Hardware cloth ???

[Frankie Lee]

OK so we are in the process of building a new coop, I bought my supplies mostly at the local Grange co-op and NO ONE has ever even mentioned using hardware cloth.... I bought 1 inch chicken wire to enclose the run. My gals have been in a coop made with no climb wire fencing since last year without a problem. Are you supposed to just put the hardwre cloth around the bottom section?

I am confused...LOL

 

[rgmcgi]

I believe hardware cloth is another term for wire mesh. if you used 1" you should be fine so long and you don't have any banty chicks in there. The bany chicks can get through the holes, but heavier breeds will be just fine. Rich

 

[CrittersNPets]

I live in heavy coon country and they tore through my small chicken wire. I went to our local hardware store and they had the hardware cloth. It comes in 1/4" and 1/2" inch I believe and our carries 2 ft (3, and 4) by 10 ft (or more). I know here in Oregon I've seen it at Home Depot and I expect most of the Coastal Farm etc carry it. Let me know if I can help more. I built my "ghetto" chicken tractor using the hardware cloth and screws and washer's to attatch it. This came from the predator links - suggested to keep critters from ripping it open or "eating" chick heads/feets through larger wire. I have seen some postings here where people used it around the bottom. Hope this helps.

 

[ARose4Heaven]

http://www.ehow.com/facts_5998581_hardware-cloth-made-out-of_.html


I recommend hardware cloth buried 6" deep all around your run and coop and at least 24" above ground. Anything with a grid larger than 1/2" is big enough for a rat to get through. Chickens sleep very soundly...so soundly that they do not even respond to a rat chewing on them until a lot of damage has been done.

 

[farmer_lew]

Hardware cloth comes in sizes ranging from 1/8 inch to 1/2 inch, and 2 ft - 4 ft widths. Rolls can be bought in, most commonly, 50 ft and 100 ft lengths. Some hardware stores will sell it by the foot.

I agree with burying some. I say minimum 6" deep and out from the coop/run at least 12". Go up the coop/run at least 2 ft, higher if possible. Going over poultry netting is ok, in fact I strongly recommend it. Poultry net alone is not enough protection. Use, at maximum, the 1/2 inch hardware cloth.

Hope this helps.


~Farmer Lew

 

[elmo]

Chicken wire won't keep out any predators other than hawks. It's not strong enough to keep out raccoons.

Hardware cloth is wire that's been welded at the intersection of the vertical and horizontal wires. That makes it stronger and more secure. Chicken wire is woven, meaning that two strands of wire are just twisted around each other. When a raccoon puts its paws on chicken wire it can pull an opening large enough to get inside. Another factor is that chicken wire is usually a pretty high gauge (that's a measure of the thickness of the wire). The higher the gauge, the thinner and weaker the wire.

Openings in wire larger than 1/2" by 1/2" allow for the danger of reach through predation: that's when a critter can reach in, grab a bird, and pull pieces of it out through the wire, bit by bit. It's ghastly. To prevent this, some people who use low gauge wire that has larger openings will wrap the bottom 2 or 3 feet of their fence with hardware cloth or even something solid.

To deter digging predators, you don't have to dig a trench and bury wire. You can attach a welded wire apron to the baseboards of your run, extending outwards flat on the ground about 2 feet or so, and staked down with landscaping staples. When a critter tries to dig in, it begins digging at the edge of the vertical fence, hits the apron, and doesn't realize that it needs to back up and start digging beyond the edge of the apron. It's much easier to install an apron than it is to dig a trench and bury wire, and it works just as well if not better.

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
Quote:
Hardware cloth is not chickenwire; chickenwire is generally-flimsy hex mesh, hardwarecloth is heavier gauge 1/2x12 or 1/4x14 welded wire square mesh.

They are totally not equivalent for your run fencing itself; predators rip apart most chickenwire easily.

Do I understand that the o.p. is using this just for smaller-hole stuff around the bottom of a 2x4" mesh fenced run? If so, chickenwire is still not as good as hardwarecloth but as long as you have no small chicks and the chickens are always locked into the coop by dusk it is "reasonably good". Reason being, with the 2x4 mesh forming the main fencing of the run, your main concern is only reach-through (of chicken heads, or of predator arms/snouts). While predators can certainly rip apart the chickenwire enough o have full access to the 2x4" holes, by that time the chicken will have moved away.

JMHO, good luck, have fun,

Pat