Chicken Wire / Hardware cloth questions for run

[chickbotfamily]

I have looked at a lot of the run pics on here and am wondering what width of Chicken Wire / Hardware cloth you have been using? Some of the runs are 6-7 feet tall. Is the wire 6-7 feet wide or are you putting 2 smaller pieces together. I have looked at Home Depot and Menards and find wire that is 4 feet wide. Do there make it wider?

 

[Emzyyy]

I wouldn't use the chicken wire on runs though raccoons can bite right through it I would use the hardware cloth though I have a dog run so I don't now much of the hardware cloth and stuff, someone else can answer those questions better than I can.

 

[Gonzo_MN]

Four feet wide is as wide as I've found it. You'll have to piece it together, but if you spaced your supports appropriately, it's not that hard to do. I used 1/4" hardware cloth for burying around the run, and 1/2" for the walls. I used two layers of chicken wire for the "ceiling" of the run. Best place for me was Fleet Farm.

Good Luck!

 

[SoCalPeeps]

They make clips, can't remember the name but I think it was "quix clip" or something like that that you can use to connect together the hardware cloth to make it wider. They're basically metal bands that you wrap around the 2 pieces and crimp. some people use tye wraps but they deteriorate in the sun.

I used chicken wire for my run floor, sides and top. We're suburban in a tract house but we back up to a 1/4 mile easement. I've seen racoons in the area but none around my house. I've got a Rhodisian Ridgeback and a Golden Retriever that spend much of the day outside and the chickens are all locked up in the coop at night so I don't think I'll have a problem. The coop itself is protected with hardware cloth at all the window and other openings.

I would have used the hardware cloth for everything but at 4 times the cost of chicken wire in an already WAY over budget project, I opted for the chicken wire to save money. It already seems a bit overboard with about $800 bucks into a chicken "prison" for $16 worth of birds. It's going to be about 20 years before the eggs are "free"

 

[Sissy]

We would not waste our money again on chicken wire.
we learned the hard way, by losing 7 from our flock
by some critter.Use hardware cloth it will save you time and $$$.

 

[shelleyd2008]

I believe they do make a chicken wire that is 60", so 5 feet. It seems they make one that is 6' as well, but the 3 or 4 foot wire is easier to find. But you wouldn't need it to be that tall, unless you want it big enough for you to go in. My bantams' tractors will only be about 2' high, since this is the wire I have on-hand.

And I believe the wire connectors are J-clips, though I could be mistaken. These are used to make cages, hence connecting wire to wire.

 

[teach1rusl]

Quote:
LOL!!! I SO agree! There's no such thing as a free egg, is there??? I've been amazed at how much my run will cost as I've been planning it...

 

[Mahlzeit]

I personally use the green garden fencing around my run. Its 1" by 2". It's stronger than chicken wire and nicer to look through than they hardware cloth.

 

[geosheets]

Quote:
I haven't seen 1x2 vinyl coated... mind sharing where you are getting it and what kind of price?

 

[SoCalPeeps]

Quote:
I was looking at that originally as well but I figured some of the smaller predators could still get through, like rats or skunks (maybe????). I've also heard of raccoons reaching in and grabbing heads off chickens and the 1X2 wire wouldn't prevent that. But seeing as I used chicken wire anyway and they could all probably chew through it I guess it wouldn't matter.

I'll just put trust in the dogs during the day and the hardware clothed coop at night.