For the run... hardware cloth or chicken wire??

[Shamo Hybrid]

My thing is, if you're gonna invest time into doing something..... mind as well do it right and the way you want it. Unless of course you're penny pinching and have chicken wires laying around and baby needs diapers and milk, then chicken wires should suffice.

 

[Flamens Farm]

I use rabbit (hardware) fencing only where there are going to be little ones so they can't get out, I don't really care for the rabbit fence because it comes apart too easily on the edges if you have to cut it to dimensions other than its original size. The small netting chicken wire is the one I use on all my pens because it is interwoven and not welded together. Never had any animal break through the fence. My pens all have fence in the ground and over the top.

 

[TheSillyDingo]

I also agree with the hardware cloth. I have used chicken wire in the past and had not such friendly things come in during the day that if I had used hardware cloth...it wouldn't have happened.

 

[Peppercorngal]

My thing is, if you're gonna invest time into doing something..... mind as well do it right and the way you want it. Unless of course you're penny pinching and have chicken wires laying around and baby needs diapers and milk, then chicken wires should suffice.

I built my chicken coop and run exactly the way it needed to be. I live on Social Security and my egg business helps with a few extra dollars. I didn't "pinch" pennies at all. It's safe for the chickens and that is what matters. I spent about $1,000 building the coop for them so the bears and lions can't get in. If you like hardware cloth and have money falling out of your pockets, by all means, buy hardware cloth, it's up to you.

 

[micstrachan]

My run is chicken wire, because I didn’t know better at the time, but I plan to upgrade to hardware cloth. It has worked so far, but issecured to a little skirt like a baseboards the coop has hardware cloth over all windows and air vents.

 

[uknotku]

With the thought that Raccoons can tear through most any wire and operate combination locks, I'm not sure that there is anything we can do to keep chickens safe...

 

[BreanneRN]

If you use chicken wire, you have to use something else with it... I make runs out of 11 gauge chainlink, then line with 1" chicken wire. I think of what I want to keep out before I think about what I want to keep in, but you have to do both. The 1" wire keeps the baby chicks in and the heads of the chickens from sticking out and keep the wild birds and squirrels from gobbling up all the chicken food. The chainlink will keep the big stuff and quite a bit of the little stuff out. I bury extra fence around the outside perimeter and use railroad ties to hold down extra wire on the ground around the coop. Roofing is 2 16 ft cattle/stock panels covered with 1" galvanized chicken wire, maybe some shade cloth and sometimes attach some tin roofing for shade/rain protection, but that goes on top of the chicken wired cattle panels. I use cattle panels so much that virtually every pen is 8ft/16ft. It won't keep small snakes out, but that is about all. I don't have many snakes here. I like the chainlink because it is easy to repair, goes up like tinker toys, resistant to dogs (my daughter adopted a Shiba Inu from the dog shelter and it is possibly the worst farm dog ever, there is nothing here she doesn't want to eat for dinner including the horse), Needless to say, she has her own special run... The reason I don't use hardware cloth is that it is hard to attach to metal and wood deteriorates so rapidly here due to termites. I just don't have time for the extra maintenance that wood entails, and chain link will last practically forever. You do have to avoid some of those manufactured kennels from china that are basically cheap pieces of junk, commonly sold at the building supply stores and TSC... But some portable clamp together dog kennels are well-made and available used on Craigslist.

 

[NonnasBabies]

I built my chicken coop and run exactly the way it needed to be. I live on Social Security and my egg business helps with a few extra dollars. I didn't "pinch" pennies at all. It's safe for the chickens and that is what matters. I spent about $1,000 building the coop for them so the bears and lions can't get in. If you like hardware cloth and have money falling out of your pockets, by all means, buy hardware cloth, it's up to you.

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Your coop looks great. I had nothing but chicken wire on mine like yours and it worked well for the 10 years I had them in there. My coop was rotting was the only reason it was removed! I will prob go welded wire next time just because it's easier to work with!