Chicken wire or hardware cloth?

[pennyJo1960]

Buy the hardware cloth on Amazon get lot's more bang for the buck

 

[Lazy Farmer]

The strength is in the welded wire fencing. The chicken wire only keeps the chicken's heads in and snakes out. The heavy duty fencing could keep I German Sheppard out.
To each their own. I'm a farmer with close to 200 Birds at the moment. Hardware cloth would bankrupt me on my scale. Follow you instincts. Do what you think is best.
I'm sure what ever you use will be fine and within your budget. Everyone's budget is different.
Good luck.. Best regards..

 

[itsalladream]

I just priced this out of curiosity, and it seems to come out to around the same amount. It's about $80 for 1/2 in 4' x 50' hardware cloth, then it's about $40 for 1 in 4' x 50' chicken wire, and $40 for 4' x 50' welded wire fencing. I need those dimensions for the size of run I am building. Am I missing something here???

Buy the hardware cloth on Amazon get lot's more bang for the buck

I was just about to suggest this as well. The below links to 48" x 50' of 1/2" mesh for $62.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001QINT6M/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[ChickenCanoe]

If your birds will be locked in secure buildings at night, Farmer Connie's approach will work fine for most predators. While hardware cloth is the best for all openings, I prefer to put them in buildings with big ventilation at night rather than spend that much money on HC. I have up to 8 free range flocks, but with roosters for daytime predator protection.
Keep in mind that most predators are great climbers. No predator can climb like a raccoon. Living in the city means very little. There are 10 times as many raccoons per sq. mile in cities than in wilderness areas. Weasels can be in cities and can squeeze into 1" openings. Foxes, coyotes, weasels and even bobcat have been sighted in the city here.
Don't forget that dogs are one of the worst.

 

[nerfworthy]

@ChickenCanoe , would that method work if I don't have a rooster? I cannot legally own a rooster in within city limits so I have 10 pullets. To give you an idea of my coop, the run itself will be a fully enclosed area about 700sqft with a hen house inside that will have a door and lock. I could potentially lock up the girls at night but will they be alright with just chicken wire during the day without a rooster if I do that?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

They may be OK with just chicken wire if only in there during the day and it is completely enclosed.
If you build it, they will come. There are no guarantees.
I like the run attached to one side of the coop so the coop doesn't eat up pen space.