Hardware cloth - what it is, and what it is not - duck security issue

[Amiga]

Recently I learned that some folks in my area are not saying the same thing I mean when using the term hardware cloth.

This could potentially lead to disaster for ducks, so I will pass this along.

Hardware cloth, to my understanding, is a wire mesh. Metal wire. Fairly heavy duty stuff. Many of us use it to keep predators out of duck housing. Duck lives depend on it.

I met someone who told me that there was no way hardware cloth was any good against raccoons. I was intrigued by the statement.

A little while later, this person saw some hardware cloth I was installing on a new shed. "Wow. That will keep raccoons out, for sure!"

I was confused.

Not long after that, another person told me there was hardware cloth on the shelf in the shed. When I looked, what I saw was plastic poultry fence.

Hmmmm.

Sure enough, the term hardware cloth seems to be used by some to refer to the plastic temporary fence that may have a square weave or look a little like chicken wire.

So, for me, I plan to make extra effort to explain exactly what hardware cloth is in the future, to people asking about securing their duck shelters. If anyone on the forum is using the plastic stuff, that is not much help, so look into the metal wire half inch hardware cloth.

 

[Apyl]

I've also known people to refer to window screen as hardware cloth and refer to hardware cloth as chicken wire.

 

[Going Quackers]

Interesting, it would explain why some have varying results... although i thought i'd test and typed in hardware cloth into a store here(TSC) up comes exactly what it is.. a heavy wire coming in different lengths and so forth..




are some stores miss labeling it? The store i checked is a farm supply/country type store.. i know my feed stores when i say hardware cloth they know exactly what I am referring too, i actually lucked out last year and got coated.. so my windows have green hardware cloth!

 

[Going Quackers]

I've also known people to refer to window screen as hardware cloth and refer to hardware cloth as chicken wire.

How odd? they are no correlation.

 

[Apyl]

How odd? they are no correlation.

I think it has to do with the idea clothe is flimy and screen is too. As for calling it chicken wire I can see since more times than not its actually used for poultry. lol I guess it just all depends on the area.

 

[Going Quackers]

I think it has to do with the idea clothe is flimy and screen is too. As for calling it chicken wire I can see since more times than not its actually used for poultry. lol I guess it just all depends on the area.

Perhaps, as i said if i type hardware cloth in for my shops.. i get hardware cloth, chicken wire, it'll sometimes be called poultry wire but i have yet to see labelled anything else, maybe it's a regional thing??

Can be a deadly mistake with such varying definitions however.

 

[Apyl]

Perhaps, as i said if i type hardware cloth in for my shops.. i get hardware cloth, chicken wire, it'll sometimes be called poultry wire but i have yet to see labelled anything else, maybe it's a regional thing??

Can be a deadly mistake with such varying definitions however.

Oh, I didnt say it was the stores calling it that. I said someone , as in a neigbor and a lady I introduced to chickens. Believe me I corrected them.

 

[Going Quackers]

Oh, I didnt say it was the stores calling it that. I said someone , as in a neigbor and a lady I introduced to chickens. Believe me I corrected them.

Gotcha! still my goodness, what a mess that misinformation could be.

 

[Amiga]

Interesting, it would explain why some have varying results... although i thought i'd test and typed in hardware cloth into a store here(TSC) up comes exactly what it is.. a heavy wire coming in different lengths and so forth..




are some stores miss labeling it? The store i checked is a farm supply/country type store.. i know my feed stores when i say hardware cloth they know exactly what I am referring too, i actually lucked out last year and got coated.. so my windows have green hardware cloth!

I don't know how it started. I recall learning the term and thinking cloth would hang like fabric or screening, but soon saw that this "cloth" is firm and really kinda wicked to work with, as it is springy, and cut ends are like a rake of needles (in my tin hat moments, I feel that hardware cloth hates me and tries to maim if not kill me . . . but that is another story).

One person who called the plastic stuff hardware cloth was a master gardener . . . wondering if the training is where she picked up the term. Well, doesn't matter as much as realizing that when I tell someone to cover the area with hardware cloth, I take the time to thoroughly explain. Thinking of taking a sample with me so I can show people what h.w. cloth is.

I appreciate all your observations, and thanks, Going Quackers, for checking it out online. Would hate to have stores selling the poultry fence or screening as hardware cloth. yikes.

 

[veronicasmom]

Hardware cloth is a misnomer. My husband bought some to wrap the trees in the horses turnouts and was griping about working with it. Thought he was just being a whiner. Then I went out to look. Man that stuff IS nasty to use. But it does work well to secure animals in or out of a pen. Guess you are right, we need to be really specific on certain things. Regional terms are so confusing some times. (Moving from NJ to MA as a teen and hearing everyone talk about drinking "tonic" as my first example of this. Thought are you people nuts? Turns out it was their term for soda. HA!)