Chicken wire comes in various gauges. Guages are the thickness of the wire and not the size of the hole. The higher the gauge, the thinner the wire. For example, You might see 19 gauge wire, this wire could be approximately 1mm thick. Alternatively you could see 22 Gauge wire, which could be approximately 0.7mm thick.

The mesh size (the hole size) varies from quite large at 22mm to very small at 5mm. Which size you choose, will depend on the animals you wish to keep in or out of an area. Wire mesh to keep rats and other rodents out of chicken runs for example, will need to be approximately 5mm.

The wire also comes in varying heights, usually quoted as widths. Again dependent on the size of animal, will determine the height required. Chickens of course, don’t fly as rule but can use their wings to gain height! Going from ground to perch to the roof of the coop and then over the fence in seconds!

1 metre chicken wire is the most popular width but is difficult to find. It is usually found in 0.9m or 1.2m widths. Which of course, can be cut down to the required width.

It is always recommended to have some sort of roof on a chicken run, whether that be a solid roof or one made from chicken wire. Predators, such as foxes are good climbers and will do anything to get to their prey.