How to raise Backyard Chickens: Re: [CHICKENS-101] 1" vs 2" poultry netting

Sunday, May 4, 2014

Re: [CHICKENS-101] 1" vs 2" poultry netting

Well from experience I will tell you that both chicken and turkey wire
are designed to keep chickens and turkeys in ...not predators out!!
With that said I also noticed another issue that many newer chicken
people seem to overlook.... NEVER put coops and runs under or close to
trees and high vegetation. Why .... many predators climb and will tear
up a roof or top of a run fast .... one solution would be to do that
side of the run solid (wood or metal ). I know not what you wanted to
hear but better now then when an issue appears. Do not think that
raccoons will just walk away from a run at night if they don't see
chickens .... they will get in and look for a way into your coop .... if
they fail they will try again the next night ....but in the meantime
your run will have holes to be repaired if you use cheaper wire. It
is cheaper to do it right the first time then to constantly repair and
worry if some morning you come out to find a raccoon inside your coop in
the center of a ton of feathers.

Pete
Moderator

On 2014/05/04 3:11 PM, Asa Nathannael Hunt wrote:
> Hey there,
> I'm about 3/4 done with my coop/run setup and appreciating the price
> difference between the hardware cloth, 1-inch "Chicken wire" and the
> 2-inch "Turkey wire", with the last being cheapest. I'd like to figure
> out if the 2" netting might work for us, on the UPPER THIRD of our
> daytime run.
>
> Current setup:
> We have a fenced yard, with a secure coop (for night) that opens up into
> a 40 x 6 foot run (for day). The run has hardware cloth covering from a
> foot below ground, to three feet above ground (see the pic).
>
> Predators:
> Being in inner-city Portland I'm thinking Opossum and Raccoon followed
> by Neighborhood pets will be the biggest threats to our birds.
>
> In Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens (which seems aimed at more rural
> flocks), Gail Damerow eschews the thinner gauged hex-netting for its
> fragility. But I'm wondering if it might work for us in this limited
> above-ground, day-time situation.
>
> Asa
>
> p.s. I'm also putting this question to a local group, so please excuse
> me if you're part of both.
>
>
>
>