Installing Hardware Cloth?

[Bear Foot Farm]

Stick a screwdriver through the wire next to the post and put some tension on it before you tighten it down

 

[Ridgerunner]

I agree with Loriemn that you need rails top and bottom between the posts so you have something to attach the hardware cloth to on all four sides of the hardware cloth panel. From your description, I'm not sure you have that.

I have a tremendous amount of trouble getting wire tight unless the frame it is going on is square with true 90 degree corners. The wire itself is square and it does not stretch so the frame has to be square. Otherwise, it will have ripples or waves in it.

People have different ideas when they think about staples. You have staples that you use to attach a few sheets of paper together and you have fencing staples, 1-1/4" long that a raccoon cannot tear out if it is nailed in right and the material holding it is solid. I very confidently used staples to attach my welded wire for my run to my fence posts, but I used a hammer to drive them in, not a staple gun. There may be staples that you can install using a staple gun that would work but I am not aware of them.

I do not use screws and washers to attach hardware cloth. I use strips of wood 1/2" to 3/4" thick and maybe 1-1/2" wide that fits over the hardware cloth and is screwed to the wood rail or post. You need to predrill the screw holes so the wood does not crack. You can use washers on the screws to hold the wood even more firmly, but I don't. To me, this does a few things better than screws and washers. With the wood pressing down the length of the hardware cloth against the rail or post and the screw holding the wood on going in between the squares in the hardware cloth, that hardware cloth is not coming off. (I know, screws and washers can accomplish this.) The wood covers the sharp edges of the hardware cloth so I don't snag my clothing or my skin when working around it. If you have the frame square and start the hardware cloth off square, the strip of wood presses the hardware cloth tight as you go along, getting the ripples and waves out for you. I don't need to stretch the hardware cloth. It automatically tightens up.

Good luck!!

 

[Intheswamp]

I agree that fence staples won't be pulled out by a coon (how many hogs you 'reckon been held behind a hogwire fence?), and some of the pneumatic 1"+ staples should hold. But, I've seen so many coops/runs where there is a hundred or three staples along a single 4' run of board and you can tell that they've been installed with a hand-stapler and probably at the most used 9/16" staples. The fence staples will work fine on the 4"x4" fence posts, field posts, etc., but I don't think it's the thing for a lot of the coops that we see where a 2x4 or maybe a 2x6 is the heaviest "timber" in the structure and plywood is abundant...start banging fence staples in these light boards and structures and it ain't gonna be pretty...a pneumatic stapler would work better in this case, but...unfortunately many (most) people don't have a pneumatic stapler to work with...but they do have a drill.

But, it appears the OP was talking of the run rather than coop, so I've taken this down the wrong rabbit trail and really should keep quiet due to my actual inexperience...my apologies.

Ok, I guess I can't leave well enough alone.

But, if this is an uncovered run doesn't a top rail encourage the chickens to land on it and eventually hop to the outside?

I will share this... In covering R/C airplanes a shrinkable covering is often used. If it is applied correctly there are no wrinkles (duh). To begin applying the covering on a simple square frame the covering is stretched tight across the square from end to end and is attached at one spot on each end in the center. Next, the top and bottom are both attached in the same fashion...stretch and attach in the center. You then start working between these attached points pulling a bit to keep things taunt. But, the key is to attach in four different points on four different sides starting with two sides that oppose each other.

1
5 7
3 4
8 6
2

Not sure if that made sense or not.

Best wishes,
Ed

ETA: removed a quote that the reply didn't need

 

[Ridgerunner]

Quote:
A good point. I think my comments on attaching the hardware cloth with wooden strips are valid for attaching hardware cloth to vent openings, coops, the posts on open runs, or closed runs. A top rail on an open run could present a temptation.

 

[Intheswamp]

Quote:
A good point. I think my comments on attaching the hardware cloth with wooden strips are valid for attaching hardware cloth to vent openings, coops, the posts on open runs, or closed runs. A top rail on an open run could present a temptation.

Trimming it out with wood over the wire is definitely a good idea in regards to both supporting the wire *and* in covering those blood-seeking wire points!!!!

Ed

 

[bwknight877]

I bought a bunch of lath screws at Lowes to fasten my hardware cloth with, its like a screw and washer all in one!

