Hardware cloth versus welded wire.

[21hens-incharge]

I cut the sides of the sheet so there is a lot of wire poking out and then wrap the wire around the existing wire. I guess I didn't wrap it enough times and he just pushed it out. I didn't know how strong raccoons are when I did this; I thought it would be like keeping out a house cat. Lesson learned! It's like this:
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Have you seen cage clips? They take special pliers. The clips and pliers are both inexpensive.

 

[21hens-incharge]

I didn't see where you replied to anyone, I just got the notification and assumed it was OP who replied to my post. I didnt even look.

My bad. I did fail to insert the quote.

 

[21hens-incharge]

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/catalog/cage-clips

This is what they look like.

 

[Mrs. K]

I am starting over, we went with a pretty large square and chicken wire, and then some more fencing, and we just cannot get it tight. The !@#!$$@^%&#^%*$&**%^$# coons I swear check it all the time, and eventually loosened a whole section that looks closed until you touch it.

I am ready to give up, but thank God, my DH has taken this as a challenge. I hate coons.
Mrs K

 

[swampfox440]

I am starting over, we went with a pretty large square and chicken wire, and then some more fencing, and we just cannot get it tight. The !@#!$$@^%&#^%*$&**%^$# coons I swear check it all the time, and eventually loosened a whole section that looks closed until you touch it.

I am ready to give up, but thank God, my DH has taken this as a challenge. I hate coons.
Mrs K

Good luck Mrs K

 

[3KillerBs]

Raccoons are crazy strong.

Indeed.

I will get a photo tomorrow with the morning light at the right angle, but there is a mended spot on my coop where a presumed raccoon *almost* got through the hardware cloth. We didn't see the raccoon, but the only things in that town strong enough would have been a large raccoon or a large dog.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

The 16 gauge wire is better/ stronger than the 19 gauge. @BesideStillWaters. With wire, the lower the number on the gauge the better. The first “wildlife” I saw when I moved into this house back in 2018 was a weasel. So with that in mind I went with the HC when I built my chicken run. My main coop is a converted 8 x 10 foot shed. I’ve since added motion sensor lights and that helps to scare off the hungry visitors.

 

[Sally PB]

With wire, the lower the number on the gauge the better.

Think of the gauge number as the denominator of a fraction. 1/16 is bigger than 1/19. But the fraction is not the actual size of the wire; it's just a way to compare different gauges to understand which is thicker.

 

[MissE]

16 gauge welded wire is strong enough to hold its shape when used for rabbits cages. 1/2×1 is the typical size used for rabbits, and is generally much more expensive than 1/2×1/2 19 gauge hardware cloth. So long as you can secure it well, it will work, but I would hate to use it for a large area. It's hard to shape. I used a 2x4 and a rubber mallet to bend it into shape for cages. Between that and the lineman pliers used to cut it, my hands would ache for days. How I wish I wouldn't have stopped growing when I was 12...

 

[sharrielee]

Until I joined this site, I didn't realize chicken wire wasn't good. Yesterday, a raccoon proved this to be true as it tore up weeks worth of work. Thankfully, it couldn't get into the house so all the chickens are safe, but we are going to redo the run and get rid of the chicken wire since it is useless. We already bought some welded wire, but I've seen a lot of people on here talk about hardware cloth. So in your opinion, which is better?

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I reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally don't want to hear something banging on metal, go outside to investigate, and find this again:

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