Chicken wire mesh or welded wire fencing ?

[M Brennen]

thank you. what is a hot wire ?

I would assume a hot wire means electric fence.

 

[aart]

thank you. what is a hot wire ?

I would assume a hot wire means electric fence.

Yes.

Here's some good info:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/a-treatise-on-electric-fences-for-poultry.72229/

 

[momof12]

Yes.

Here's some good info:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/a-treatise-on-electric-fences-for-poultry.72229/

thank you, that is what we have decided to do, my husband is on it !!!

 

[ryder lake]

Due to covid, everyone is putting up animals, there is a shortage here for hardware cloth 1/2 x 1/2 squares. we are building a chicken tractor and I am trying to decide if I use chicken wire (not my first choice). PVC covered chicken wire or 2 by 4 in welded wire. we have no racooons or snake predators to worry about but we do have a fisher cat that routinely prowls through our area. Which do you all recommend and why ? My husband thought we could simply double wrap with chicken wire

welded wire is the best 2x4 is good but there is one problem with that, chickens tend to put there heads thru wire to get weeds or grass on the other side, this can make them easy prey for coons, weasels, ect they are very clever they will wait for chickens to do this then snatch them by the head or neck and eat what they can. use welded mesh but put along the bottom a fine mesh like 1/2 inch about 16 inches tall this will prevent this situation from happening, also welded wire will also stop bigger predators like bears or cougars, a bear will just tear chicken wire to shreds believe me ive had it done. use welded plus small mesh along bottom.

 

[FoggyMountainMartin]

Try critterfence.com. i have had great service with them and pricing is very good

 

[Hooverlaw]

Due to covid, everyone is putting up animals, there is a shortage here for hardware cloth 1/2 x 1/2 squares. we are building a chicken tractor and I am trying to decide if I use chicken wire (not my first choice). PVC covered chicken wire or 2 by 4 in welded wire. we have no racooons or snake predators to worry about but we do have a fisher cat that routinely prowls through our area. Which do you all recommend and why ? My husband thought we could simply double wrap with chicken wire

Everbilt (Home Depot brand) sells19 gage ½ inch square welded wire mesh or hardware cloth which is what I’ve used to fence in our small flock kept in our large-ish chicken ranch, 18x42ft. It’s not easy to install this stuff but worth all the effort. I very recently ordered another few rolls are of the wire online from HD. Make sure to bury the wire mesh (hardware cloth) at least two feet deep continuing all the way around the enclosed area with a two foot wire “apron” buried well and angled close as possible to 90* pointing away from the upright wire fence toward the yard to defeat critters that want to dig their way in.

Also, be careful not to undermine the hardware cloth by allowing any overly aggressive gardner to weaken the hardware cloth wire with repeated, to-close weed whacker use, or by repeated riding mowers crashing into the wire Itself as both will destroy all your work within a few years time. Get a good slap stapler and heavy duty snips to cut and secure the wire to wood posts unless using metal posts where staples won’t work.

Sorry if it all sounds daunting but it’s really not. Good quality, heavy gauge welded wire mesh with no more than 1/2 inch squares (AKA Hardware Cloth) provides excellent protection for your chickens!

 

[aart]

Get a good slap stapler

Compression set staples aren't really the best thing to use, they won't hold against most preds.
Pneumatic staples 3/4" are much better if you don't want to hammer fence staples or use screws and washers(best bet).

 

[Maqui]

I got started with chickens when my neighbor gave me a hoop coop and 2 hens. He made his hoop coops with PVC covered with the 2x4 wire and chicken wire. He had coops like that for several years, I had mine for just over a year. Nothing ever got through the wire after the chickens. He did loose some from digging underneath though. I had the 2x4 under mine which did not keep chipmunks out but they never bothered the hens.

So, I think you'd be safe with 2x4 wire plus chicken wire inside it.

 

[Chickenclaude]

Due to covid, everyone is putting up animals, there is a shortage here for hardware cloth 1/2 x 1/2 squares. we are building a chicken tractor and I am trying to decide if I use chicken wire (not my first choice). PVC covered chicken wire or 2 by 4 in welded wire. we have no racooons or snake predators to worry about but we do have a fisher cat that routinely prowls through our area. Which do you all recommend and why ? My husband thought we could simply double wrap with chicken wire

Fischer cats are fierce hunters. Look on line for the hardware cloth. Better to get what your first choice is than settle and regret. I’m using vinyl coated chicken wire on a pvc tractor during the day but my coop has hardware cloth.

 

[StarChicken]

Due to covid, everyone is putting up animals, there is a shortage here for hardware cloth 1/2 x 1/2 squares. we are building a chicken tractor and I am trying to decide if I use chicken wire (not my first choice). PVC covered chicken wire or 2 by 4 in welded wire. we have no racooons or snake predators to worry about but we do have a fisher cat that routinely prowls through our area. Which do you all recommend and why ? My husband thought we could simply double wrap with chicken wire

When building brooders or chicken tractors, I generally use 2 x 4 welded wire to cover the frame, then use small mesh chicken wire over that. Grown chickens (in a chicken tractor) can't poke their heads through and baby chicks don't seem to be interested (in a brooder).

When I built my chicken yard and house, I used galvanized chain link fencing with 1" mesh poultry netting wrapped outside for security. I also used poultry netting over the top of my fence to keep out the hawks.