Welded Wire Fence- Pros and Cons?

CreativeCowgirl

In the Brooder
7 Years
Jul 22, 2012
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I'm planning on fencing my new chicken yard with 5' tall welded wire fence. The holes are 2" x 4". What are the pros and cons of this type of fencing? Will it be sufficient? I have heard horror stories about chicken wire so I didn't want to use that. Obviously the holes are big enough that a weasel may be able to slip through or a coon could climb up it, but hopefully my flock will always be inside the coop at night, so the coop will protect them better than the fence. Your thoughts on this?
 
We have used it for the "day pen", not the "secure pen & coop" and it has been fine. It would depend on the preditors in your area and if you are around to check on them. Depending on how securly it's anchored, dogs (depending on size & breed etc.) may or may not be able to crash through , climb over or dig under. That's my concern during the day. But, it has worked well for what we are using it for. It's better than chicken wire.
 
We are using it for the walls of our run, as well as under the gravel and sand on the floor of the run. But, we are also getting hardware cloth in the 24" wide size and running it along the bottom all the way around the run so nothing can reach in and grab a chicken. The run will have a roof on it since it rains so much here. We cannot afford to use hardware cloth for the entire thing, since our run is 10ft x 14 ft.. that would be like $500! We live in the city, but there are raccoons and opossums, as well as feral cats and our 18 month old Aussie Shepherd, so we are making it as secure as we can possibly afford to. We have a toddler, so we are generally home before dark each day, and the coop is secure, so I am not too worried. Our neighbors free range their chickens in their backyard all day while they are at work, and they havn't lost one yet. We are actually thinking we may forgo the hardware cloth and just use boards all around the bottom screwed to the posts, since we have to do at least 8 inches of board around to hold the sand in anyways... Might as well just get wider boards and do it that way.
 
I'm planning on fencing my new chicken yard with 5' tall welded wire fence. The holes are 2" x 4". What are the pros and cons of this type of fencing? Will it be sufficient? I have heard horror stories about chicken wire so I didn't want to use that. Obviously the holes are big enough that a weasel may be able to slip through or a coon could climb up it, but hopefully my flock will always be inside the coop at night, so the coop will protect them better than the fence. Your thoughts on this?

If you look at "My Coop" page you can see the chicken yard I did using this exact same fencing (5' high). My thinking was:

1. My flock was going from a free range situation to being contained, and I didn't want them to be penned into a tiny pen that would be nothing but dirt or mud most of the time. So, I created a "yard" for them that is 240x60. They still have grass to forage and tons of bugs, plus a tree right in the yard, so they still have the feel of free-range, yet are not pooping on the back deck.
2. I've seen chickens get out of fencing that is too solid, by jumping up to the top rail and then jumping down the other side. I figured the "flimsy" top of the welded wire and t-posts would keep them from getting out that way (I was right - they've never gone over the fence).
3. Although this type of yard is not predator proof, my coop is Fort Knox and they are locked in it at night. Since most predators come at night, I hoped this would eliminate most of my predator risk. (I had a fox get in in the middle of the afternoon about 3 weeks after moving my flock to the new place. I eliminated the fox and have had no further issues with predators since.)
4. I have two very chicken-safe dogs who sleep in the yard at night. Although they are not LGD's, my hope is that their presence will [continue to] deter would-be predators from hanging around at night.

The cons:

The wire spacing is too large to keep chicks in. I currently have a batch of month-old chicks who can run right through the fencing. So, I had to set up a dog pen in the yard, the chain link of which is reinforced with chicken wire to keep the little guys in. The chicks spend their day in the dog pen, and each evening I go out around 6pm and let them out of the dog pen for some supervised time with the flock. So far, the flock has been very tolerant of the chicks and if it weren't for the wire spacing issue, I would allow full integration now. As it is, I will have to wait until the chicks are too large to fit through the wire.
 
HEChicken, I read the page about your coop, and it looks great! It seems like you had the exact same reasoning that I did when purchasing the welded wire fencing. The fence may not keep everything out, but hopefully the coop will, since they will be inside at night.
 
Quote: 2 X 4 Welded Wire will keep out 99% of predators, but if there is ANY possibility you may want to cover the top in the future, use 6 ft wire so you can stand inside.
It won't cost that much more than 5 ft

If you intend to have biddies in the run, just use a couple of feet of smaller wire around the bottom, since chicks CAN go through 2" holes
 
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2 X 4 Welded Wire will keep out 99% of predators, but if there is ANY possibility you may want to cover the top in the future, use 6 ft wire so you can stand inside.
It won't cost that much more than 5 ft

If you intend to have biddies in the run, just use a couple of feet of smaller wire around the bottom, since chicks CAN go through 2" holes

I agree, definitely go 6 feet high, unless you (and other people who may be taking care of the hens) are less than 5 feet tall. The small amount of savings you get with the wire being 5 rather than 6 feet isn't worth the strain on your body from constantly stooping.

We got 48 inch wide and plan to bury it two feet and double up so there will be six feet above ground. My husband is 5'10", so he will just clear the top, though the roof will be peaked at a bit higher than 6 feet.
 
I don't ever intend on covering the top, so I think the 5' will do just fine.
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There is just too much of it; I would never be able to afford enough to cover the whole thing. And yes I hope I can post pics when I am done!
 

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