chicken wire vs welded wire?

[absinor]

Total newbie here!!! We're designing our coop right now. I have three 1 week-old chicks. We have already built the frame of a day tractor that (we hope) can either be moved around or docked up to the run on the coop to give some extra run space.

The price of welded wire is really making my husband want to use chicken wire.

The coop design we are leaning toward is this one:

I'm going to bury a welded wire bottom for protection but without the chickens having to stand on it. The day tractor is going to have an open bottom.

The chickens will theoretically be safe inside the coop at night. I think the day time predators to consider here in Portland OR are cats and hawks and maybe crows (?). At night we've got racoons, possums, rats.

I was planning to drape bird netting over the day tractor for extra protection.

So...given all this, can I use chicken wire or should I invest in welded wire?

Thanks for any advice! Anyone from Portland who knows of other predators, I would love to know that too!

 

[dftkarin]

I'm interested on the answer to this too. I'm in New England and have 4 young chicks and a friend made me a daytime tractor 3'x5' by 2.5' tall, completely enclosed in chicken wire. I hope it will be okay during the daytime.

 

[maine egg man]

I built that same coop and used chicken wire
it is working out just fine,

 

[jpajcoll]

I would suggest that you use chicken wire so you know that it will be durable. I use the close thread chicken wire and it holds up really good.

 

[CritterHill]

I have been told repeatedly by folks here that raccoons will rip straight through chicken wire.

Also, I guarantee a good size dog could go right through it if you get a stray or neighbor's dog on the loose.

We went with welded wire because it was significantly stronger than chicken wire.

edited for spelling

 

[sunnydee]

I just built my coop last weekend! Bought 5 rolls of chicken wire, realized how flimsy and big the holes were and brought it back for the welded wire. I feel much safer!

 

[mackenziesmomma]

I'd get wire with only 1/4 to 1/2 inch openings. My chicken wire wasn't called chickenwire- hardware blanket or something like that. Not 100 sturdy but not super flimsy either.

 

[CritterHill]

Quote:
I have a huge run with a 6 foot tall fence. We couldn't afford to use 1/4 inch hardware cloth for all of it, so we did 2 inch x 4 inch opening 6 foot tall welded wire and then wrapped shorter 1/4 inch hardware cloth around the bottom 3 feet so that the raccoons couldn't reach in a grab a chicken (and so the chickens wouldn't stick their heads out and get them bitten off by dogs).

edited for spelling

 

[flakey chick]

Welded wire will be even more expensive if you are replacing chicken wire (& chickens). Although racoons are not "daytime" animals, they are sometimes active in the day- especially when they are at the teenager stage. They are also more likely to be active in the day in surburbia where they can raid garbage cans.

When my chicks were a few days old, a racoon ambled by the glass door and leered in at them during daylight hours. I was right there with them and it was < 10 feet away!

 

[wilds of pa]

If you are not gonna have a secure coop at night, what i mean if is your coop is not closed up tight each night..you'l want at least the 2x4 welded wire and then also go over it with poultry wire.

also bury wire in the ground at least 12" so it make it much harder for critter to dig under it..as for the top covering of the run,,,use flightop netting if you have a tightly closed coop at night, if not at least use poultry netting ovver the top of a run..Coons can chew through poultry netting with ease.. They are the toughest small critter i know of here, as i gues they are related to the bear family..

Remember increased attacks will come in fall and winter months as the food supplies are down and alot of young critters are searching for fast and easy meals...this includes air and ground critters

Charlie