Chicken Wire / Hardware cloth questions for run

[twentynine]

What ever type of wire you end up with, run a electric fence charger/wire on the run. Never lost a bird that was protected by charged wire.

You can get chicken wire 72" tall. Bought a 150' roll two weeks ago.

 

[anngili]

I use hardware cloth, overlap it a bit (tougher for something to slip through the join), and use clips to fasten the strips together. I also make sure that at least one edge of a strip is well-fastened to wood. I got my clips and the cheapest pliers for them from www.randallburkey.com . I found them on this page: http://www.randallburkey.com/Cage-Building/products/18/ .

I use the loxit rings and they seem to attach and work well for me but I'm mainly using them on the hardware cloth that's under the bottom of the run (did I mention I have lots of predators around here, especially coons and snakes?). With the special pliers putting the rings on is very fast and efficient. After a little bit of practice I'm actually faster with them than with the zip ties.

They come in a couple of sizes and the hog rings are like heavier versions. They're made for use with the hog wire panels that you see at farm supply stores and they might be too big for hardware cloth but they should work great for fencing made from thicker wire.

 

[elmo]

I bought hardware cloth 48" wide, but I ran it vertically and built my framing on 48" centers. I ran it all the way from one side of my run, over the top and down the other side. That way I didn't have to make very many cuts of the wire roll, too, and since I was using a hand cutter, I appreciated that shortcut a lot.

 

[CityChicker]

We have used the cage rings like anngili posted for many years. I *love* them for cage/run building. If you used a wire that is heavy enough gauge, they make frames unnecessary. We have some runs right now that are 4 x 14 feet 1 x 2 welded wire held together with cage rings (no frames of any sort). They have been strong enough that they have kept out foxes and whatever other predators we have. We even used them for our Macaw and Cockatoo cages for years with great success.

 

[patandchickens]

How wide (high) a roll of <whatever type> wire fencing you can get seems to vary GREATLY from place to place. Even the types that are available vary from place to place -- only this year have I seen green vinyl-coated metal hardwarecloth in stores here, but apparently some folks elsewhere have had it available for some years.

Because of the high costs of shipping big heavy rolls of fence wire, the only thing that's really relevant is what you can actually GET in your area. Make sure you ask about what's available by special order, if you're wanting like a roll or two (not just ten feet

), because store employees won't always volunteer that possibility -- but even so, you will just have to see what your choices are and pick accordingly.

It's not such a terrible thing to have to seam two pieces horizontally, if you can't get 5' or 6' tall stuff. Use lotsa cage-clips or hog rings, or sew the pieces together with some good-sized galvanized wire (like at least 16 gauge).

And even if you know people who've used chickenwire for years with no problems, if you're thinking of using it yourself, please browse the 'something killed all my chcikens' type threads in the Predators and Pests section to see what does happen on a fairly regular if unpredictable basis.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[joncro55]

Hey guys, just bought some wire mesh and after stumbling upon this forum, I figured I would throw you guys the name of the source in case anyone out there is still looking for rolls of this material....

Belleville Wire Cloth
Cedar Grove, NJ
800-631-0490

Worth a call or visit their website.

Just bought a roll of 2 x 2 wire mesh, 100' length and 48" width for a very good price, shipped and delivered quickly.

FYI!

 

[m_shuman]

I am new at this but we are fencing our entire run with 1/4" by 1/4" hardwire cloth. It is 4' wide and we are going to space our posts 3' 8" apart and cut the hardwire to 7' lenghts and run it from top to bottom on the posts burying 1' into the ground. I bought ours from a local feed store that carries agricultural fencing. They had to special order it for me but I found it waasn't that much more than chicken wire. I paid $120 for a 4' by 100' roll.

Now for a funny story my granmother told me about why I shouldn't use chickenwire. They went out of town one summer on vacation and left their renter to care for their chickens. When they called home they asked their renter if everything was OK. She said everything is fine but it has been so hot here that the chickens heads are exploding! Needless to say it wasn't the heat causing the chickens heads to explode it was a racoon tring to get dinner!

This little story from my beloved 77 year old grandma was enough for me to decide to get hardwire because I certainly don't want my chickens heads to expolde. It might be a little to traumatizing to my kids.

 

[elmo]

Quote:
Sorry, but just coating chicken wire with vinyl isn't going to make it resist a critter's teeth any more than just the wire underneath. Chicken wire is weak two ways: the gauge of the wire is usually pretty high (meaning the wire is thin), and the structure of the wire is weak because the pieces of wire are woven together rather than welded.

Bottom line, don't count on it to keep raccoons (or dogs) out of your run.