Plastic fencing?

[gryeyes]

Quote:
Unfortunately, that Chicken Little scenario is based on real chicken behavior - they're not that bright.

They will run to the closest corner, of any type, and scramble over each other, or huddle together, there. If the corner is any type of wire, raccoons can reach through and pull chickens to the wire to be eaten in pieces, heads pulled through and eaten, that sort of thing.

You would think chickens would gather in the MIDDLE, furthest from the threat(s) at the fence, but nooooooo..... It's one reason why the bottom penned area of any A-Frame tractor type coop should have one solid wall corner. The chickens WILL run to that corner for safety (eventually).

 

[aggiemae]

Good thing I checked before starting another thread on this!

I went to Lowe's last night to get fencing but there were so many more choices than I expected so held off. Now I am trying to decide between wire and plastic mostly because the plastic fencing comes in 1/2x1/2 inch and would be so much easier to work with.

I am defiantly not going to use it on the tractor since it's likely that I am not able to move it by myself and the chickens might need to stay in it overnight now and then. But what do people think about wire on the lowest 24" and plastic on the upper part of the main coop?

 

[Cindy in PA]

I used green plastic garden fence for 4 years & never had a problem, but the girls were locked in at night. Just depends what you are expecting it to do. I used mine to contain chickens.

 

[ThatChick]

Good thing I checked before starting another thread on this!

I went to Lowe's last night to get fencing but there were so many more choices than I expected so held off. Now I am trying to decide between wire and plastic mostly because the plastic fencing comes in 1/2x1/2 inch and would be so much easier to work with.

I am defiantly not going to use it on the tractor since it's likely that I am not able to move it by myself and the chickens might need to stay in it overnight now and then. But what do people think about wire on the lowest 24" and plastic on the upper part of the main coop?

I was wondering the same thing, but also wondering if rats would climb up the wire and then chew through the plastic higher up in order to get in?

 

[aggiemae]

We are in town and our 15 pound cat , Fat *******, has some mad rat killing skills. Also, it would seen to me that rats would only come into a coop if there is more to eat inside the run that outside. I made one of those feeders where the hens have to open a trap door to get acces to their mash.

Cost is a factor in my case otherwise I would go with wire rather than plastic.

 

[zookeeper15133]

I use it on top of larger size welded wire. The chickens can get through 2x4 wire, but the plastic mesh keeps them in. Even buying both it is less expensive than buying hardware cloth.

I have a large dog crate covered in it as my broody hen/chick run.

Have you seen 1x2 welded wire? It is more secure and less expensive than hardware cloth.

 

[jebar77]

i use this stuff to keep my chickens out of my front yard and out of the neighbors yard next door, and out of my garden. rabbits ate right thru the dam thing and the hole is big enough for the chickens to get thru it now so i had to patch it... works great for he chickens, but nothing else....lol