Hardware cloth 1/2" 19 gauge Or Chicken wire?

jimmywalt

Crowing
11 Years
Mar 24, 2013
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I'd like to construct a small enclosed run for out 3 chickens. They will live in a coop almost like the one pictured here.

My run will attach at the end, just past where the ramp ends (in my coop there's actually a small door at the end). The run will be about 8' long by 30" wide by 3' high. Covered on all sides and top.

I've priced out constructing with chicken wire and with hardware cloth. Total materials are $33 vs. $62 with the chicken wire the cheapest.

We are trying to do this on a shoestring budget so we need to save money.

We live in a subdivision and everyone has 7' wood fences around their property. I have never seen any raccoons, or anything like that. We only have squirrels in our neighborhood. Also, I would only have the run be accessible during the day.

So would chicken wire be ok?

Also will pressure treated lumber be ok, or is that bad for the chickens? I need something that won't rot.

Here is the coop they will live in once they are big enough (they are chicks right now).
 
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First I am going to say that 1" (one inch) chicken wire is much stronger than the two inch hex variety. Nothing is ever 100% varmint proof unless you buy a gun safe to house your birds.

A 1/2 x1/2 inch 18" wide apron of galvanized hardware cloth laid on the ground all the way around the outside portion of your pen will keep out 95% of the varmints especially those who like to dig and scratch in the dirt. Most average dogs, large coons, etc. are capable of chewing or tearing holes in chicken wire as well as ripping it loose from its attachment points.

Use real "U" shaped 1/4 inch fence staples to attach your wire whether you use chicken wire or hardware cloth. Make sure the staples are driven secure and deep into the wood. If you are using a soft wood to construct your coop frame, after the chicken wire or hardware cloth is stapled to the outsides of the wood frame, cover or fish plate the staples and wire edges with a 1X4 inch boards to make sure the staples hold and to back up and hold down the wire.

There is a green vinyl coated 1 inch chicken wire that handles rust better than most chicken wires. There is also a nice selection of 2X4 inch, 1X2 inch, 1X1 inch, and 1 X 1/2 inch welded fence wire that I think is heaver, stronger, and less expensive than 1/2 or 1/4 inch hardware cloth. When I first started dabbling in chickens for fun and not profit "chicken" wire was often referred to as "garden" fencing. Without care when installing "garden" fencing it will only keep your tomatoes from running off. You should only think of it as the final inter defense or moat. But as that it works well.

If any of you need it or want it, there is a horse wire or "no climb" wire that is 2X4 inches by 5 or 6 feet tall. It is constructed like "hog" wire or "field" fencing and will keep most hens in and a lot of vermin out.

At one time or the other I have used all the above (I think) kinds of wire fencing.

If using two layers of wire it is best to use "J" clips or else hog ringers to fasten both layers of wire together.

Link to small gauge welded wire:
http://www.ecvv.com/product/2993633.html
 
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My personal rule of thumb is that chicken wire is only good to keep your birds in. It won't keep much out.

Now here in colorado I have a ton of predators, hence I'm using hardware cloth all around, on top, and buried. You might be okay with chicken wire for a daytime-only run. But it's also quite possible you'll lose some birds that way.
 
Are you a gambling person? That's the way to think about it, you can spend the money now and know the fencing will be secure or you can go with the cheaper version and keep your fingers crossed. How will you react 2yrs from now when all your girls have names and feel like family to you and come out one morning to find half or more of them slaughtered by a wandering coon?

As mentioned above if it's only for daytime use then your odds of it being good enough go up tremendously. My girls will have 24/7 access to their run so I'm going with Hw cloth and bury it 1.5ft into the ground. But I'm also surrounded by woods and not neighbors and fences.

So it comes down to the gamble and how much you are willing to bet.
 
As has been noted here before, chicken wire will ONLY keep chickens IN, will NOT keep anything out. To truly protect your girls, go for the hardware cloth, yes, it's more expensive than chicken wire, but it WILL keep your girls safe, unlike the chicken wire.
 
Hardware cloth hands down. Not to be rude, but if the difference of less than $30 is your weighing options, you might want to rethink this endeavor. It will cost you more than $30 to replace three laying hens when the get eaten not to mention, like previously stated, that would be a very sad and frustrating day.
 
I'll respectfully disagree with others here. For a daytime run the chicken wire will probably be fine. There are plenty of people who use chicken wire and have never lost a bird. There is some risk but it isn't like using chicken wire is an absolute death sentence for your birds the way some make it sound. There are a lot of factors to consider and some of us have significantly lower likelihood of predators than others.

I'll justify what I am saying with the story of my neighbor has used rusty and loosely attached (the staples are backing out of the wood) chicken wire for many years on his daytime chicken run and never lost a bird to a predator getting into the run. We have raccoons, coyote, and foxes here but they don't seem to bother his chickens. He does secure them inside the coop at night which I believe helps.
 
My only thought is chicken wire doesn't last as long as hard ware cloth so you will spend your difference quickly by replacing the chicken wire. JS
 
My only thought is chicken wire doesn't last as long as hard ware cloth so you will spend your difference quickly by replacing the chicken wire. JS


i must Disagree with the above statements and the others

My run used chicken wire (2 layers of it) and have not lost a bird and nothing got in the runs. the key is to bury it down and away from the coop. I picked up some rolls of it at a garage sale so I had a ton of it.

In contrast my neighbor lost every one of his chickens he did not have the run roof covered and I have trapped and dispatched 22 raccoons over this past year.
 
Yeah, I think I just might go with the hardware cloth. It will look nicer and might even give some more support to the run that I'm going to build.

I plan to make mine look something like this (not with the coop though) and it's only going to be a max of 3' high x 8' long x 30" wide.

I would love to read the plans on how this pen was made.
http://creativecoops.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/K201-Med.-with-pen.jpg

 
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