Is chicken wire good enough?

[flash5153]

Quote:
Oh,,I can be convinced,,,but when people start saying chicken wire is like yarn and their chickens can bust through it,,or their dog just runs right through it. I'm not a believer,,,sorry!!!

I'm no city boy,,and have been around animals my whole life. I've had some experiences with raccoons although I have never seen one chew through wire,,,,,,, I have already stated I think it is possible. Its just very unlikely they would do it to get to a chicken and way more likely they would find a breach from poor installation. And BAM!!! Then someone says ,, the raccoon went right through my chicken wire like it wasn't there!!!

I will say this,,,chicken wire has some serious issues when being installed. It is very difficult to do correctly because of the design of it.

So here we are looking for evidence of first hand experiences,,,,with proof,,,and its pretty hard to find. So don't just give up,,lets find some evidence!!! I have to say,,,for reasons stated above,,I will need strong evidence with pics. Unless you believe a rooster can simply kick through chicken wire,,,,,, like it has been said.


Lets start here with the picture and thread you posted. Did you read it??? https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=278053&p=1

Here's the problems I have with it,,,lets see if you agree. Look at the hole,,,and around the hole,,,see the loops in the wire. They are not stretched,,if they are stretched ,,,a little,, its not near enough to break the wire from force.
So they must have been chewed ,,which eliminates a dog, I would think. The hole has been chewed in a perfect circle ,,completely all the way around,,,,,, and a section of chicken wire is missing,,,the same size as the hole. It is not pushed to the edge,or in ,,or out. It is missing. A large piece BTW.

Can anyone tell what kind of animal chews a perfect hole,,when it could have pushed through at half the work it took to complete??? And I eliminate a raccoon,, because that hole is ,I'm guessing,,,about 15 inches across and 15 inches tall. Its 1 inch wire so count the loops.

 

[patman75]

flash5153, I suggest you use multiple tag words in the search engine. Death, dead or killed, chicken wire or chickenwire, ripped or torn. You will find more pictures, most chicken owners that just had their flock killed tend to post not the most coherent or structured topics. It did not take me long to find some, which not surprisingly was not good enough for you. If your criteria has to be properly installed, new wire, not weathered or rusted I will pass on using it.

If your happy with your chicken wire that all that matters.

 

[harveyhorses]

Well first off, I did not post a picture. I have seen first hand what coons, and other wild animals can do.
I have also seen a dog rip apart a kennel cage.
At this point I do not care if I convince you or not. As I said before if you are happy with it that is your busisness. Your posts are starting to sound kind of silly really. I have other things to do (like go look at game cam pics) than try to wast my breath. I just don't care, maybe others will see it as their lifes work.
Good luck with your flock


One question, why do you eliminate a racoon because the hole is 1`5 inches?

 

[flash5153]

Quote:
I see now that you did not post the link with picture,,,,,,I apologize for that,,my mistake. And the person that did,,,responded.

This is not my "lifes work" lol. But if your going to chime in and accuse me of being(silly) hard headed ,,, and can never be convinced,,you should have some evidence to back it up. One question ,,,have you ever used chicken wire?? ( don't answer please,,,it really don't matter)

I'm as done as you are with this,,for now,,,,but I'm hoping to catch a raccoon soon. I will post pictures and results as he chews through the wire. I am curious to how long it will take.

 

[DaughterOfEve]

wow, believe people or not is up to you. I would say take caution. When my dog ran through our wire it was on wooden posts, cemented into the ground. He was not running to get at the chickens. There was a chipmunk in the run which is his mortal enemy. We did not take pictures but you can look at My Page on the side of this post and see the dog and the wooden structured run that he ran through. It is a solid framing job and we did not spare any staples. The staples did not tear out. The wire ripped open right in the middle between the posts.

I'm not exaggerating. We use poultry wire inside the run to divide chickens.

If you plan to keep your birds inside a coop at night, locked up tight then who cares if a predator can get into the run at night. The main issue is day time predators that might cause damage while you are not home or glued to the tv. Personally I would spend the extra couple of bucks for something a little stronger but thats me. You do what you believe is right for you in your environment.

A wise old rooster once told me "Its not if it will happen, but when."

 

[mjuenem]

I wonder how many manufacturers make "chicken wire"?

