What kind of wire is best for making a run?

We are planning to build a run on our chicken coop this 4th of July weekend. I was wondering, what kind of wire is best to use to make a run? Our main goal for the run is to allow our chickens to be outside without our many raccoons, hawks, and foxes eating them.

For raccoons, opossums and other ground critters 1/2" hardware cloth is pretty good. The main thing is to have something heavy enough that these animals can't bite or pull holes in it, or reach through it with their front paws. In really bad cases, an electric fence wire might be a good addition as well.

Chicken wire is no good for these animals, they will go right through in no time at all.

Don't forget that they can dig under the fencing, at least 12" out from the fence bottom is needed, 18" is what I have found to be the best, that way they don't actually find the outer edge when they decide to dig next to the fence to go under. Just make sure that splayed out fencing is buried a few inches or deeper so they will become discouraged quicker when they have dug easy and strike the wire.

While you can use chicken wire for a topper on a run, if it is just hawks and owls you can get away with just some single wires stretched over the run in a checkerboard pattern. With Raccoons, you would be better to use something heavier and closer knit like the same 1/2" hardware cloth or even 14 ga. 2 x 4 welded fencing wire. Once again it may be that an electric wire or two at the top of the side wall becomes necessary to deter the most determined of predators.

A 14 gauge welded wire is strong enough to stop predators. 2x4x50ft rolls can be found at a box store (.i.e Lowe's) for $36. Don't use anything of higher gauge than 14 as critters can chew through it. I cut the 4 ft length in half to lay around the bottom of run; under edge and out 2ft to prevent digging. You can place just under sod or lawn staple in place until grass grows over it.

It is a larger hole but the alternative is hard wire cloth and that's incredibly expensive. Weasels that get in almost always come at night. It takes a group of raccoons to scare and ambush chickens through the wire in day time so that's incredibly rare. If you've a predator proof coop (1/2" hard wire cloth all openings and well latched doors) then your chickens are safe at night when they are sleeping. Solitary animals attacking during the day is most common; dogs, fox, raccoon, skunk and hawk. None of them can get through 14 ga. wire.

I've been very happy with my hoop run. It's made of cattle panels arched between fence posts pounded into the ground, covered with chicken wire to prevent wild birds and overhead predators from getting in. We have a skirt of hardware cloth going up about 2 feet, then folded at the bottom and run outward as an apron for about another 2 feet. We secured the hardware cloth to the ground with landscape fabric staples. We planned to cover the hardware cloth apron with flat rock, but the grass grew up through up it so nicely that we can now mow right to the edges of the run and the cloth is invisible.

It wasn't all that expensive to make and I think it looks nice as well. We closed off the south end with a piece of wire welded fence, and when we decided this spring to enlarge the run it was very easy. We just pulled the wires holding the end piece on and the whole panel - chicken wire, hardware cloth skirt and apron - came off in one piece, just as we planned to do if we ever decided to add to it. Another fence post on either side, a chicken wire covered cattle panel arched and tied into the existing panel, the end piece reattached, and done.