Poultry Netting

[abbysilkys]

I am getting poultry netting for the top of my run and four feet of chicken wire below it. I have looked at some and I am on a tight budget so I'm buying from ebay. There is a cheap one that is 25'x50' which is what I need, but the holes in it are 2.4"x2.4". Will that be okay? Or do I need to look for one with smaller holes? The smaller holes are usually more expensive. Please help, and thanks!

 

[Pyxis]

I don't use poultry netting so I can't comment on that but I would think that size would be okay, I don't see any birds of prey getting through that.

What I did want to comment on was the chicken wire. You don't want to be using that. It'll keep the chickens in but it won't keep anything else out. A raccoon will reach right through it and pull your birds out piece by piece. A dog or fox will just chew straight through, and weasels and minks will just go right through the holes. You'll want to do hardware cloth, or at the very least welded wire, preferably with hardware cloth covering the bottom two feet of that to prevent the raccoon issue.

 

[abbysilkys]

I was looking at hardware cloth too, but it gets pretty expensive and I would need 4'x50' which would be really expensive. I mean chicken wire is better than nothing at all.

 

[Pyxis]

I was looking at hardware cloth too, but it gets pretty expensive and I would need 4'x50' which would be really expensive. I mean chicken wire is better than nothing at all.

It is more expensive, but it's better to spend the money up front rather than lose your whole flock and have to start over. Welded wire isn't that much more expensive than chicken wire, so you could at least start there and then add the hardware cloth later if you needed to. Welded wire will at least keep out foxes and dogs, which chicken wire will not.

Chicken wire really isn't that much better than nothing, because just about everything will go right through it. My friend stood and watched a fox chew right through it to get to her flock. Luckily she was right there. She shot it before it got into her birds and immediately switched to electric netting.

 

[SueT]

For the top of my run I got deer netting from Home Depot. I got a roll 7' x 100' for about $18 . It's like fabric.. stretchy but very strong. It is easy to use. I've had it on there for 2 years. It keeps the chickens in and hawks out. It wouldn't keep out mammals, but nothing has tried to get in over the top. The chickens are locked in the coop at night. One solution to your chicken wire would be to use the 4' chicken wire, and then buy 2 or 3' high hardware mesh to lap over it as the main defense needs to be down low, and buried a little as well..

 

[abbysilkys]

Thanks for all the help! I am thinking about getting four foot high chicken wire and later investing into hardware cloth to put over it.

 

[Alabama Jack]

Check out Amazon for hardware cloth. Lots cheaper than home depot. Find a friend who has Amazon Prime and get free shipping.

 

[abbysilkys]

I have amazon prime but it's still not cheap enough and it will be a later investment.

 

[Howard E]

I am getting poultry netting for the top of my run and four feet of chicken wire below it. I have looked at some and I am on a tight budget so I'm buying from ebay. There is a cheap one that is 25'x50' which is what I need, but the holes in it are 2.4"x2.4". Will that be okay? Or do I need to look for one with smaller holes? The smaller holes are usually more expensive. Please help, and thanks!

So you have only the framing for the run and nothing on it now? What are you describing as poultry netting and chicken wire? Do you see those as different? Also, what is the purpose? Simply to keep the birds within the defined area of the run?

 

[lynnehd]

I am getting poultry netting for the top of my run and four feet of chicken wire below it. I have looked at some and I am on a tight budget so I'm buying from ebay. There is a cheap one that is 25'x50' which is what I need, but the holes in it are 2.4"x2.4". Will that be okay? Or do I need to look for one with smaller holes? The smaller holes are usually more expensive. Please help, and thanks!

Yes, if the goal of the poultry netting is to keep aerial predators out, then that size would work. I use the poultry netting over my outside run- we have many hawks and bald eagles, but no ground predators during the day, so it works for me.

I've use both deer/bird netting and poultry netting, and I have to say that the poultry netting seems stronger and more long lasting.

As far as the sides of the run, if you could even overlap some welded wire over the chicken wire, that would help ramp up your security. If you got 4 foot high welded wire (often less expensive than hardware cloth), you could fan it out 18 inches on the ground, and extend it 2.5 feet up the sides.

Again, it depends on the predators in your area during the day (mainly birds of prey?), and if your chickens are locked up securely at night.