securing chicken wire together

[Lyn862]

I'm wondering what the best way to secure overlapping chicken wire edges together. I covered my new run with 1 inch chicken wire, overlapping the edges by about 6 inches. My run is about 6 ft tall at one end and 4 ft at the other. I ran the wire around the perimeter in several layers and then ran strips over the top. Ways I have considered securing the wire to itself are: 4" cable ties (will they last?), twist ties made out of baling wire (will they take forever to install?), and hog rings (what are these and do they come in sizes?).

I just got my first chicks yesterday. They are way cute. I borrowed a brooder (battery?). I live in Idaho and am worried about the cold - although it is nice today. Along with the brooder, I put a space heater and a heat lamp in the shed. They seem happy. I just feel like I don't have a clue. I had no idea they would sleep so much. I go out to visit them and wake them up. They eat and drink and in about 10 minutes they go back to sleep.

I could use some direction. I've been working about a month to get ready for these babies.

 

[nccountrygirl]

You can use Zip ties or small pieces of wire and use a pair of pliers to twist it.

 

[Dawn419]

Hi and Welcome to BYC!!!

We use J clips to connect our chicken wire and hardware cloth together. We buy our clips from TSC, the Co-Op carries them too...they are used for putting rabbit cages together.

Hope this helps!

Dawn

 

[nccountrygirl]

Dawn I have never seen those. Very nice!

 

[RoostersCrow]

I used galvanized wire to just lace the edges together on our run. It worked quite well without any need to overlap the wire at all.

With that overlap wire twist ties should work well. Zip ties will eventually fail.

Good luck

 

[Southernbelle]

I second the J-clips!

I bought mine from Klubertanz Equipment company - they have great prices on high-quality cage wire, too. I've always bought my cage-building supplies from them when I raised show rabbits and I had all the tools I needed for my chicken enterprise.

 

[aberfitch]

I wonder how hard is it to take apart? Is it easy?

 

[Southernbelle]

Quote:
Not too bad. You can pull them apart with a pliers to get them off. I bought a J-clip remover pliers from Klubertanz and it sort of pinches them open again.

J-clips have a nice, firm hold on the wire and virtually eliminates the wiggle you get from using rings or zip ties.

 

[Stonebriar Farm]

Quote:
Dawn thank you! The guy at our Co-op keeps trying to sell me these and I didn't really know what he was talking about as he had to order them in for me. He's really great...I get the feeling he's trying to keep me from being a complete city slicker

I'm known as the "English" woman that came from Toronto. Neither is quite accurate but I don't bother correcting them.

 

[k0xxx]

The J clips are the way to go in my opinion. I wouldn't recommend wire ties/zip ties because they degrade and become brittle due to the sun's uv rays. Even the ones that are marked uv resistant don't last too long.

Using wire will last a good while, but you have the problem of sharp points that can snag clothing or skin. You can't hardly beat the J clips.