Chicken wire strength...

[BYCforlife]

I see so many people against chicken wire. Hardware mesh for the win, I guess.

I buy 1" galvanized chicken wire from my local farm store. It's STRONG!

If everybody talking about how bad chicken wire is means the 2" stuff, you are absolutely correct! That stuff is crazy weak. It feels like it was made from that wire people use for crafts.

I just can't imagine a predator ripping through the chicken wire I have. My cow has access to the inside door of my coop, which is chicken wire. She used it as a scratching wall. It ripped the staples out, but the chicken wire didn't come untwisted or anything.

I use it whenever I make doors for my coops, brooder covers, and windows. Yeah, it stretches, but I have never seen a hole ripped in the wire, nor have I been able to on the scraps I experiment on.

What are your thoughts? Am I underestimating the strength of a hungry animal, or do most people only have access to 2" chicken wire?

 

[Folly's place]

Also, rats and weasels can get through it easily. Only 1/2" hardware cloth will keep them out. For extra protection against large dogs (do you have bears?) I have 2"x4" woven wire over my hardware cloth on the lower 4' of my run.
Chicken wire works fine, until it fails, and you have a pile of dead chickens.
Mary

 

[aart]

What are your thoughts? Am I underestimating the strength of a hungry animal, or do most people only have access to 2" chicken wire?

I suspect that 1" CW is stronger than 2" CW...there's way more wire and more 'twists' so it's structurally stronger, tho both may be the same gauge wire(diameter of the wire itself). Gauge of wire could be an important difference. 2" holes would be easier for an animal to get it's mouth well into it too.

Yeah, your examples of cows and human hands does not take into account the teeth of hungry carnivores. I think that the folks who swear they've used CW for years and it kept all the predators out, have not actually had the CW challenged by carnivore teeth powered by an empty belly.

Chicken wire works fine, until it fails,

Exactly.

 

[roosterhavoc]

Yes. I’ve seen a raccoon chew through a snare made of galvanized air craft cable. It’s not the norm but they can chew and rip apart chicken wire.

 

[50-45-1]

Chicken wire is better at keeping chickens in than keeping predators out. I had a neighbor who built raised cages for his birds and kept finding birds with missing legs and heads. The raccoons would reach in and pull out and eat what ever they could reach. Also as stated before a weasel will fit thru a mouse sized hole, and will kill dozens of birds in one night.

 

[jvls1942]

chicken wire has it's place.
I can attest that the wire that is available
these days is a far cry from the stout wire we used to buy 50 years ago..
chicken wire is OK for keeping chickens confined.. it will slow down a determined hungry raccoon for a little while..
I use cyclone fence with a chicken wire attached from the bottom,up to two feet high..
all of my cages are wood with hardware cloth attached..
fyi.. if you keep your eyes peeled, you can pick up cyclone fence very inexpensively ..

 

[BYCforlife]

Chicken wire as the only defense is not a wise choice , the thickness of the metal is subpar for uv rays and wild or hungry animals ...

We have raccoons and coyotes, the only problem we’ve had was with loose dogs,

If the few cents you save now are worth the loss of an established flock , go for it . I’d rather build it as good and strong as I can afford and only do it one time .

Good luck ,
Cows don’t eat chicken meat

The reason I use chicken wire is because it comes in 5 or 6 foot high rolls, which makes it much easier to set up a run. 3 foot high hardware mesh is inconvenient to work with in a large run, as you would need to build it out of wood to staple the mesh to halfway up your 6 foot fence.

I care about my chickens, as everybody should. The original intent for this thread was to tell everyone what I personally thought about the chicken wire I buy. If I didn't care about my chickens, I wouldn't own them.

Haha! You never know, my angry steer is unpredictable with what he eats.

 

[RWise]

The 1" also seems heavier here, the 2" is not worth tossing in the trash (I will never buy another). I dont have issue with predators ripping any of it up, the chickens put their head through the 2" and pushed, it certainly came unwound.
My issue with the 1" is new hatches can step through it, so it will not do what I need (until the chicks are like 5-10 days old.

 

[chickens really]

I use Mesh because it keeps out the mice too..
I have Chicken wire on my screen door my Husband built. He doubled it up.

 

[BYCforlife]

I suspect that 1" CW is stronger than 2" CW...there's way more wire and more 'twists' so it's structurally stronger, tho both may be the same gauge wire(diameter of the wire itself). Gauge of wire could be an important difference. 2" holes would be easier for an animal to get it's mouth well into it too.

Yeah, your examples of cows and human hands does not take into account the teeth of hungry carnivores. I think that the folks who swear they've used CW for years and it kept all the predators out, have not actually had the CW challenged by carnivore teeth powered by an empty belly.


Exactly.

At least where I buy it from, the 2" chicken wire is for sure a bigger gauge, and on top of the 4x bigger hole, it is junk.

Ah, that makes sense. I forgot about teeth.

I'm definitely not swearing by it, but I do think it is sufficient where I live.