Chicken and rabbit wire is an essential tool for the modern gardener. It protects your plants or crops from damage, as newly planted trees and shrubs are tempting sources of food for a group of rabbits. And without some form of protection any domestic animals, such as chickens, will always be vulnerable from any predators.
Here Lumberjacks, who supply wire fencing products to customers in Felixstowe, Ipswich and across Suffolk, provide some top tips on how to make sure plants and animals alike benefit from the protection it can offer.
Protect Plants Via the Direct Route
The fencing can be placed directly over younger or smaller plants, otherwise rabbits would be able to reach all the tender leaves. Similarly, if you have any seedlings, simply place the wire netting directly over your plot, but make sure it’s securely anchored at the edges.
For larger shrubs, roll the wire into a cylinder and place it around the plant; that way you won’t inhibit any future growth.
Size Matters with Chicken and Rabbit Runs
You need to tailor your fencing to the type of predators you are trying to discourage. Essentially, the bigger the potential predator you are trying to keep out, the bigger the wire mesh (or hole) size, you will need. Wire mesh to keep rats and other rodents out of chicken runs needs to be approximately 5mm; if foxes are more of a problem, then a 50mm mesh should be sufficient.
As with any plant protection, if your wire fencing isn’t securely fastened down or anchored, then it won’t be able to provide any effective cover. To be properly rabbit-proof, the posts should go at least 30cm (1ft) underground and be evenly spaced out – around 2-2.5metres apart.
At Lumberjacks we supply a range of fencing posts and timbers so we should have something which is ideally suited to your needs.
Think Vertically
It’s also worth having a roof on your chicken or rabbit run – there isn’t much point in having quality fencing if any would-be attacker can simply jump over it. And while chickens don’t fly as a rule, they can use their wings to gain height and hop over any fencing. So, make sure you buy wire fencing which is tall enough to rule out any vertical escape route (or way in).
Foxes (and badgers) can also dig underneath wire fencing if the soil is soft enough. Fortunately, most of East Anglia has clay soil, which is the hardest of all the various types to dig through.
However, if your garden is often waterlogged, either make sure your chicken or rabbit run is located in a sunny spot (making the ground harder and less easy to dig up) or bury some of the wire underground, again to a depth of around 30cm. Either of these measures should discourage any unwanted subterranean visitors.
Think Laterally Too
Rabbit or chicken wire has other potential uses too. It can act as a boundary with your neighbour’s garden – although at Lumberjacks we also stock galvanised security mesh fencing or wooden fence panels at our Ipswich yard, which may be better suited to this purpose. You can also use wire mesh as the basis for a hanging basket (just roll it into a cone and line it with moss) or as a filter for drainpipes (scrunch it into a ball and leave it at the top – that way your pipe won’t get clogged up with dirt and leaves).
Wire Fencing Products in Felixstowe from Lumberjacks
For a full breakdown of all of the chicken/rabbit wire netting that we currently have in stock, just follow this link. If you are unsure that type of fencing you need, call us on 01473 461394 or click on this link and fill in the online form and we will get back to you.
Our local delivery area includes Felixstowe, Stowmarket, Needham Market, Woodbridge and Hadleigh. For more information, follow this link. Any delivery costs shown are estimates and will be confirmed when your payment is taken.
