fencing

The only thing we use hardware cloth ( wire) for is the rabbit hutch. I found it at a lumber yard, but was pretty pricey. A 3 ft tall x 5 ft long roll, was 8.00. eeek! Too rich for my blood....especially when thinking of doing a whole run!

 

Hardware cloth is pretty spendy. It comes in all different mesh sizes, widths and lengths. You need to head down to a Lowe's, Home Depot, Tractor Supply, etc and look at all the different fencing selections on the shelves. As with anything you get what you pay for...

 

i just bought 1/4" hardware cloth, 8 rolls of 3' x 10' @ $10 a pop.

you can get shorter rolls, or ones with larger diameter "holes" instead of the 1/4".

not cheap but i only plan on doing this once. and we used a dog kennel/chain link fence too.

buried the kennel fencing and some of the hardware cloth as best I could, but tree roots and huge rocks made this almost impossible.

what i have found easiest with the hardware cloth ...

unroll is first. i used a bunch of bricks to hold down one end as i walked on it and unrolled it as i went along. wear work gloves unrolling it, there are some sharp points!

i then used wire to attach it to the dog kennel fencing, kinda like a twist tie on your wonder bread. (i used pliers to twist the wire) i left the sharp points on it facing out, hoping this will further deter any predetors.

the hardware cloth went on much neater if i faced the "inside" of the roll onto the fencing.

hope this helps.

 

I really like the hardware cloth wish I could have my whole run done in it. One day I may redo it but for now its half chain link & half 2x4 welded wire. I have a mom & pop type building supply not far from me that sells hardware cloth 48"x100' for $60 bucks. I think that is a deal because if they cut it then they charge a arm & a leg! I didn't want a 100' roll only wanted 10' they charged me $30 for it.

 

Rosyposyosy: Did you ever decide what to make your fence out of?

ratlummountain: Did you put your hardware wire on the inside of the fence or the outside?

Poison Ivy: You are so lucky to have found some hardware wire that is 48" tall. I have looked at Lowe's and Rural King, but they only have it 36" tall. I did see it online 48" tall in different length rolls online, but what a hassle to order......mailing fees, etc. I'll try the mom/pop stores. This is off subject, but someone sent me the thread about your auto chicken door. Sounds like you really love it.

 

Quote:Rose,

Because hardware cloth is so dense in terms of the hole pattern, it tends to be fairly rigid. If you look at this photo, you will see that I used that material to line the bottom of raised bed boxes for our garden. You can also see how well it flattened out. The wire is attached with 1" staples, just like you would use for chicken wire.


If you think about a wooden framework such as many runs are created where there are posts and rails, you could simply attach this hardware cloth vertically instead of horizontally, and end up with very flat wall surfaces.

The key here is that you should staple the fencing to one end, then roll it out to the other end. Have someone apply tension so that it is tight - and proceed to setting your staples evenly along the length of the run.

Hope that helps.

 

Our Home Depot has 48" 1/2" hardware cloth. We just bought a roll this spring, for the new chicken tractor. My DH brought it home as a present, instead of flowers. He really knows me.