Welded wire vs hardwire cloth

[Alaskan]

That stuff....no, not likely...it's nice stuff with small holes and 16ga wire.
But the typical 14ga 2x4 welded wire that many folks use is susceptible to having welds broken by canine bite...especially a frenzied domestic dog.

Yep... I saw it happen....

"Welded wire" is a huge category.

 

[aart]

"Welded wire" is a huge category.

Yep....and sizes are often not described.

 

[Shadrach]

I can't see the point of using 2" x 4" gap fencing. A few predators can slip through that and as mentioned above, the gaps are big enough for a dogs jaw to get a grip.

 

[HopeSprings]

A friend just posted on Facebook this morning a video of a snake swallowing a golf ball in her coop. I used hardware cloth even under the eaves: no snakes allowed!

 

[Cryss]

I use hog rings for that.

But to answer OP's question if the run is to contain chickens during the day you don't have the same concerns as you would using welded wire where they sleep. A chicken will know to back away from a critter reaching into the fence. Not so if they're roosting asleep.

Ehhh...maybe.
If preds are working in a team, they can scare birds over to one side where they may freeze in fear making for an 'easy' reach thru.

The welded wire won't keep rodents, weasels and even snakes out of your run. Just saying.

That stuff....no, not likely...it's nice stuff with small holes and 16ga wire.
But the typical 14ga 2x4 welded wire that many folks use is susceptible to having welds broken by canine bite...especially a frenzied domestic dog.

Yep... I saw it happen....

"Welded wire" is a huge category.

I can't see the point of using 2" x 4" gap fencing. A few predators can slip through that and as mentioned above, the gaps are big enough for a dogs jaw to get a grip.

In other words, hardware cloth is your friend.

 

[aart]

I can't see the point of using 2" x 4" gap fencing. A few predators can slip through that and as mentioned above, the gaps are big enough for a dogs jaw to get a grip.

Depends on the situation.
Hawks are the reason I used it, I knew it would stop them and slow down most anything else, but I'm home within sight of run 90% of daylight hours.
Have seen a couple fox and a coyote bounce off of it.

 

[Cryss]

Depends on the situation.
Hawks are the reason I used it, I knew it would stop them and slow down most anything else, but I'm home within sight of run 90% of daylight hours.
Have seen a couple fox and a coyote bounce off of it.

That picture with the fox is perfect for explaining that chickens don't necessarily realise they need to move away from the fence when they see a predator. They are very curious creatures. Easy pickings for a raccoon if the fence wire is bigger than 1/2 inch.

 

[TexasWineGuy]

Depends on the situation.
Hawks are the reason I used it, I knew it would stop them and slow down most anything else, but I'm home within sight of run 90% of daylight hours.
Have seen a couple fox and a coyote bounce off of it.

@aart

That looks like a darn fine DIY run. Clever and relatively inexpensive.

TWG

 

[aart]

That looks like a darn fine DIY run. Clever and relatively inexpensive.

Thanks, it was a few hundred bucks, but I already had most the Tposts and the SS bolts for the clamps. Was fun to design and build and it's held up amazingly well(6yrs)...I thought for sure the PVC in the clamps would fail within a year or two.

Details on build here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/aarts-coop-page.65912/