2009
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I'm live in a neighborhood in town with few predators, and I'm in the process of building a chicken coop and detachable/movable chicken run for during the day. The coop will be stationary and wood on all sides, with just a small door on the front for them to get into and out of the run. The run will be moved around the yard during the day and will have wire on the sides but a solid wood roof. At night, the run will be attached securely to the stationary coop. My question is, since the chickens will be inside the enclosed coop at night when most predators like raccoons and cats are prowling, will 1" chicken wire be sufficient for the run, or should I invest in hardware cloth? I already have the chicken wire, so I'm hoping this will be okay, especially since we're on a tight budget, but you guys are the experts!
 
Our entire coop and run are covered in 1/2" hardware cloth. I fell it was worth it because we know all the girls are safe and sound, all day and all night

We also don't have many predators, but the few that we have, I don't want them to get any ideas. For the money/feed and love that goes into raising the girls I feel it's a worthy investment in the better hardware cloth.
 
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If your chickens are inside the wooden, completely secure, coop during the night, then i would say yes, you could use the chicken wire for the run during the day. Be sure nothing can get under it during the day (dogs), and make sure that your night time lock up doors are very secure.
 
Dogs can go through chickenwire rather easily. All neighborhoods have the occasional loose dog. Thus, unless your run is enclosed in a backyard that is 100% privacy-fenced with a smooth-board solid 6' fence that you are CERTAIN no dog will ever go over or under and the gate will never ever be left open, it would be real smart to spend the extra little bit of money for hardwarecloth or 1x1" welded wire.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat
 
A.T. Hagan :

I'd use 2x4 welded wire for the run and save the hardware cloth for the coop. I don't use poultry wire for much of anything because it's just not strong enough.

.....Alan.

Yeah, I agree with ya on that. Last spring I was living over in East Louisiana by the Atchafalaya river and the northern thaw made the river rise beyond flood stage and ran all the varmits out the woods and bottom land, boy and there were some big 'ol wood rats showed up there and believe you me the hexagonal style chicken wire was no match for those suckers to eat through and get to my biddies. I had no idea that they could bite the stuff into till I started finding partially eaten chicks stuck in the wire holes and when I started counting heads I was missing quite a few chicks. I still have one of the surviviors of a rat attack, she's fine and laying now, but she is never going to be able to fly over the fence as the rats chewed off her outer most wing tips as a biddie and I rescued her and nursed her a little bit back to good health.
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catdaddy​
 
we have chicken wire on our tractors with about 6in flat out on the ground to discourage digging in these are used in the day if the chickens are not free ranging. we also have dogs (our own) that are in the yard and they help discourage day time visitors. The run attached to the coop is made of heavy wire and hardware cloth. so far no problems. use the chicken wire and add the hardware cloth as you can afford it
 
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Yeah, I agree with ya on that. Last spring I was living over in East Louisiana by the Atchafalaya river and the northern thaw made the river rise beyond flood stage and ran all the varmits out the woods and bottom land, boy and there were some big 'ol wood rats showed up there and believe you me the hexagonal style chicken wire was no match for those suckers to eat through and get to my biddies. I had no idea that they could bite the stuff into till I started finding partially eaten chicks stuck in the wire holes and when I started counting heads I was missing quite a few chicks. I still have one of the surviviors of a rat attack, she's fine and laying now, but she is never going to be able to fly over the fence as the rats chewed off her outer most wing tips as a biddie and I rescued her and nursed her a little bit back to good health.
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catdaddy

theres not much a rat cant chew through i think it would actually be easier to chew through hardware cloth for a rat they can chew threw solid bricks
 
If you use the chicken wire, I'd at least reinforce the bottom portion (24 inches or so) with hardware cloth. That would make it stronger, plus help prevent predators from reaching in. Most of your predators will come out at night, but feral cats and stray/neighbors' dogs don't mind the day time hours. I like the welded wire because it's strong, but would still add something smaller around the bottom section...
 
The entire area wherein sits my chicken area is surrounded by chain-link fencing.

I use "chicken-wire" to separate the chickens as need may arise.

The only possible predators which might get in the area are hawks and owls. (I think I lost one chicken to an owl.

The "hardware cloth" is quite expensive compared to "chicken wire".

The chicken wire works well for my purposes.

-Junkmanme-
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