Cheapest place to buy Hardware Cloth/Wire?

justmeinflorida

In the Brooder
8 Years
Sep 16, 2011
91
6
48
Zephyrhills, Florida
My friend had a flock of 32 free roam chickens and a Coyote got the ENTIRE flock in one night....
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So I've been doing my research on chicken coops and I've read a lot about Hardware Cloth/Wire being a cheap alternative to chicken Wire. We have a lot of predators here and I don't want my soon to be flock to disappear in the middle of the night. So any suggestions on a place to get some cheap?
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Also what gauge would you suggest?
TIA
 
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Hardware cloth is NEVER a cheap alternative - but it's a much SAFER alternative. 2x4 or 1x2 welded wire is quite economical, although hardware cloth or other small wire needs to be run along the lower 24 inches or so to prevent reach-ins. Chicken wire is the cheapest in price and quality, and contributes to many losses to predators as a result.
 
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Funny thing is people that are inexperienced with chickens (like me) would first think of using chicken wire because of the name. I'm glad I research the heck out of everything before I jump into a project or I'd have lost my soon to be flock in no time.
 
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Funny thing is people that are inexperienced with chickens (like me) would first think of using chicken wire because of the name. I'm glad I research the heck out of everything before I jump into a project or I'd have lost my soon to be flock in no time.

You know, the only thing I can figure is that it's named as it is because it DOES work for penning chickens, ya' know?
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So if you discount the presence of predators, it serves its purpose. But obviously very few situations are predator-free.
I guess it's like the wire many people call cattle wire. It's meant to keep cattle contained. I'm sure raccoons, possums, foxes, coyotes, etc. waltz right through, under, whatever. So maybe wire has always been named after what it contains, not how safely it keeps them???? Not sure about rabbit wire.
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It'd be nice if wire was named after what it keeps OUT...lol.
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Many years ago all chickens were free ranged. They roamed the farms and rural yards all year 'round. In fact, chicken coops were rare in certain parts of the country for many years. But the chickens got into things they shouldn't like veggie and flower gardens. Chickens can make quick work of gardens and nobody likes it a bit. So the first chicken fences were put up around the gardens and not around the chickens. This makes sense because it is so important for free range chickens to um, well, have free range. So "chicken wire" fencing was invented. It's very thin and flimsy (and cheap - very important) but when put around your veggies it does the job. It never was meant to keep predators out. Gosh, a raccoon can go through chicken wire like it's not even there. I heard claims that a hungry hawk can bite right through chicken wire.
 

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