Anybody using expanded metal for coops?

[martin60]

I just joined Friday night and see a lot of posts about predators chewing through chicken wire and welded wire.

Has anybody tried using expanded metal for the enclosure? I'm thinking of using 3/4" diamond 13 gauge expanded metal for my coop, with 12" "wings" that fold out onto the ground on the exterior to (hopefully) prevent "low-life varmints" from digging under. The exterior walls would also be expanded metal at least 30" tall.

I know expanded metal isn't cheap, but I would think it would be pretty much coon, possum and assorted varmint proof. Any ideas or feedback on this thought?

thanks! Martin

 

[Mrs. Glassman]

If you have a scrap metal recycler in your area, I would check there first. Many times, you can find what you need just laying in the yard. You would not believe the things that are discarded!

You may also find something else you could use from there cheaper. I bought several rolls of something that looks just like chain-link fence, only the holes in them are really small, and the wire is super heavy. Nothing is getting through that stuff. One roll weighed 300lbs. and had to be loaded with a fork-lift. I got it for $30 a roll because it was considered "misc. scrap metal", and I work there. Otherwise, it would have cost $70 a roll, which is still not bad.

Good Luck!

 

[martin60]

Thanks for the idea! I'll try and find some salvage.

 

[nnbreeder]

The only thing that I would say against using it would be that a bird could get a toe caught in the "V" part of the opening. Now if you used it on the outside of the posts and put chicken wire on the inside to keep the birds away from it, it should be fine.

Here new expanded metal is about 100-150 dollars a sheet (4x8) but it is slowly dropping in price. Not as fast as it went up though, there is still a lot of the high price stuff in stock. Old catwalks like from a factory with the punched holes would work well too.