What is the best wire to use?

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WhenInRhome

WhenInRhome

Chirping
May 6, 2015
141
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Rhome Texas
I remember someone here telling me to use the 1/2 inch hardware cloth. I just joined a rabbit forum because one of my daughters 2 pet "female" rabbits gave birth unexpectedly. They said that raccoons could rip right through the 1/2 inch hardware cloth and the only safe wire is 1x2 inch welded wire.

So right now I have larger 2x4 opening wire on my chicken run. It was more affordable and all I could afford at the time. I figured it was better than chicken wire. I had planned on upgrading to the 1/2 inch wire. Should I do the 1x2 wire instead? I have never seen that size at the store. I have only seen chicken wire, 1/2 wire, 2x4 wire, and 4x4 cattle wire.

Too many cages, too many choices! I am so confused :(
 
Add 1/2 " hardware cloth on top of the existing wire. My coop/ run upgrade in progress;

Woven wire is stronger than welded wire, and any wire is only as secure as it's fasteners to the framing. Raccoons will pull birds apart through mesh bigger than 1/2", and weasels and rats will climb through 2"x4". I worry about the day two 100lb. dogs arrive, that's why it's built this way. If bears move here, I'll add electric. Mary
 
LOL at how many different opinions you'll find on what wire to use. I purposely bought 1/2" hardware cloth specifically to keep the raccoons OUT of the last 3 coops I've built and it's worked absolutely one hundred percent as expected.

as already mentioned above, 1x2 fence will keep out dogs or coyotes, but a raccoon can reach through and grab one and kill it, wild birds will get in and eat the food they can find, drink from the water, spread lice and mites......

I want to see videos of a raccoon ripping 19 gauge or stronger 1/2" hard ware cloth apart as they said...........I'd guess someone didn't fasten it properly or secure enough and it was ripped off the frame, quite possible there, but ripping it apart? I seriously doubt it. at our last house, we had a creek and a pond, and plenty of raccoons and I never lost a chicken to another one after putting the HW cloth on the coop and run, and we had before that.......
 
They were saying that a raccoon could rip the wire like paper. I thought that a raccoon would be able to grab something through 1x2 wire. They also said that with the 1/2 inch wire the poop would not fall through. That is what I already have on my rabbit cage and I know that it does in fact fall through. Seems like a bunny foot could easily fall through 1x2 wire and get stuck. Right now we have the wire we have stapled in and also every few feet and on the ends have a screw drilled though a penny (cheaper than washers!) for extra security. The staples are not very strong.

I might just have to start setting traps to catch raccoons and shoot them :( I know they are not sweet animals but they are cute! My dog trapped one on my back porch on the grill a while back. This was before we got chickens though. He was trying to climb in the window.






There is a family or colony of them in my back treeline. My neighbors shoot them sometimes. The have a big armadillo problem. They dig under their foundation. So at night late they sit outside with a spotlight and bow and arrows. The armadillos are slow so easy to shoot with the bow, then they go grab it and toss it over the back property line (empty pasture land) and save the arrow. It is like armadillo genocide back there! Then sometimes I will see the spotlight and see them run towards the back with a 22. I hear a few shots then it is over. Guess they are too fast for the usual arrow method. They are big hunters and while I do not condone killing for fun I do completely realize that these are pests and cause damage. I could not kill the one who was on my porch eating my dogs food. I feed my dog inside now and have not seen one on the porch since.
Even my other neighbors who caught coons in his coop twice (and had killed chickens) could not kill them. He trapped them and released them a few miles away. Now if one was caught in my coop killing my chickens I would probably be able to shoot it.


I just want to create an enclosure that even the hungriest coon cannot break into. I lock my girls in the coop at night. I saw a few days ago that the lid that covers the nest boxes was kinda bent up on one end. It is a 4 foot long lid that is fairly heavy (wood with shingles) but only has one latch in the middle. It is a spring hook lock. We are guessing a raccoon tried to raise the end and get inside. It did not get in, but it wood was bent up some. We started using 2 long screws in the ends to secure it till we get a two more locks to put on the ends.
 
