# they want how much??



## Captain (Aug 19, 2012)

ive been working on my chicken coop for a few weeks, and now i am at the stage of attaching the "chicken wire" material. i went to Home Depot today, and i couldnt believe the price of that stuff! 
is it made of gold! dang!! 

how durable is the plastic stuff they sell. will that keep the predators out?

so far i have used recycled materials, and am trying to do this as cheap as possible. 

thanks
Jeff


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## Diane (Jun 20, 2012)

I used 1/2 mesh, and was soooo lucky to have gotten it back in May pretty cheap off wayfair.com..I paid 180$ for 150 ft x 48 inches high . got free shipping AND 10% off. I just checked and their price for the 48" / 50ft roll has skyrocketed to over 100$$$$ !!!

I honestly think you can find it cheaper online vs lowes/home depot. I think wayfair's, 36" x 50ft is around 59.00.. 

Some use chicken wire but then run a line of mesh around the bottom part, honestly I don't know what that would do but oh well.

You can definitely find chicken wire online not to expensive, 

I can't free range my chickens to many predators, and I do NOT want to deal with snakes that can get thru chicken wire..So my "Fort Pox" is definitely predator proof and my chickens go in at nite..

Sorry no suggestions, I feel your pain tho!


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## kejmack (Sep 3, 2012)

Plastic will not keep predators out. We don't even use chicken wire here. We use hardware cloth because anything less will not stop a determined predator. If you build a cheap coop, you will spend a lot of money replacing chickens. It is more cost effective to do it right the first time.


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## TinyHouse (Aug 31, 2012)

I used to think chicken wire was enough, but two things: 1) Dang, I hate working with that stuff and 2) a friend showed me where neighbor dogs went right through and tore a huge hole in the chicken wire they had around their coop. Killed all of their chickens. 

So when I built mine, I had a roll of 48" x 50' chicken wire that we put on the bottom half and then ran down into the ground and out about 8 - 9 inches. Covered that with dirt and no dog should be able to dig under and get in. Then we covered the entire thing with 2" x 4" hardware cloth 6' tall (that's how tall the run is so it fit with very little cutting. I used both because I was afraid the chicks would get out of the 2" x 4" by itself. I also covered the top with the hardware cloth to keep raccoons and hawks out. The whole time we were building the coop, we had hawks circling above us. It was quite an incentive to build the whole thing as sturdy as possible. 

I got the hardware cloth at True Value, we only needed one roll (6' x 100') and it was $125.00. I have some left over that I'm going to use to make a compost pile next to the garden and the chicken house. I already had the roll of chicken wire, but had to buy more to make it all the way around. The 50' roll was the "standard" stuff which I got early last year at Home Depot and I believe it was around $25.00. The 25' roll I had to get to finish up isn't really "chicken wire", it's 2" wire mesh, which looked too big so we doubled it to (try to) make the openings smaller. It was ~$13.50 at Family Center (farm store here in MO).


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## Energyvet (Jul 25, 2012)

Not good. I have to buy some too and I'm on a spend nothing budget at the moment. :-(


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## hollyosborn (Jul 8, 2012)

i used chicken wire, and in my outside pen is this REALLY heavy duty sheep wire... the only predators that have gotten in was the skunk but it came in a hole it dug.. now i have bricks all th way around the bottom, OH and i left an overhang of chicken wire so nothing can dig around the outside coop.... if that makes any sense... but mine are free range during the day.. the dog keeps the hawks, eagles and owls away....


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## Captain (Aug 19, 2012)

thanks for the info guys. i have seen on other posts the problems related with chicken wire. Hardware cloth is definitely the way to go. i was hoping to do this very cheap, but it looks like i need to start selling some stuff in order to pay for the wire. i agree with kejmack that an investment now will pay off in the long run.


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## Captain (Aug 19, 2012)

Energyvet said:


> Not good. I have to buy some too and I'm on a spend nothing budget at the moment. :-(


me too bud! i was hoping to build this on a NO budget aswell.... looks like i will have to put a little into this, or change my design


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## jjwilson72000 (Jun 21, 2012)

If you know how to use Craigslist, I have gotten all kinds off building materials from there for very cheap.


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## Energyvet (Jul 25, 2012)

Thanks. That's a good idea. I'll give that a try. Not doing any building until the coop arrives so I have some time.


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## kejmack (Sep 3, 2012)

Energyvet, if you have a family owned hardware or lumberyard, you might go by there and ask if they have any scrap wood. I got a bunch of 4' pieces of 2x4s from my local family owned lumberyard. They also gave me some "grey wood" at a very reduced price. Construction sites is another place to ask for scraps. Take gloves and a truck to load it.


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## Energyvet (Jul 25, 2012)

I have a big Jeep wrangler not a truck, but I get your message. These are good ideas and there is a family owned hardware about a block away.


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## kejmack (Sep 3, 2012)

I should have guessed you were a Jeep gal!


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## Energyvet (Jul 25, 2012)

Jeep, bandana, braid.... Terminator tracking me. Lol


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## Mamachickof14 (Aug 28, 2012)

jjwilson72000 said:


> If you know how to use Craigslist, I have gotten all kinds off building materials from there for very cheap.


 We got the first part of the fencing off Craigslist for our pen. My husband just isn't a builder and he is a disabled Vet so I had to splurge on my coop? Jen Like to see pics when yours is done!


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## Mamachickof14 (Aug 28, 2012)

Energyvet said:


> Thanks. That's a good idea. I'll give that a try. Not doing any building until the coop arrives so I have some time.


 What kind did you end up going with? I was telling someone on here (forgot the name) that I got a dog page fence off of Craigslist pretty cheep...show us pics!! Jen


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## Energyvet (Jul 25, 2012)

It's still in the boxes. I'm waiting for my partner in crime, my son, to come home so we can build together. It's so hard to wait too. Fall has started its tip toe into NJ. The nights are 60-65 ish the sun is strong and the skies are clear. There is a certain smell in the air that comes with autumn. If you breath deep enough, you catch a taste of it on your tongue. I just want to be outside. And the coop sits and waits, as I do, for his arrival.


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## Willy (Sep 14, 2012)

We went cheap and recycled a couple of old chain link dog pens, joining them together.


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## Captain (Aug 19, 2012)

Energyvet said:


> It's still in the boxes.


thats a very nice design. simple, but effective! i like it! how much did that cost you and where did you get it from?


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## Energyvet (Jul 25, 2012)

SAMs club. Shipped to my house. $300 for the coop, run and extended run. I'll post more pics when it's done. It has a nice wood finish, but I'm thinking about paint, cause I like paint.


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## twentynine (Jul 11, 2012)

I use plain chicken wire for my run--- but I reinforced it with an electric fence. No penetrations by dogs, *****, possums, fox or coyotes.


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## Energyvet (Jul 25, 2012)

I'm pretty urban, but ya never know who's out there until you advertise free lunch.


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## Roslyn (Jun 21, 2012)

Energyvet said:


> I'm pretty urban, but ya never know who's out there until you advertise free lunch.


People in the town I live by have a larger problems with raccoons, skunks and possums than we do outside of town. I think the eating is too easy and so they move in and stay.


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## kiwicsi (Sep 24, 2012)

Try freecycle.org - there may be someone in your area who has some to get rid of. If you get it on freecycle, then it will be free.


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