need some fencing help

We use 2 X 4 welded wire.

The absolute safest is hardware cloth.

We run a board along the bottom, and bury abut 1 ft of wire.


Good luck

 

I use a double layer system. 1/2 inch hwc for the inside and field fencing for the outside. Nothing big can get through the field fence, and not much can reach through the 1/2" squares. Field fence is about $60 for 330' here. To save money we put chicken wire on the inside of the upper areas, so 3' of 1/2 square and 5' of chicken wire above that.

 

We use a heavy wire (12 or 14 gauge) fence 5 ft tall secured to posts around our free range area to keep out most pests. The "red band" brand wire fence is made up of "rabbit fence" which is 2x2 in mesh on the bottom about 2 ft. up then 2x4 in. mesh for the next 3 ft. to the top. It is sold in roles of 25 ft., 50 ft. and 100 ft. This fencing is firmly at ground level and we patrol periodically to make sure that there is no intrusion. It is a sturdy fence an will keep out most critters who can not climb.

The protected chicken run is enclosed with a metal roof and is made up of the same wire but is buried to 1 ft. in the ground with an overlay of 1/4 in. mesh hard ware clot that is 3 ft. wide. It is part of what we call "Fort Birdy"

Keep in mind that some predators can squeeze through a 2x4 in. mesh. We had a ring tailed cat that did just that until we added yet another layer of standard chicken wire to the structure

Good luck

 

If you can find cheap or free chain link it has work great for us

 

I also do a multiple layer approach: welded wire on the outside of the run, chicken wire on the inside of the run. I also have hotwired the pen. If you have a dog problem, a hotwire may be your best deterrent. Wet doggy noses make great conductors.