After reading this step-by-step guide on chicken wire dog fence building, you will have learned a lot about chicken wire, its uses and how to build a functional chicken wire dog fence on your own.
Cut the chicken wire to length.
- Using wire snips, bolt cutters or heavy-duty wire cutters, mark the desired length of your chicken wire panel on the roll of material with a piece of chalk.
- Cut the wire carefully so that it is a little bit longer than required. By cutting it a few inches longer you can easily go back and trim to the exact length needed later on if necessary.
- If you accidentally make your piece too short you will have to start over because there won’t be enough overlap for proper installation.
Lay out the chicken wire to double check that you have enough before starting.
- Lay the chicken wire on the ground and make sure you have enough to cover the area
- Measure out how much you need so that you get the right amount of stakes
- While laying out the chicken wire, make sure to wear protective gloves because wire can be extremely sharp
Build a frame on the ground using 2-by-2 inch or larger lumber.
- Start with a frame on the ground. Use 2-by-2 inch or larger lumber to build a frame that is as tall as you want your fence to be, and at least two feet longer than the space you plan to put it.
- Leave a gap between the top of the frame and the chicken wire for stapling later on.
- Make sure your posts are securely in place.
Attach the chicken wire to the wood frame with staples. The staples should go through both layers of chicken wire for added strength.
Staple the chicken wire to the frame
After securing the chicken wire to the frame, staple it through both layers at 8″ intervals. Find a staple gun that can handle the staples you need. Make sure you’re using a high-quality tool and staples to avoid any accidents.
Drive wooden stakes at least two feet into the ground at regular intervals around the entire perimeter.
Use a post hole digger to make holes for your stakes. Pound them into the ground with a sledgehammer until they are at least two feet deep. Once you’ve made all the holes, push your stakes in firmly. Use a spirit level to check that your posts are all at the same height and that they are plumb (vertically straight). If they’re not vertical, adjust them so they are before you fill in the concrete. If you don’t have a spirit level, get one! They’re useful for far more than checking fence posts.
Around each stake, pour concrete up to three inches below ground level to secure it in place and prevent rot. Pour some water over the concrete to help in hardening and wait about 10 days for it to cure properly before attaching the chicken wire frames.
Slide each place where the chicken wire butts up against a post over a wooden stake
Make sure that each roll of chicken wire fits tightly around each of the posts—but not so tightly that the bottom of the chicken wire meets up with the top of the fence. The extra room should allow your dog to safely jump over if he jumps hard enough—or at least it’s a good idea to give him a chance.
After you’ve put all rolls in place, hammer nails into the posts at regular intervals around all posts to secure them and keep them from sliding down. This will be especially important if you have a big, strong dog like Buddy who could easily pull down an entire section of chicken wire fence by tugging on just one place!
A chicken wire dog fence can be easy to build if you focus on what is really needed.
Building a chicken wire dog fence is easy if you follow these steps:
- Materials and tools. You will need chicken wire, wooden stakes (2 x 4s will work), hammer, nails, measuring tape, staple gun, screws and a paint roller.
- Benefits of building this type of fence. Chicken wire is flexible so it can be configured in many ways. It is also inexpensive and easy to find at most hardware stores.
- How to measure and cut the chicken wire. Measure from the ground up how high you want your fence to be; then measure the length of the perimeter you plan on fencing in. Unroll the chicken wire along the ground around this perimeter, taking note of where you need to cut it shorter or longer according to your measurements. Cut these areas with tin snips (metal scissors) on each side of where there’s excess chicken wire so that they are even lengths with one another when laid out flat along the ground again.
- How to attach the chicken wire to frame posts and/or stakes. Use a staple gun or screws with a screwdriver depending on what surface you’re attaching it to (wooden posts vs wooden stakes). To get best results, make sure that all staples/screws are secure but not too tight which could cause unnecessary tearing and sagging over time; leave 2-3 inches between each staple or screw for best results when attaching here as well as where attaching down below in step 5b &c . If there isn’t enough overlap for stapling near an edge – try using long nails instead!
- How to attach the chicken wire down lower along its edges like baseboard trimming would do so we don’t have any gaps between our fence panels that could let predators through or let pets escape outwards into other parts of your yard if they get spooked enough by something outside their enclosure area such as bad weather storms approaching fast without prior warning signals given beforehand… This will also provide stability against shifting.