I wonder how many wire sizes "chicken wire" is created from?

Since "chicken wire" relies on twisted wire, I wonder if a mis-set machine may weaken the wire excessively in some cheaper brands?

I wonder if some discount places stock cheap made-somewhere-else "chicken wire"?

I submit that there may be too many variables to make a blanket statement that something can go through "chicken wire" like paper.

I also submit that we only hear about the failures.

I have a theory that chicken wire is safer at the upper part of the pen where an animal has to climb and then has a much tougher time hanging-on and bracing to rip the wire.

As long as it's way above any perch (to prevent beheading) I think it's pretty safe.

Having said that, I would sleep better knowing I had a electric fence strand around my pen preventing climbing.

 

[schellie69]

I used chicken wire on a window my cat was able to chew and pull and break the wire apart. So if a cat can do it I am sure a raccoon would be able to rip the stuff a part and a dog running would also be able to put a good size hole in. I think each person needs to make the choice for themselves if chicken wire works for them then great. If it does not for someone else then great. I have read some post from people who have had chickens for a very long time and they don't use chicken wire that is good enough for me. I will spend more to make sure no predators can get in. Then I don't worry so much. I just don't think chicken wire is heavy enough to stop an hungry predator and just because it has not happened yet does not mean it won't. I would rather spend the extra money up front and not have to worry about some animal tearing into my pen/coop then having to rebuild and replace my flock. Much easier to use welded wire and hardware cloth up front.

 

[flash5153]

I'm lol about some of the replies.

I did not come here to argue,,,I really didn't. It's hard not to do.

I think I know what is going on here and we all may be correct,,but first I want to say a few things. Read it all slowly please because I want to be done and sorry to the OP,,,,not hijacked because on topic,,and your post is a good question. I thought of starting a new thread,,but I want to be done.



I have a brand new ,,100 ft roll ,,of chicken wire in my garage. I have taken a piece of it and tried to break through it,,,and I CANT do it!!! If any of you would try this,,,you would see how little sense some of the comments are. There is NO way a cat,a chicken,,or a dog is going to run through it!!! Period!!! (not saying you are lying though,read on) But talk about hard headed and superstition,,, what I mean by this??? If you had a piece of BRAND NEW wire,,,,which is what I have been referring to this whole time. You would see my point. I can't stress this enough,,,and if you don't try it,,you have no business telling me how weak and paper like it is!! lol

And now ,,here's is why we both could be correct about chicken wire. My lifes (or last 2 days) work. lol

Chicken wire is a small single strand of twisted wire. When its new ,,it will bend and stretch a very long way without breaking!! The problem is,,,after being in the weather and corroding it becomes brittle and will no longer stretch,,but instead it will break. I don't know how long before it becomes brittle,,but i know its more than 2 years where I live.

This can explain the differences everyone has and also why some people go for years with out a break-in and then all the sudden there are problems.

 

[speckledhen]

I know I have seen actual pictures of huge chewed holes in chicken wire here on BYC. Where they are on the forum, I couldn't tell you. It's been awhile back, but not sure how far back. You'd have to search for awhile to find them, but they were actual holes, not just where the wire was pulled off of the place where it was attached. I do know that chicken wire will rust and break down much more quickly than hardware cloth, have seen it here at my place. My pens are all from 2x4" opening welded wire fencing backed by either chicken wire (so birds can't stick heads through the openings) or hardware cloth up to a certain point, but my birds are all inside at night and each opening in the coop itself is covered with hardware cloth, not chicken wire. We are in the woods with every predator you can think of other than fishers and nothing has gotten into any coop yet.

 

[Bookspryte]

When my 40+ pound dog killed my chickens, he made a perfectly round hole in the middle of the chicken wire. It was still attached on all four sides to the wooden frame of the run. Now whether he bit through it or ran through it, no one knows. We weren't home at the time. All I know is that I ended up less three BOs.

I've since rebuilt that coop using hardware cloth. I won't use chicken wire for anything again except maybe keeping chickens out of the garden.

From all the reading I'd done on BYC I knew better than to trust chicken wire, but instead listened to my DH, who grew up on a farm and knew everything there is to know about chickens. He's now a believer in hardware cloth, too.

Denise