Use 1/4-inch, 19-gauge hardware cloth on every opening, screw it through washers instead of only stapling, lap every seam 4 inches, and bury a 12-inch apron. That is what our plans specify, and the footage tables below say how much to buy for each run and coop. Chicken wire keeps hens in and keeps nothing out.
Most searches on this topic are really “how much do I need”, so the footage table sits right after the spec and the reasoning for it.
The spec our plans use
Quarter-inch opening, 19-gauge wire, on a 36-inch roll. The plan generator counts running feet of that roll for every opening, and the plans put the cloth on the outside of the frame, so a predator leaning on a wall pushes the mesh against the wood. Each course laps 4 inches onto the rail above, is screwed through a 1-inch fender washer every 6 inches along every rail and post it crosses, and is hog-ringed cloth to cloth every 6 inches along the lap. Staples alone pull out, the plan text says, and a raccoon works an edge until one gives. Windows and vent strips are the exception: their cloth goes on the inside face, behind the glass, so the window still shuts on a clean frame.
1/4 inch or 1/2 inch
Half-inch is the figure you see everywhere, and our plan text calls it raccoon-proof. University of Kentucky Extension (publication ID-245) reports that a least weasel can squeeze through holes as small as a quarter inch, and that gaps of a quarter inch or smaller are too small for a snake to prey on a flock. That puts quarter-inch mesh at the edge of what a weasel can use and half-inch well past it, which is why we spec the smaller opening. It does not make quarter-inch weasel-proof, and our plan step text that says it does is stronger than Kentucky’s wording. Nothing here is rated for a determined predator; the apron and the washers do as much as the mesh.
Chicken wire and welded wire
Chicken wire is the thin hexagonal netting. Kentucky says a raccoon that cannot get in will catch or grab birds through the wires of an enclosure, and the hexagonal gaps in chicken wire are exactly that opening. Welded wire in 1 by 2 inch openings is stiffer, but its opening is 2 inches one way, far past Kentucky’s quarter-inch figure. For a permanent run Kentucky says to use hardware cloth and bury it at least 12 inches.
The apron
Kentucky says to bury it at least 12 inches. Penn State says 12 and to toe the fence out about 6, and Oregon State says 6 inches to a foot. Our apron is an L: 12 inches down against the bottom rail, 12 inches turned outward, lapped 4 inches onto the wall cloth and hog-ringed, then backfilled. It runs under the gate threshold too, because the gate is the weak point. A fox digs where it meets resistance, which is at the wall, and the outward leg puts wire under that spot. The apron strip is about 24 inches wide, which is why it takes 19 running feet of the 36-inch roll on the 6x8 run’s 28-foot perimeter.
How much to buy
| Plan | Cloth needed | Rolls bought (ft) | Left over | Fender washers | Rolls at $3.10 a foot |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6x8 run | 108 ft | 100 + 25 = 125 ft | 17 ft | 432 | $388 |
| 8x16 run | 196 ft | 100 + 100 = 200 ft | 4 ft | 784 | $620 |
| 10x20 run | 258 ft | 100 + 100 + 50 + 25 = 275 ft | 17 ft | 1032 | $852 |
| 4x6 coop with run | 68 ft | 50 + 25 = 75 ft | 7 ft | 272 | $232 |
| 6x8 coop with run | 112 ft | 100 + 25 = 125 ft | 13 ft | 448 | $388 |
| 6x8 walk-in with run | 129 ft | 100 + 25 + 25 = 150 ft | 21 ft | 516 | $465 |
| 8x12 walk-in with run | 208 ft | 100 + 100 + 25 = 225 ft | 17 ft | 832 | $698 |
| 8x12 insulated with run | 213 ft | 100 + 100 + 25 = 225 ft | 12 ft | 852 | $698 |
| 6x8 duck house with run | 162 ft | 100 + 50 + 25 = 175 ft | 13 ft | 648 | $542 |
Rolls come in 25, 50 and 100 foot lengths, and the plans buy the combination that covers the need, so you carry 4 to 21 feet of offcut. For the standalone runs the split is on the chicken run plans page: walls, roof, apron and gate, adding to 108, 196 and 258 feet. The walls go on in three courses 36, 36 and 16 inches tall, with the top course cut over-height so it folds over the top rail, and the roof laps onto that fold.
The materials calculator lists every line of every cut list, and the 6x8 run is the cheapest place to practice the washers and rings.
What the cloth costs
The plan generator prices the roll at $3.10 per running foot, which is about $1.03 a square foot of 36-inch cloth. That is a model price, not a store quote, and it moves; price your own roll before you commit. On that basis the cloth is 12 to 17 percent of a coop’s low-end cost and 45 to 48 percent of a standalone run’s, counting the rolls you buy.
Floors, seams and the last hole
Our coops use 3/4-inch plywood floors, not wire. The open bay under the raised 8x12 is screened with the same cloth. If you add wire to a floor anywhere, Cornell’s duck lab warns that wire floors injure ducks’ feet unless smooth. The seam is where raccoons work: lap 4 inches, ring every 6. The last hole is the pop door, which gets a strip of cloth behind its stop. The predator-proofing guide covers the latches.