Looks like my hens are taking their chances with the wire mesh

[kateseidel]

Having watched my cats almost hook a hen through the 2x4 welded wire mesh on the door, I thought I'd use hardware cloth on the run we are building. Good heavens - a trip to my Southern States store and it would cost me $600 in wire!! Either they are getting hooked by the cats (2x4 mesh would run me about $200) or they are taking their chances with poultry wire (about $100).

 

[klf73]

I attached poultry netting around our pen (chain link) to keep anyone from being able to reach in

. It was pretty cheap..

 

[nelgkel]

I am using galvanized stucco lath for the bottom 3 feet of our run....found in building supplies at lowes...@ $7 for 2'by 8'

 

[WoodlandWoman]

I wouldn't use just chicken wire for the run. Cats are about the only thing it will keep out. If you use the 2" x 4" fencing, it will be a lot stronger. Just line it with something that has smaller openings along the bottom, to keep cats and raccoons from reaching through and killing chickens.

For all coop openings, I would use the 1/2" hardware cloth. It will keep out the larger number of predators that come out at night. At the very least, I would double up and put chicken wire under the 2" x 4" wire there. Really, though, for the small amount of money it takes to do coop openings, it's worth it to use the best wire you can afford. It sounds like that stucco lath would be in your budget.

 

[cow_girl]

I agree how are people able to afford hardware cloth.. its soo $$$... right now for me to build a 8x8x8 run it would cost 120$ alone in hardware cloth... my original plans for the run were 20x30x6...

.. unfortunatly now we need to downscale our run size plans.. has anyone ever built a two story outside run??...lol with 8 feet high to work with, I could build them a jungle gym ahah

 

[patandchickens]

There is no especially compelling reason, in most cases, to use hardwarecloth for the whole thing. All you need is to put a smaller mesh material on just the bottom 2-3' of the fence, where reach-through happens.

And indeed if your main run fencing is 2x4 welded wire, you can reasonably-safely get away with a lesser material (if you really insist). If you can find 1/2" poultry mesh (like regular 1" chickenwire only smaller), that is good, or you could even go with 1/2" plastic garden netting or 1" chickenwire if you don't mind it being *slightly* less safe. The thing is, all it's meant to do is keep chicken heads inside, and make it more difficult for raccoons etc to reach their paws in. If, worst case scenario, a predator manages to rip a hole in it, the chicken is unlikely to still be THERE by the time that's accomplished, and the 2x4 wire keeps the predator from entering the run bodily.

JMHO, good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[Grungybones]

I did the 1/2"x1/2" everywhere on the coop and run. Yes it was expensive. But worth it. Nothing short of a human size racoon with wire cutters can get in. It has already withstood an attempt by our neighbors 60lb dog. We didn't shell out the full amount at once, we split the construction cost over several paychecks while the birds were still in the brooder.

 

[St-Hubert]

I did the same thing as Grungybones....my entire 16' x 8' run save for the roof is enclosed in 1/2 x 1/2 hardware cloth. I think I spent about $100.00 to do the whole thing, and I still have a bit left over. My plan is to get some heavier-gauge hardware cloth for the bottom 2-3' as added protection on the outside.

 

[MoSo]

You might try some different sources for hardware cloth - I paid $110 for a 4' high by 100' long roll through an industrial supply company. My local hardware store wanted more than double that. I used the hardware cloth as the base layer (buried about 10") and then 1"x 2" welded fencing above that, with 1" chicken wire tacked over that and I used the 1" chicken wire over the top of the run to keep hawks out.

My run is 12x16, so it wasn't cheap.

 

[Gypsi]

I'm on a budget too. 2x4 heavy wire fencing - I bought a roll to put up. Presently everything is either 1 inch chicken wire or old window screens stapled on over the high part of the roofed end.
My big dogs are not interested in the chickens, or their interest is limited by my threats of the pound.
And for now my big dogs keep most predators out of my yard, the only critter that got IN the pen was a feral cat, and I blocked up high openings and moved my stepladder that probably contributed to the cat getting in. Will be replacing my present 1 inch chicken wire with the 2x4 welded wire fencing, then lowering the chicken wire to the bottom 3 feet, leaving a 1 foot apron around the run. That, and the guard dog system, should take care of issues, and leave me extra chicken wire to cover any gaps up high. I'm going to have enough of the welded wire left to extend the run 5 ft at a 6 ft height if my circular math is right - what were you calling the domed welded wire run in another post? (present run height is 6 ft, I got tired of knocking my head and bending over, even though I'm only 5'3. ) Then I'll need a bit more welded wire for the end of the domed bit, and to hitch it to the square bit. I'll be getting a bit of hardware cloth for the door, and vents on the plywood coop. In north Texas, I'm thinking open air may be too cold in the winter.