 

[lorieMN]

Quote:
A good point. I think my comments on attaching the hardware cloth with wooden strips are valid for attaching hardware cloth to vent openings, coops, the posts on open runs, or closed runs. A top rail on an open run could present a temptation.

well..if your not going to cover the top..why build a run at all?..if they can roost on the top rail,they will be out of the run in an instant,I assumed it was a covered run..even that cheap fruit tree netting stuff will keep chickens in.

 

[St-Hubert]

I used screws to hold it in place, then used hammer-in poultry staples. Getting it tight was a wee bit of a problem, but mine didn't end up looking too bad. Once it was all in place, I screwed in 1x4's or 1x2's on the posts where I had stapled the hardware cloth.
I actually wish I had thought about the screw and washer idea. That would have been so much easier.....

There were several places I had to overlap the hardware cloth....not sure you have that problem....and I used electric fence wire to "sew" the pieces together. At one point, I got a bit lazy and ended up using zip ties....

 

[Intheswamp]

Quote:
A good point. I think my comments on attaching the hardware cloth with wooden strips are valid for attaching hardware cloth to vent openings, coops, the posts on open runs, or closed runs. A top rail on an open run could present a temptation.

well..if your not going to cover the top..why build a run at all?..if they can roost on the top rail,they will be out of the run in an instant,I assumed it was a covered run..even that cheap fruit tree netting stuff will keep chickens in.

I'm planning on an uncovered run...minimum 2500 sq ft (50x50) constructed of 2x4 welded wire. This will not require a top rail to keep from sagging...it may bow out some due to uneven terrain but it will hold it's top edge without a rail. I will be having large fowl chickens in the run and don't anticipate fly-outs to be a regular happening. With no rail there there can't be roosting on it, can it? If the chicken doesn't see something that it perceives is sufficient for him to land on then it won't fly up to it....a sparrow, yes, a chicken, very seldom. Besides, I don't think a chicken can hold onto a 14 gauge wire can it?? (I'm really curious about that question...can they perch on a thin wire??).

My reason for a run is to keep foxes, dogs, roaming critters from getting to the chickens while I'm away. Hawks and avian predators will be a wildcard and I will build covers in the run for the chickens to get under if need be. I may opt for the avian netting over the entire thing later on, but I doubt it. I've toyed with the idea of a smaller, more secure covered run (covered with 2x4 welded wire or better) that I could be used if we get a "problem hawk" in the area and would also thwart coons,etc. (but not snakes

), but it will come later after the larger run is constructed. The uncovered run will also keep the chickens from wandering off where they don't belong.

That's a few reasons to build an uncovered run. Uncovered runs have been used down here in the south for the last century or so...not sure of elsewhere.

???

Best wishes,
Ed

 

[lorieMN]

Quote:
well..if your not going to cover the top..why build a run at all?..if they can roost on the top rail,they will be out of the run in an instant,I assumed it was a covered run..even that cheap fruit tree netting stuff will keep chickens in.

I'm planning on an uncovered run...minimum 2500 sq ft (50x50) constructed of 2x4 welded wire. This will not require a top rail to keep from sagging...it may bow out some due to uneven terrain but it will hold it's top edge without a rail. I will be having large fowl chickens in the run and don't anticipate fly-outs to be a regular happening. With no rail there there can't be roosting on it, can it? If the chicken doesn't see something that it perceives is sufficient for him to land on then it won't fly up to it....a sparrow, yes, a chicken, very seldom. Besides, I don't think a chicken can hold onto a 14 gauge wire can it?? (I'm really curious about that question...can they perch on a thin wire??).

My reason for a run is to keep foxes, dogs, roaming critters from getting to the chickens while I'm away. Hawks and avian predators will be a wildcard and I will build covers in the run for the chickens to get under if need be. I may opt for the avian netting over the entire thing later on, but I doubt it. I've toyed with the idea of a smaller, more secure covered run (covered with 2x4 welded wire or better) that I could be used if we get a "problem hawk" in the area and would also thwart coons,etc. (but not snakes

), but it will come later after the larger run is constructed. The uncovered run will also keep the chickens from wandering off where they don't belong.

That's a few reasons to build an uncovered run. Uncovered runs have been used down here in the south for the last century or so...not sure of elsewhere.

???

Best wishes,
Ed

your right..a run that size the chickens probably wont try to hard to get out of..and no larger birds wont be able to hold onto wire enough to perch..smaller ones I have seen use the wire as a step to get out,,