Coop Wire Question..

[Lach Cnoc Farm]

Has anyone ever used 2"x 2" welded 16 gauge wire for their run?

I've used chicken wire in the past but it's always such a pain in the butt to install. I was thinking this might be easier and maybe look a little better.

Everyone would be locked in at night in a nice secure coop so I'm not too worried about predators. There would also be an interior layer of hardware cloth or some other type of small-hole fencing to keep any chicks in.

Edited for spelling errors.

 

[Snakeoil]

My wire is very similar to what your considering, and like you my birds are locked up at night so security during the day is not a problem.

 

[Lach Cnoc Farm]

The wire im considering is about $52 a roll. About how much is the type that you used? Thank you for the reply, I like the way that wire looks too.

 

[Snakeoil]

I think the price you quoted is for 50', mine for 100' was $109

 

[RendonRoo]

I used the 2x4 welded wire myself and i've been very happy with it.

 

[pattyjean73]

I too am thinking of using something similar to the 2x2 (or whatever I can find). The one concern I would have in regards to that is this...

When a hen hatches her eggs and raises her own babies (my mother's hens done this frequently) wouldn't the chicks be able to slip through the wire and get separated from their mom?

 

[patandchickens]

As the original poster said, you add hardwarecloth or 1/2" chickenwire or even just plastic garden mesh with small holes, along the bottom 2' or so, to keep heads and chicks inside

Pat

 

[cimarron]

we used just hardware cloth for our run. it seems to be just right and i think it's quite a bit less expensive than the price quoted above.

 

[pattyjean73]

Somehow I missed the hardware cloth addition.

In that case I think it would certainly be effective and doable... but alot of work.

If you're buying new, It would probably cost the same or maybe even less if you just went ahead and bought 1x2 wire that is often used for rabbit hutches... or even 1/2x1 or 1/2x2 in a heavy gauge. I would think it would still have the rigidity.

 

[Grammahen]

We used welded wire from Home Depot. Paid about $40.00 for 50 ft.
It really takes 2 people to put it up. Boy, I hated that part. glad it's done. You can't see it well, but there is black netting on top pulled tight. That went up like a breeze! Still need to do more preditor proofing like buring wire on the outside. I wasn't going to put hardware wire on the bottom until I read another post tonight about how she lost her chickens to a preditor. Now I will.