SettingsSettings for this calculationUS
The total perimeter of the chicken run enclosure.
Measure around the full planned run area.
How tall the fence stands above ground.
6 ft (1.8 m) is commonly recommended to deter climbing predators and keep birds contained.
How deep the hardware cloth is buried or bent outward at the base to stop digging predators.
12 in (30 cm) buried, or bent outward in an L-shape, is a commonly recommended minimum against digging predators like foxes and raccoons.
Hardware cloth needed
69.3 linear ft of hardware cloth
Predator pressure varies a lot by location — areas with persistent digging predators may warrant a wider buried apron (bent outward, not just straight down) rather than just a deeper vertical skirt.
- Required roll height
- 6.98 ft
- Posts needed
- 11 posts
They open the calculator with your figures already in it
Chicken Coop Run Fence Calculator: 69.3 linear ft of hardware cloth — shown in imperial, US market. The link sets both, so the result they see is the one on your screen.
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How this was calculated
Formula source(s)
- Hardware cloth length = run perimeter, with roll height covering above-ground fence height plus a buried skirt to deter digging predators
Inputs used
- Run Perimeter
- 66 ft
- Above-Ground Fence Height
- 6 ft
- Buried Skirt Depth
- 11.75 in
Intermediate steps
- Required roll height
- 6.98 ft
- Posts needed
- 11 posts
Confidence note: Predator pressure varies a lot by location — areas with persistent digging predators may warrant a wider buried apron (bent outward, not just straight down) rather than just a deeper vertical skirt.
What this calculation does not cover
- Counts fencing for a perimeter you supply and never asks how many birds are inside it. Run size is set by floor area per bird — commonly 8 to 10 sq ft (0.74 to 0.93 m²) each in the run, more for large breeds — and a flock squeezed into a well-built but undersized run turns to feather-picking and bullying long before any predator shows up.
- The required roll height is a dimension, not a product. Hardware cloth is wound in fixed widths — 24, 36 and 48 in (600, 900 and 1,200 mm) are the common ones — so any run taller than a single roll takes two courses lapped and stitched together with hog rings or wire at close centres. That lap eats material the 5% allowance does not include, and the seam is exactly the line a raccoon works at.
Estimated cost — your price
This site holds no price list for this material — local prices vary too much to publish honestly. Enter your supplier's price and the result is costed with it.
Computed in your browser — nothing you enter is uploaded. Presented in US customary units and US trade terminology. Where a formula follows a published standard, that standard and its edition are cited beside it on this page; where none governs, the page says so. Local amendments override model codes — verify against the code in force where you build.
Sources checked 2026-09-06 · in the site-wide review of 2026-09-06 · v1.0.1
Regulatory standards & verification citations1
- Hardware cloth length = run perimeter, with roll height covering above-ground fence height plus a buried skirt to deter digging predators
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