Chicken wire vs. hardware cloth vs. welded wire

[mseely]

I'm hoping to gather a lot of information, thoughts and opinions on this. I'm designing a new run for my set up and see a large mix of what people use. So far I've gather:

Chicken wire- cheapest option, weakest option should be used to keep chickens in not things out.

Welded wire- cheaper than hardware cloth

Hardware cloth- best option, and most expensive.

I have 150 ft of chicken wire at my house that I could use free of charge for this project. I'm wondering if anyone has had luck doubling up chicken wire. Or if I could use a variety of the different wires on my run. Say use hardware cloth to bury and go up to 3 feet and then transition to chicken wire and use poultry netting on top.

About my location: I live in a wooded neighborhood and we have raccoons and a fox. The coons are the only thing that has ever gotten my chickens due to late lock up or other random happenings. I have a dog and three cats who do a pretty good job at warding off everything but there are always those couple of times when something does get one.

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

Don’t use chicken wire. It keeps chickens in but doesn’t keep predators out. It’s also very malleable. Use 1/2” hardware clothe, it may not be cheap but it will keep your chickens safe.

 

[gimmie birdies]

Depends on how old your chicks are, I have 5 that are 8 weeks old, the chicken wire kept them in, but one did get neck and wing stuck in it.(I had to rescue it) I try and put smaller mesh at the chick level.

 

[GC-Raptor]

I used 1/2" hardware cloth around the bottom of my raised coop, 1/4" hardware cloth covering upper vents.
I used 2"x 4" welded wire for the pen. GC

 

[GC-Raptor]

 

[sirrobyn0]

Say use hardware cloth to bury and go up to 3 feet and then transition to chicken wire and use poultry netting on top.

That is what I would do, and hopefully the chicken wire you have is the smaller weave. Don't try doubling up the wire I've done that and all you end up with is a mess, that isn't much better at keeping stuff out than chicken wire, but is really good at trapping stuff in it. When I built my coop we did chicken wire and covered the top with netting. Later I had to go back and bury hardware cloth and run it up the sides of the run, mine is maybe only a foot high. Sure it would be best to make the entire thing out of hardware cloth, but that gets expensive really quick. I think that the 3 foot plan will work very well for you.

 

[tjo804]

I had to plywood over my chicken wire run. It gets old rusts and breaks.
A couple things to toss around.
You get what you pay for. I sadly lost beloved hens and wish I would have done more research.
AND That Raccoon already knows where your chickens live. They can climb very well.

 

[mseely]

I had to plywood over my chicken wire run. It gets old rusts and breaks.
A couple things to toss around.
You get what you pay for. I sadly lost beloved hens and wish I would have done more research.
AND That Raccoon already knows where your chickens live. They can climb very well.

Agree, I just don't have the money to as large of a run in hardware cloth. I've actually never lost a hen near my coop, although the raccoons probably know where they live they wouldn't dare come close. My dogs killed more than a few coons so I think they stay away. I've only lost three hens to a coons and that's because they've wander farther than they should of.

 

[mseely]

That is what I would do, and hopefully the chicken wire you have is the smaller weave. Don't try doubling up the wire I've done that and all you end up with is a mess, that isn't much better at keeping stuff out than chicken wire, but is really good at trapping stuff in it. When I built my coop we did chicken wire and covered the top with netting. Later I had to go back and bury hardware cloth and run it up the sides of the run, mine is maybe only a foot high. Sure it would be best to make the entire thing out of hardware cloth, but that gets expensive really quick. I think that the 3 foot plan will work very well for you.

Thanks! I think I'm going to try it and see, I appreciate everyone's opinions though this is why I started this thread!

 

[snow5164]

So many things to think about ,just don’t waste your money on nylon hardware cloth .. yes it’s at tsc,supposed to hold up to 200 pounds so we did the roof of our run. Two summers later our 15 pound cat fell threw it !!funniest thing I’ve ever seen !! He was stunned and just looked at us “ HELP!!!”