10/06/2026
You all asked, and it’s taken me a while but… finally! Our Chicken pens setup including what we use & why 👀🙂
So we start our own structures with what they call “temporary fence panels” or “safety fence panels” they’re easy to move, give you a great foundation to build from and they’re affordable.
We use the clamps that you can purchase with them to secure them together, this means everything is secure and square to begin with.
We then add a layer of small chicken wire. This doesn’t need to be super tough, as it’s mostly aimed at keeping any birds out of the chickens areas. We do this on the outside of the pen, and then add the wooden slats to the base to secure the wire and give us something to attach the ground mesh to - oh while we do this we add gutter mesh to the base gaps (birds will find any holes you leave & break in).
Next step is the ground mesh, we use the steel mesh pictured, I dig out enough dirt to lay it flat and pushed up against the wooden base boards, and then use clips (called panel fencing clips) to attach the mesh to them so the foxes can’t drag them back and dig in.
Final step is the roofing - we use the reinforced bird netting, and secure it using the hog/m style clips. If this is pulled pretty tight it gives you a bird proof roof and blocks any holes that are on the top parts of your panels.
As a side note, we started with white coloured bird netting, but have switched to black now, the white got grubby real fast & stands out! I’ve found the black blends in and hides the dirt!
I use pliers and clips (as pictured) for all the wire/net etc.
all the clips, pliers, fasteners etc are available at Bunnings/hardware stores but I buy online because we use so many.
What did I miss? Anything else you’d like to know?
