Would chicken wire be a safe choice behind a picket fence?

[chrissynemetz]

I agree with everyone, I would use hardware cloth for sure. I haven't yet found anything better.

 

[Pekin747]

This is the wire I use not easy to cut and havent

lose a bird with it yet

 

[50-45-1]

How tall is your picket fence?
Will you have something covering the top?
Chicken wire will rot fast if buried in the dirt.

 

[Cryss]

This is the wire I use not easy to cut and haventView attachment 1808918 lose a bird with it yet

You've been lucky. Mice, rats, fisher cats, weasels, snakes can all get through including juvenile raccoons. Great for larger livestock but chickens need more protection. EVERYONE loves the taste of chicken AND eggs.

 

[Pekin747]

You've been lucky. Mice, rats, fisher cats, weasels, snakes can all get through including juvenile raccoons. Great for larger livestock but chickens need more protection. EVERYONE loves the taste of chicken AND eggs.

Srry I never put int he factor of the small ani.als as we dont have all of them for the mice and rates we have a pair of cats which breed and we just kept the strongest kitten and castrated them after we had enough so there is no wild cats cause they chased them away and they eat rats and mice aswell as any birds they get

 

[Pekin747]

For the weasel and minks my naighbour dogs love to chase them and I got an expert to find holes and we set up traps over them aswell

 

[Pekin747]

But the hardware cloth seems to be the most recommended so I'd try that

 

[BigBlueHen53]

How high is your picket fence? Can a predator like a dog, fox or coyote jump over it? Can a raccoon or opossum climb over it? Most picket fences I've seen are about 2 1/2 or 3' high, not adequate.

ETA: sorry, re-read OP and I see it is 4' high. Maybe I need more coffee.

 

[aart]

How tall is your picket fence?
Will you have something covering the top?

about four feet high

Height almost makes what to close 4" gaps with moot...
...preds, and chickens, will go right over 4 foot high fencing.

 

[jreardon1918]

For our extended run. We used 2" × 4" 5' welded wire. No roof. The hens don't bother to fly out. I know there is risk that predators can dig under or fly over. But so far so good. So for us the risk seems about right.

The run is hw cloth, including apron and full roof. When they are in there they are in a pretty secure location.