Welded Wire Chicken Coop - photo from livingthecountrylife.com[/caption]Came across and interesting discussion on making chicken coops out of welded wire at the backyard chickens website and wanted to chime in with a plug: As far as welded wire goes for use in gardens and coops, it is much better than chicken wire, mainly because of strength. Welded wire is wire that is welded to create a sheet of material. Most welded wire is made of galvanized stainless steel, but over time the weld joints themselves will begin to rust fence will start to loose integrity, which is why I'd probably opt for a vinyl coated welded wire, which is a bit more expensive but aesthetically does looks a lot better and will last about 30 - 40% than the regular galvanized wire. The only think I'm not sure about is whether the chickens would peck at, and or eat the coating.
Photo above is from an article in Living the Country Life: Kevin Davis' chicken coop measures 8' x 12'. He fenced in a 20' x 20' x 6' tall run area. The run fencing is 1" x 2" welded wire with poultry wire over the top. "Before I completed this I lost one chicken to a hawk," he says.
Our 14 gauge 1' x 2' Coated Welded Wire runs $98.40 for a hundred foot roll (24' high) and $65.90 for the un-coated. One thing to be aware of when shopping for Coated Welded Wire is whether the gauge is measured with or without the coating. A lower gauge is a heavier material. So are you looking at a 14 gauge galvanized mesh with a coating or a 16 gauge which becomes 14 with the coating?
Please post your thoughts below.
Jeff let me know if you get email notification on this.
ReplyDeleteJeff from the back yard chicken coop
ReplyDeleteI use the welded fencing for my runs but I lock them up at night inside a completely enclosed run and coop. The enclosed run is actually chicken fencing as it is smaller holes to help keep out things like mink and rats. But that is the only reason I use the chicken fencing for that area. I like the welded fencing for everything else and would not hesitate to use it for an enclosed run. Especially the top of the run.
ReplyDeleteHey Jeff - that's a really good point about keeping out rodents, because they really seem to like the chicken feed. So a combination of chicken wire and welded wire as you're doing, might make a lot of sense.
ReplyDeleteOur backyard currently houses three roosters and two peacocks. Well, one is a peahen. We just use chickenwire and it seems to be holding up pretty well.
ReplyDeleteFresh eggs from the backyard!
ReplyDeleteMmmm
ReplyDelete