You have a lot more potential predators than just foxes, raccoons, or coyotes. Dogs are often a big concern, but possum, skunk, hawks, owls, snakes, members of the weasel family, bobcat, the possible list goes on and on. Maybe even bear. They may threaten the adults, eggs, or baby chicks. There is always more potential than people often think.
No matter what you use it will never be 100% effective unless you spend a fortune. There’s always something that can get through. I’ll include a link that shows what big dog can do to hardware cloth.
Torn Hardware Cloth
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1105056/dog-vs-hardware-cloth#post_17001519
Many critters can climb really well, some fly. An uncovered run has vulnerability, yet many people like me have uncovered runs and don’t have big problems. Others do have big problems. That’s one of the issues with predators, you may be fine with pretty lousy protection for years, and then all of a sudden a predator decides to attack. Even going a few years does not mean they are totally protected, it may just mean nothing has decided to try your defenses.
Chicken wire does provide a level of protection. The heavier the gauge the more protection and the greater the expense. The size of the holes can make a difference with some critters. Some potential predators cannot get through it. A large dog or raccoon can tear it but maybe they won’t bother.
Another issue is that things can sometimes get under a fence without digging or maybe really minimal digging. Some critters can squeeze through some mighty small holes. I like an apron around a run for greater security. The heavier and more expensive the wire you use for an apron the more secure it is, but even chicken wire provides a fair amount of security.
There are a couple of potential failure modes for wire. If the wire is light gauge it’s possible for some critters to just break the wire. It doesn’t matter if it is chicken wire or something else. The other thing is how it is held together. Chicken wire is twisted and some critters can pull hard enough to untwist it, the gauge of the wire affects that. Especially with light gauge welded wire, the weld might break.
Another issue is your connections. The wire doesn’t have to fail if the critter can pull or push it away from the posts or whatever it is attached to. There are different techniques to attach different types of wire and what you are attaching to makes a difference too.
To sum up, even a little protection provides some protection. The more you spend (provided you spend wisely) the better that protection can be. The type and gauge of wire are not the only factors, how you handle the other potential weaknesses count too.
My 12’ x 32’ main run has 2” x 4” welded wire sides with about 18” of small holed chicken wire attached to the bottom, more to stop the baby chicks from getting out and stop the chickens from poking their heads through where a predator can get to them than to keep critters out. Most of it is covered to provide shade and keep water out, but a climbing predator could get in if it tried. I have an apron around this, made of hardware cloth or 2x4 welded wire, mainly using stuff I had instead of buying new for this.
I used wooden posts for my run and use 1-1/4” fencing staples to attach the wire to those. Don’t even think of using those ¾” poultry staples. To attach the wire to flat surfaces I rip a 2x4 into maybe ¾” or thicker strips and screw that over the fence ends. I use pilot holes to make starting the screws easier and to keep from splitting the wood. I’ve been known to use fender washers with the screws, especially if the wood is soft and the screw heads sink in. I make sure most of those screws go through opening in the fence. If you clamp this down tightly, it will hold extremely well but with the screws through the openings in the fence it’s really a strong connection. Another benefit is that the sharp ends of that wire are covered, I’m not going to snag my skin or clothes on sharp wire ends. I have a talent for doing that.
To connect wire to wire so I don’t have big gaps I’ve used J-clips if the gauge is pretty light, hog rings for heavier wire, and occasionally twist pieces of wire to connect them. I’m not married to anyone technique, it depends on what I’m working with and what I have on hand.
I also have a large area enclosed in electric netting for them to graze in. My chicken density is low enough that in the growing season it stays green, I even have to mow it a few times to cut back the stuff they don’t eat and give the good stuff a chance to grow. Right now in winter it is kind of bare. In the 4 to 5 years since I put up the electric netting I’ve lost two juvenile chickens, one to a hawk another to an owl. Nothing to anything else.
There are a lot of other techniques for all of this. You don’t have to use what I use or do it the way I do it. Many different things work. A lot depends on how big you want to build, how much you are willing to spend, and your risk tolerance. If your chickens are precious pets where the loss of one is devastating, you probably want to do more than for someone like me that can accept an occasional loss, though I assure you even an occasional loss hurts.
