Choosing The Right Fencing For Your Coop

Choosing The Right Fencing For Your Coop

August 7, 2022

(The hardware cloth fencing of our coop.)

Keeping your flock safe from predators is something important to consider if you are new to chicken keeping, or building/buying a new coop, chicken tractor or run.

Conversely, keeping your garden veggies safe from marauding chickens, and also bunnies, deer and wild birds is always a struggle. 

The choices when it comes to fencing can be a bit confusing, and sadly making the wrong choice can mean the difference between a predator-proof chicken run versus one a raccoon can easily gain access to, or a chicken-proof garden versus a garden that's stripped clean by your flock! 

Hopefully this will help clear up any confusion and assist you in choosing the right fencing for not only your chicken coop, but also your chicken run and your garden. 

Chicken Wire

Chicken wire isn't good for anything except keeping chickens in (or out, as the case may be). A dog, fox or raccoon can rip through chicken wire in no time. 

Another danger is that often baby chicks can squeeze through the holes. Chicken wire is made of galvanized wire and usually comes with 1" or 2" sized hexagonal holes.

Chicken wire should never be used on coop vents, openings or window. And it shouldn't be used for your run if you leave your chickens in the run all day when no one is home.

About the only thing you might use chicken wire for around the run area is to cover the top to keep aerial predators out during the day. It won't stop a raccoon or weasel that might climb the side of your run or keep it out forever, but it would at least slow one down a bit. 

So if you're home all day, the run is visible from the house, the chickens only use it during the day and are locked in their coop at night, and you're mainly worried about hawks, then chicken wire is an affordable option to cover the top of your run.

Chicken wire is also a good option to separate your run (if you're integrating new flock members for instance), or to separate a broody hen and her chicks inside the coop from the general population.

Chicken wire is also a great fencing option for your garden. It will keep out rabbits, deer and chickens, as well as cats. Although chickens can clear 4 or 5 feet fences, the instability of the chicken wire will often deter them from going over since they have nothing solid to perch on top to hop up, and then over.

Chicken wire also is a great way to protect small plants while they're getting established. Creating a 'cage' around them with the chicken wire is quick and easy and will keep the plants safe from being eaten by your chickens, deer or bunnies.

Pros: Relatively inexpensive, easy to cut and work with, bendable, great as garden fencing

Cons: Not predator-proof, rusts fairly quickly

Best Uses: To protect small plants, to fence in a garden, cover the top of a day run

Poultry Netting

Similar to chicken wire is poultry netting (sometimes also called bird or deer netting). Made of plastic, the holes in poultry netting vary in size.

It's also inexpensive and about the only safe use around the coop or garden would be to keep your crops safe from wild birds, chickens, bunnies or deer. Being plastic, it's not even as predator-proof as chicken wire. But again, it's an easy, affordable way to cover the top of your day run.

Pros: Relatively inexpensive, very easy to cut and work with, lightweight, bendable, fairly durable

Cons: Not predator-proof

Best uses: To fence in a garden, protect bushes, or cover the top of your run

Chain Link

Chain link is a great option for your chicken run. If you have an old dog run or can find some used fencing for cheap, think about repurposing it into a chicken run.

To make your run more predator-proof if you aren't home during the day, the bottom two or three feet can be wrapped in a smaller gauge wire to keep snakes, mice and weasels out, and to prevent raccoon from reaching through the larger openings in the chain link. 

But especially if you're battling larger, stronger predators such as coyotes, bob cats, mountain lions or bears, chain link is a very good choice for your run.

Pros: Keeps larger predators out

Cons:  Won't keep smaller predators out, hard to reconfigure or change the size

Best Uses: Day run safety from large predators

Hardware Cloth

Hardware cloth is the best safest option for your coop and run. It's impervious to even larger predators such as dogs, coyotes and foxes, but will keep out the smallest of predators including weasels, snakes and mice.

Having the smaller holes along the bottom of the run (and also sunk into the ground) is good practice since most predators will be looking to get in at ground-level. This prevents a raccoon from reaching in to try to grab my chickens or ducks, keeps snakes from slithering in and also keeps out field mice.

Pros: Keeps out all predators

Cons: Fairly expensive, takes time to cut, rigid, so it keeps its shape, but can be hard to bend

Best Uses: Coop vents and windows, lower part of the run, predator-proof nighttime pen, day run

Which ever type of fencing you choose for your run, it should be sunk at least 8 inches into the ground and angled out in a "J" shape to prevent digging predators.  

Adding some stones, broken glass or stoneware, other solid debris into the trench you dig to bury the fencing is also a good idea.

Fencing is not an area to scrimp on, especially when it comes to keeping your chickens safe. Buying the best you can afford is going to avoid lots of heartache and losses in the future.