What Is Chicken Wire Used For?

Chicken wire, also known as poultry netting, or chicken wire mesh, is a type of thin, flexible wire mesh commonly used to build enclosures for chickens and other small animals. Chicken netting is distinctive due to its woven structure and hexagonal shaped holes. Whether you're keeping a small number of chickens in your garden, or you're a poultry farmer, it helps to keep your birds contained in a chicken run or enclosure while allowing air and light to pass through.

Can chicken wire keep foxes out?

No, chicken wire is not strong enough to prevent foxes from chewing through and gaining access to your chickens. Although chicken wire is a cost-effective way to contain your chickens, if you are leaving your chickens outside unsupervised then you may want to use a fox-proof welded wire mesh with a 50mm x 50mm hole size and 14 gauge wire. For more advice on keeping your chickens safe, see our guide on How to fox-proof your chicken coop.

Why use chicken wire?

Although chicken wire is not fox-proof, it can still be used to provide an outdoor space for your birds to roam in. Also, as it is a cost-effective fencing, chicken wire fence is a great option for cheap boundary fencing for large areas or for budget-conscious garden projects. In particular, chicken wire is ideal for fencing off hedged areas as it is lightweight enough to mould to the shape of your hedge.

Beyond poultry keeping and fencing, chicken wire is also used in gardening to protect plants from pests. If you're thinking of planting a vegetable patch in your garden, see our helpful guide on How to Grow Your Own Vegetables and Protect Them From Pests. Rabbit netting, which is essentially the same product as chicken netting, is an effective deterrent to rabbits taking the fruits of your labour. For more information on rabbit protection, see our guide on How to Deter Rabbits and Keep Them Out of Your Garden.

Other uses for chicken wire netting include support mesh for climbing plants such as peas, cucumber and ivy, and reinforcement for compost bins. If you would prefer an option more in-keeping with your garden then why not use a green coated chicken wire.

Chicken wire also has creative uses in craft projects, home décor, and even sculpture due to its lightweight and easily malleable structure. 13mm hole chicken wire is commonly used for sculpture projects.

Chicken wire for bird proofing

Another popular use for chicken wire is bird proofing. 13mm hole chicken wire is widely used for bird proofing as it is small enough to keep out even the smallest UK wild birds. This is useful for protecting your poultry from outbreaks of bird-flu, and to prevent wild birds from accessing areas of your building. 13mm wire netting is also ideal for constructing fruit cages, to keep birds away from your fruit trees.

How to install chicken wire

Chicken wire installation depends on how you intend to use the mesh, for example is the chicken netting intended to be attached to a wooden framework, fixed onto posts, installed at the bottom of a hedge?

We've set out below some of the installation steps you may need to take:

What tools and equipment will I need to install chicken wire?
How do you straighten chicken wire before installing?
How to fix chicken wire onto a framework.
How to install a chicken wire fence.
How to install chicken wire in a hedge.

What tools and equipment will I need to install chicken wire?

Depending on how you are installing your chicken wire netting, here are some of the tools and equipment you may find useful:

Protective Gloves.
Wire cutters.
Hammer (if using wooden posts or framework).
Hammer-in staples (if using wooden posts or framework).
Staple tacker (unless using hammer-in staples).
Wire grips or fence plier.
Cable ties.
Tie wire / line wire.
Ground Pegs.
Spade or post hole digger / auger.
Tape measure.

How do you straighten chicken wire before installing?

When you receive your roll of chicken wire it will be tightly rolled up. In order to straighten the wire netting, you will first need to open the roll of mesh. Make sure you are wearing a pair of protective gloves, as the edges of the mesh can be sharp, and start by removing the plastic packaging. You will see that the wire netting underneath the packaging is tied together using some thinner tie wire wrapped around the roll. Carefully unravel the tie wire to release the roll of netting.

Once the tie wire has been removed, you will be able to unroll the chicken wire netting. Please note that the start of a roll of chicken wire is sometimes folded over, to protect against sharp edges. Whilst wearing gloves, carefully fold the chicken wire back into position.

When you start to unroll the chicken netting, you may find that the mesh has a curve to it as a result of being rolled-up at the factory. You can take some of this curve out of the material by back-rolling the netting slightly. See our useful guide on How to straighten a roll of wire mesh fence.

How to fix chicken wire onto a framework

Chicken wire can be easily fixed onto a wooden framework using either hammer-in staples, or a staple tacker. Simply position the wire netting over the framework, and staple the edges to fix it into place. You may need to pull the chicken wire tight to avoid any billowing out. If you are fixing the chicken wire onto a metal framework, then you can use cable ties or tie wire to fix the wire netting to the frame.

The fixings used to fit the mesh onto a framework are the same as those used to fix mesh onto posts, and so it may be helpful to read our guide on How to attach wire mesh to posts.

How to install a chicken wire fence

With a bit of preparation and elbow grease, you can easily install a chicken wire fence. Alternatively, a contractor with fencing experience will be able to install the fence for you. The first step is to measure the total length of the fence line, and mark out the start and end of each straight section of fencing. Next, mark out the post positions along the fence line, which should be approximately 1.8m spacing (or up to 3m if you are installing tensioned line wire for support). Use a string line between your start and end post to ensure that your post positions are marked in a straight line.

Next step is to dig your post holes. Dig each hole approximately 55cm deep, ensuring that you leave sufficient post above the ground when the post is buried in the hole. Hole diameter should be about 3 times the post width, typically around 20cm to 30cm (8 to 12 inches). Once your post holes have been dug, you will need to set your posts with post-crete. Check with the manufacturer to see how much post-crete is required, however you often need a bag of post-crete per post.

Once the posts have fully set, it's best to leave them overnight, you can now start the process of fitting your chicken wire. If you would like the extra support of line wire (this helps to reduce billowing out of the wire netting between posts), then you should use winders or eye-bolts to tension the supporting wire at the top, middle and bottom of the fence. You may wish to brace your start and end post with a supportive strut if using line wire, to prevent these posts from moving when you tension the supporting line wire.

Now it's time to attach your chicken wire to the posts. For information on how to fix the netting to your specific post type, see our guide on How to attach wire mesh to posts. Securely fix the start of the roll of wire netting to your starting post, and then unroll the chicken wire along your fence line. If you have installed line wire, you should fix the netting to the tensioned wire using a hog ring plier and clips, with a clip approximately every 30cm. Keep unrolling the chicken wire until you reach your next post, and then secure the wire netting to the post. Repeat the process until you reach the end of your fence run.

Also see our useful guide on How to install a Wire Mesh Fence, for more information.

How to install chicken wire in a hedge

Due to its flexibility, chicken wire is a great product for covering gaps in your hedge. As chicken wire is a lightweight, woven product it's able to mould to the shape of your hedge more easily than a more rigid heavy-duty fence. This is particularly useful if you're trying to cover gaps at the bottom of a hedge to prevent your dog from escaping.

Sometimes with an established hedge it's not possible to install posts, and so you can try unrolling the wire netting along the bottom of the hedge and use either cable ties or tie wire to fix the netting directly to the hedge branches. If you need some extra support, you can use drive-in posts to provide anchor points. To deter your dog from pushing under the wire netting, use heavy-duty ground pegs to secure the bottom of the wire netting.