No matter what you use it will never be 100% effective unless you spend a fortune. There’s always something that can get through. I’ll include a link that shows what big dog can do to hardware cloth.
Torn Hardware Cloth
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1105056/dog-vs-hardware-cloth#post_17001519
Many critters can climb really well, some fly. An uncovered run has vulnerability, yet many people like me have uncovered runs and don’t have big problems. Others do have big problems. That’s one of the issues with predators, you may be fine with pretty lousy protection for years, and then all of a sudden a predator decides to attack. Even going a few years does not mean they are totally protected, it may just mean nothing has decided to try your defenses.
Chicken wire does provide a level of protection. The heavier the gauge the more protection and the greater the expense. The size of the holes can make a difference with some critters. Some potential predators cannot get through it. A large dog or raccoon can tear it but maybe they won’t bother.
Another issue is that things can sometimes get under a fence without digging or maybe really minimal digging. Some critters can squeeze through some mighty small holes. I like an apron around a run for greater security. The heavier and more expensive the wire you use for an apron the more secure it is, but even chicken wire provides a fair amount of security.
There are a couple of potential failure modes for wire. If the wire is light gauge it’s possible for some critters to just break the wire. It doesn’t matter if it is chicken wire or something else. The other thing is how it is held together. Chicken wire is twisted and some critters can pull hard enough to untwist it, the gauge of the wire affects that. Especially with light gauge welded wire, the weld might break.
Another issue is your connections. The wire doesn’t have to fail if the critter can pull or push it away from the posts or whatever it is attached to. There are different techniques to attach different types of wire and what you are attaching to makes a difference too.
To sum up, even a little protection provides some protection. The more you spend (provided you spend wisely) the better that protection can be. The type and gauge of wire are not the only factors, how you handle the other potential weaknesses count too.
My 12’ x 32’ main run has 2” x 4” welded wire sides with about 18” of small holed chicken wire attached to the bottom, more to stop the baby chicks from getting out and stop the chickens from poking their heads through where a predator can get to them than to keep critters out. Most of it is covered to provide shade and keep water out, but a climbing predator could get in if it tried. I have an apron around this, made of hardware cloth or 2x4 welded wire, mainly using stuff I had instead of buying new for this.
I used wooden posts for my run and use 1-1/4” fencing staples to attach the wire to those. Don’t even think of using those ¾” poultry staples. To attach the wire to flat surfaces I rip a 2x4 into maybe ¾” or thicker strips and screw that over the fence ends. I use pilot holes to make starting the screws easier and to keep from splitting the wood. I’ve been known to use fender washers with the screws, especially if the wood is soft and the screw heads sink in. I make sure most of those screws go through opening in the fence. If you clamp this down tightly, it will hold extremely well but with the screws through the openings in the fence it’s really a strong connection. Another benefit is that the sharp ends of that wire are covered, I’m not going to snag my skin or clothes on sharp wire ends. I have a talent for doing that.
To connect wire to wire so I don’t have big gaps I’ve used J-clips if the gauge is pretty light, hog rings for heavier wire, and occasionally twist pieces of wire to connect them. I’m not married to anyone technique, it depends on what I’m working with and what I have on hand.
I also have a large area enclosed in electric netting for them to graze in. My chicken density is low enough that in the growing season it stays green, I even have to mow it a few times to cut back the stuff they don’t eat and give the good stuff a chance to grow. Right now in winter it is kind of bare. In the 4 to 5 years since I put up the electric netting I’ve lost two juvenile chickens, one to a hawk another to an owl. Nothing to anything else.
There are a lot of other techniques for all of this. You don’t have to use what I use or do it the way I do it. Many different things work. A lot depends on how big you want to build, how much you are willing to spend, and your risk tolerance. If your chickens are precious pets where the loss of one is devastating, you probably want to do more than for someone like me that can accept an occasional loss, though I assure you even an occasional loss hurts.
