Is two layers of chicken wire as good as one layer of hardware cloth?

[cr213636]

I don't have chickens right now,but I want to get some soon so I am designing my coop. My question is, would two layers of chicken wire work as well as one layer of hardware cloth? Also, I'm just checking this to make sure: burying wire means making a floor out of it then covering it with dirt, right? Because for a long time I assumed it meant digging a hole a few feet deep and putting the wire vertical in it. Last week, though, I thought I had a great idea, then realized that was probably what everyone meant all along.

 

[elmo]

Welcome to the forum!

Sorry, I don't think two layers of chicken wire would be as safe as a single layer of welded wire. It just might take a raccoon five minutes, instead of two minutes, to rip through the chicken wire.

Some people do bury wire under their run as a horizontal layer under the whole inside of the run. Other people bury wire vertically along the perimeter of the run, digging down 12 or more inches. Personally, all that digging seems a lot of work to me.

Instead, I use hardware cloth aprons laid flat on the ground extending outwards from the run about 2 feet or so, and attached to the baseboards of the run. I stake the apron down with landscaping staples and call the job done. When a critter tries to dig inside a run, it starts to dig at the base of the run, hits the wire, and doesn't realize it needs to back up two feet and start digging back past the edge of the wire.

 

[Pharm Girl]

I covered my entire coop and run in chicken wire originally only to rip it all off and replace it with HWC 6 months later. That got really really expensive. It is so worth the extra money in the beginning to do it right the first time and never have to worry. Now I have a second coop and while I gulp at the cost of hardware cloth, at least I can sleep well at night knowing the ladies are as safe as I can make them AND I do feel like they are in fort knox out there so we leave them for weekends with the ramp open once in a while. It's just nice to have peace of mind. They will appreciate the safety as well.
Sometimes people get rid of it on Craigslist. It never hurts to check the free ads or see if you can find remnants at a reduced price.

 

[Pharm Girl]

Also, I don't know how big your coop will be, but we ended up putting large sheets of painted plywood on the ground under to coop that stuck out about 6" on all sides of the coop and run. We have a small coop for 5 and a 6' by 3' run extension. It was way cheaper than hardware clothing the whole underside and making a skirt. It's all covered, so we fill the inside with sand and straw on top. Just rake off the straw every two or three weeks. The sand dehydrates the poo and keeps the plywood from getting pooped on. That's what works for us, everyone is different.

I should mention we have a few pavers on the ground under the plywood to stabilize it, keep the wood from sitting in water and level everything out.

Our biggest problem wasn't raccoons or coyotes, it was mice, rats, shrews and voles! They were getting in through the chicken wire and eating all the food. They would leave poop behind which can be dangerous for the birds. (Salmonella and all) The HWC and plywood has virtually eliminated out vermin problem.

 

[donrae]

My german shepherd dog got through chicken wire, where it overlapped, so two layers, in approx 20 min. We were using the chicken wire to keep the chickens contained inside a larger area, not to keep predators out. She was not going for the chickens, we found her contentedly eating the leftover hamburger we'd thrown in for the girls to eat. So, no. Chicken wire won't contain anything other than chickens

 

[elmo]

Quote:
If you put a wire skirt around the outside of the perimeter of the run, you don't need to put wire inside on the floor of the run.

 

[Pharm Girl]

Really?! Maybe I'll that on my new coop. Thanks.

 

[kittycooks]

I agree that an outside secure perimeter may be all that is needed. I buried some chicken wire between my coop and the run and over time it rusted and has broken wires. I need to dig it out to prevent injury to my birds as they dig and scratch. However, on the outside of the coop I don't really care if a predator cuts it's paws as it may add to the deterrent.

 

[bungalow10]

Quote:
We just built our coop and plan to build the run next weekend and this is such valuable advice! Thank you.

Did you frame your run with wood, and then do the whole thing, top, bottoms, sides with the hardware cloth? Did you put in any type of gate or entry for yourself?

I have a feeling this will get expensive, but I want them safe and secure.

 

[sixshooter60]

As we all know buying wire can get costly for sure. I use 2x4 welded wire for the runs then i put hot wire on the outside most predators will atempt to tear through the wire firstand they get the shock of their life..lol.... its cheaper than about anything the wire comes in 1/4 or 1/2 mile spools and the charger can be electric or battery or even solar if you dont have close elec, it seems to work here for me and like i said you can put as many hot wires as you want. you can even stakes out from the pen or coop and put hot wires about a ft or so off the ground around the pen. . you can put the charger where its easy to turn it off when you need to go inside so you dont get a taste of your own medicine so to speak..lol... like i said it works for me and its cheap ... hope this helps