# Chicken run wire?



## HillRunner (Jun 28, 2010)

I was planing on building a 100 x 50 chicken run. I've thought about using 6 foot T posts with 72 inch chicken wire. Now I keep hearing that you shouldn't use the hexagon type chicken wire because it is to weak? Anyone have any thought or suggestions on that? Also would I need to put a wire roof on my run? Thanks everyone for the help!


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## Guest (Mar 8, 2012)

Chicken wire will work if you don't have predators or chicken-killing dogs around.

If you do have those problems, you'll need something stronger.

You probably don't need to cover the top unless you have a problem with hawks or with predators that can climb over the fence.


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## lauriej57 (Nov 20, 2008)

I've had raccoons chew right through the chicken wire. The night of my chicken massacre.

I use 1x2 welded wire for my chicken runs, and I also use it as a roof. It keeps chickens from flying out and predators from getting in. 

In my smaller run, where I sometimes have young chicks, I have 3' high chicken wire around the bottom of the run, over the 1x2 wire, to keep the chicks from getting out. 

I had a fox on top of my 5' high run last spring, he only managed to get one chick before we heard the ruckus. It showed us a flaw in our design which we corrected the next day. They were perched on top of the pop door, and their heads were only about 8 inches from the roof, just close enough to be grabbed. This is the first time in 4 years that that has happened.


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## pancho (Oct 23, 2006)

I like a solid partition for the bottom 2' of the fence. It stops most predators from seeing the chickens from a distance. I found the treated 1X6X6 fence boards work good. You can cut them into 3 seperate boards. Above the goards I like to use 48" hardware cloth. 1/2". Down the middle put a line of post at the heighth you want the pen to be. Over them put 1/2" netting.
Add a hot wire around the bottom and one at the top and you are set up.


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## PD-Riverman (May 24, 2007)

I tried that years back and I had a time keeping stray dogs and "critters" from getting into my chickens. They would push under the bottom. I tried buring the wire some and it would rust into. I thought about using treated 2x4's aroung the bottom and top which meant I would have to put in treated post etc. Here is what I decided to do. I watch craigslist and for sale sections also put in I want to buy add etc for used 10x10x6ft dog kennels. I usually find them for around $20 to $25 per 10ft section($80 to $100 per kennel. I realize it cost more to go this route but it is so much easier to put them up than chicken wire and T post. They are Very Strong, last for years and years and can be moved easy if you wanted to relocate your pen. You can buy a couple kennels and keep buying one and adding on to your pen as you find them at a deal. Here is the best part----If I quit with chickens I can resale every kennel I have bought for as much as I payed for them because of buying them used(try that with used chicken wire). I do not know of any other fencing that you can get all your money back after using it for years. Thats Free Fencing the way I look at it. I have been using some of my kennels for 15 years and They are as good now as they were when I put them up(have moved them twice). Here is a couple of picture. I have bird netting over the top.






















HillRunner said:


> I was planing on building a 100 x 50 chicken run. I've thought about using 6 foot T posts with 72 inch chicken wire. Now I keep hearing that you shouldn't use the hexagon type chicken wire because it is to weak? Anyone have any thought or suggestions on that? Also would I need to put a wire roof on my run? Thanks everyone for the help!


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## Guest (Mar 8, 2012)

PD-Riverman, I'm jealous! Fantastic setup!


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## PD-Riverman (May 24, 2007)

ladycat said:


> PD-Riverman, I'm jealous! Fantastic setup!


Thanks LadyCat! I really like having the Green Yard section to let the chickens into each day. I let them into these sections for only a few minutes so they do not scratch everything up. I keep rye in it in the winter and millet in the summer. I let my chickens out if I am going to be around to watch out for them but they do not get out alot right now.


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## DarleneJ (Jan 29, 2012)

Does bird netting really keep hawk and owls out? I know they can get tangled in it, but their talons are so sharp won't they cut right through? What about raccoons?

We are planning on running welded wire over the top of our setup for an extra secure pen against raccoons, foxes, hawks, etc. but I was wondering about the garden next to the run as I'd like to let chickens in on occasion for bug patrol.


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

> Does bird netting really keep *hawk and owls* out? I know they can get tangled in it, but their talons are so sharp won't they cut right through? What about raccoons?


Most of the time *if* they can see it, they won't try to fly through it.
It will NOT stop ***** of Possums

My wife saw a Cooper's Hawk slam into the hardware cloth on the pigeon coop one day though


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## lauriej57 (Nov 20, 2008)

I would think that if a raccoon or similar sized predator, managed to get onto the netting, that the weight might pull it in, causing them to fight and tear holes in the netting.

I like my set up, because I don't have to close the chickens up at night, unless its really cold. I have roosts in my run, which I have now made sure are far enough below the wire roof to not be endangered, and they love it.

Whichever way you go, make sure you make at least a weekly or biweeky tour of your run, checking for holes, gaps, whatever something can get in.

I retired a few hens to my cousins farm a couple of years ago. He has a great setup. In the space of an hour, one of the hens got out 4 times...I kept putting her back in the coop, which was open to the run. (I almost brought her back home). He could not figure out how she was getting out. The last time she got out, she always found me, I carried her around while I looked at his fencing and netting. (This run is half the size of a football field.) hah! I found it. A hold in the fence, just big enough for a standard size chicken to get in and out of, or a raccoon. Cousin had just been lucky that he hadn't lost any. Pretty sure it was some predator that had caused it.

Not sure how my hen, who had this new large coop and run to explore, found the hole! She has always been treated as queen of the coop since then.

Just always check everything over. A minor hole that a mouse has started to get into the coop, maybe the fox chewed at the wire a couple of nights ago, creating a weak link, maybe something you overlooked.


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## pancho (Oct 23, 2006)

The strenght of netting depends on what type you buy.
Some won't hold a chicken and some will hold a good size man.
Hawks and owl usually bounce off. If you have a bird that gets close to the netting they will hit it hard enough to stretch it in far enough to grab the bird. They can't get it out but can kill it. Just keep all perches a couple of feet from netting and you will be alright.


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## sammyd (Mar 11, 2007)

We used 4' 2x3 wire with 2' of chicken wire along the bottom.


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## bluetick (May 11, 2002)

I use netting from http://3tproducts.com. Where I used to live there were many trees and shrubs where the chickens could hide. Here the chicken area is pretty wide open, and I've seen many hawks and an owl. The chicken yard is about 40'x90' and is surrounded with chain link fence - actually a corner of my larger back yard. So far the fencing and netting has protected my birds, but then I haven't seen a raccoon or fox - yet. My geese are in a fenced area next to the chickens, but uncovered. My German shepherds have most of the rest of the fenced back yard.


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