1x2 wire is generally sold as cage wire. It is around 14 gauge in general. There is also a ½x1 cage wire, same gauge, that is generally used for the floor of rabbit cages. It is stronger than ½" hardware cloth IMHO. I build my own cages for various things and use these often. The rolls I buy are two feet wide.

I use 2x4 wire for my runs. As long as the birds are in the coop at night and not sleeping by the fence, a raccoon can reach through but there is nothing to reach for. I also use 5' wire on 4'posts so the top for is wobbly. It seems to discourage climbers. It's worked for four years, I've lost one bird, but I believe that one had gotten out of the run.

I live in a rural area and my coops and runs are on the edge of woods.
 
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WhenInRhome said:
They were saying that a raccoon could rip the wire like paper. I thought that a raccoon would be able to grab something through 1x2 wire. They also said that with the 1/2 inch wire the poop would not fall through. That is what I already have on my rabbit cage and I know that it does in fact fall through. Seems like a bunny foot could easily fall through 1x2 wire and get stuck. Right now we have the wire we have stapled in and also every few feet and on the ends have a screw drilled though a penny (cheaper than washers!) for extra security. The staples are not very strong.

I might just have to start setting traps to catch raccoons and shoot them :( I know they are not sweet animals but they are cute! My dog trapped one on my back porch on the grill a while back. This was before we got chickens though. He was trying to climb in the window.






There is a family or colony of them in my back treeline. My neighbors shoot them sometimes. The have a big armadillo problem. They dig under their foundation. So at night late they sit outside with a spotlight and bow and arrows. The armadillos are slow so easy to shoot with the bow, then they go grab it and toss it over the back property line (empty pasture land) and save the arrow. It is like armadillo genocide back there! Then sometimes I will see the spotlight and see them run towards the back with a 22. I hear a few shots then it is over. Guess they are too fast for the usual arrow method. They are big hunters and while I do not condone killing for fun I do completely realize that these are pests and cause damage. I could not kill the one who was on my porch eating my dogs food. I feed my dog inside now and have not seen one on the porch since.
Even my other neighbors who caught coons in his coop twice (and had killed chickens) could not kill them. He trapped them and released them a few miles away. Now if one was caught in my coop killing my chickens I would probably be able to shoot it.


I just want to create an enclosure that even the hungriest coon cannot break into. I lock my girls in the coop at night. I saw a few days ago that the lid that covers the nest boxes was kinda bent up on one end. It is a 4 foot long lid that is fairly heavy (wood with shingles) but only has one latch in the middle. It is a spring hook lock. We are guessing a raccoon tried to raise the end and get inside. It did not get in, but it wood was bent up some. We started using 2 long screws in the ends to secure it till we get a two more locks to put on the ends.
Click to expand...
grab some 1/2" hardware cloth and see if you can tear it like paper, and get back to me. You've already found part of what you read over there to be at best 'embellished' or at worst just flat out wrong. Like I said, there will be tons of different opinions no matter who you talk to or what site you read. But there really are some of us who will tell what we use and works best for us based on our experiences.

Good luck with whatever you decide to use!
 
PapaChaz said:
grab some 1/2" hardware cloth and see if you can tear it like paper, and get back to me. You've already found part of what you read over there to be at best 'embellished' or at worst just flat out wrong. Like I said, there will be tons of different opinions no matter who you talk to or what site you read. But there really are some of us who will tell what we use and works best for us based on our experiences.

Good luck with whatever you decide to use!
Click to expand...


thanks! I am sticking with the 1/2. I already bought it and I like it. Unless some raccoons have been pumping up with steroids it does not seem like they would be able to get through it.
 
If a raccoon got a hold of an edge of 19 ga 1/2" HC...it would not surprise me at all if they could indeed 'rip' it or chew thru it.

19 ga 1/2" HC is great stuff if it is attached properly, that includes making sure the edges are secured so they can't get their little paws or teeth under the edge.

Sooooo... lots of screws and washers or trim boards screwed in place over edges.
 
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