Ok, it has come to putting up a chicken wire fence around my veggies. The
rabbits have left nothing but stems of my green beans. How high, and what
size of chicken wire works best. I have just a small area to surround. ( 10'
x 8' ) Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I even tried the hot sauce spray on the leaves and apparently they loved it.

Thanks in Advance, Kathy

On Sun, 17 Aug 2003 16:37:44 GMT, "Kathy"
wrote:

Ok, it has come to putting up a chicken wire fence around my veggies. The
rabbits have left nothing but stems of my green beans. How high, and what
size of chicken wire works best. I have just a small area to surround. ( 10'
x 8' ) Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I even tried the hot sauce spray on the leaves and apparently they loved it.


Kathy, be sure you get the chicken wire with 1" mesh - not
2" mesh. Baby rabbits can probably get through the larger
mesh, also it's not nearly as strong and tends to flop about
two much.

Chicken wire - at least here - comes in 2' and 3' heights
(and higher). But - for rabbits - higher isn't necessary.

I'd get the 3' height, thinking that it will also serve to
keep out cats, small-to-medium sized dogs, and maybe other
critters better than a 2' high fence.

We have two dogs - one's about 65 lbs and the other about 70
lbs. Neither has ever jumped 3' chicken wire, although I am
sure they could if they tried.

What they have done, though, was to put their front paws on
it and then put as much of their weight on it as they could,
and bend it down that way, then step over. We replaced it
with welded-wire fencing in a general fence re-arrangment.
But rabbits aren't going to do that.

Pat

Thanks Pat - There are no other critters in the yard. Our 4 pound 14 year
old chihuahua won't bother the chicken wire. Thanks for the suggestion about
getting the 1"mesh, I never thought about the babies getting through the 2"
mesh. This is a project for tomorrow for sure. What did you use as stakes
to hold it up? Did you bury it at all in the ground. I am hopeing it will
just upset them enough to ignore trying to get in any other way.

Kathy

"Pat Meadows" wrote in message
news
On Sun, 17 Aug 2003 16:37:44 GMT, "Kathy"
wrote:

Ok, it has come to putting up a chicken wire fence around my veggies. The
rabbits have left nothing but stems of my green beans. How high, and what
size of chicken wire works best. I have just a small area to surround.
( 10'
x 8' ) Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I even tried the hot sauce spray on the leaves and apparently they loved
it.


Kathy, be sure you get the chicken wire with 1" mesh - not
2" mesh. Baby rabbits can probably get through the larger
mesh, also it's not nearly as strong and tends to flop about
two much.

Chicken wire - at least here - comes in 2' and 3' heights
(and higher). But - for rabbits - higher isn't necessary.

I'd get the 3' height, thinking that it will also serve to
keep out cats, small-to-medium sized dogs, and maybe other
critters better than a 2' high fence.

We have two dogs - one's about 65 lbs and the other about 70
lbs. Neither has ever jumped 3' chicken wire, although I am
sure they could if they tried.

What they have done, though, was to put their front paws on
it and then put as much of their weight on it as they could,
and bend it down that way, then step over. We replaced it
with welded-wire fencing in a general fence re-arrangment.
But rabbits aren't going to do that.

Pat

"Kathy" wrote in message
...
Thanks Pat - There are no other critters in the yard. Our 4 pound 14 year
old chihuahua won't bother the chicken wire. Thanks for the suggestion
about
getting the 1"mesh, I never thought about the babies getting through the
2"
mesh. This is a project for tomorrow for sure. What did you use as stakes
to hold it up? Did you bury it at all in the ground. I am hopeing it will
just upset them enough to ignore trying to get in any other way.

You might want to get higher - 4' or so and bury it down a foot or so. If
the rabbits are hungry enough they'll just burrow under the fence.

--
Bob Provencher
ICQ 881862
AIM bproven

"Kathy" wrote in message
...
Thanks Pat - There are no other critters in the yard. Our 4 pound 14 year
old chihuahua won't bother the chicken wire. Thanks for the suggestion
about
getting the 1"mesh, I never thought about the babies getting through the
2"
mesh. This is a project for tomorrow for sure. What did you use as stakes
to hold it up? Did you bury it at all in the ground. I am hopeing it will
just upset them enough to ignore trying to get in any other way.

You might want to get higher - 4' or so and bury it down a foot or so. If
the rabbits are hungry enough they'll just burrow under the fence.

--
Bob Provencher
ICQ 881862
AIM bproven

On Sun, 17 Aug 2003 20:32:12 GMT, "Kathy"
wrote:

Thanks Pat - There are no other critters in the yard. Our 4 pound 14 year
old chihuahua won't bother the chicken wire. Thanks for the suggestion about
getting the 1"mesh, I never thought about the babies getting through the 2"
mesh. This is a project for tomorrow for sure. What did you use as stakes
to hold it up? Did you bury it at all in the ground. I am hopeing it will
just upset them enough to ignore trying to get in any other way.


Yes, the last thing you want is a baby rabbit trapped in
your garden and getting frantic...

We've used two kinds of stakes (at different times) -

* small wooden stakes - bought from a lumberyard, I don't
know what they're called. I didn't buy them myself. Then
you can just staple the chicken wire to them.

* metal posts intended for woven wire fencing - you can use
a bit of wire to fasten the chicken wire to these. There
are more permanent of course.

I've never buried it.

In my experience, rabbits have never dug under fences. This
is in the northeastern USA, maybe there are rabbits more
inclined to dig elsewhere.

With my luck, since I've posted this, I suppose lots of
people will pop up like ...ahem....rabbits and say that mad
hordes of crazed bunnies are digging under their garden
fences at this very moment!! g But it's never happened in
my experience.

Pat

On Sun, 17 Aug 2003 21:00:08 -0400, "Bob Provencher"
wrote:

"Kathy" wrote

Thanks Pat - There are no other critters in the yard. Our 4 pound 14 year
old chihuahua won't bother the chicken wire. Thanks for the suggestion
about
getting the 1"mesh, I never thought about the babies getting through the
2"
mesh. This is a project for tomorrow for sure. What did you use as stakes
to hold it up? Did you bury it at all in the ground. I am hopeing it will
just upset them enough to ignore trying to get in any other way.

You might want to get higher - 4' or so and bury it down a foot or so. If
the rabbits are hungry enough they'll just burrow under the fence.

The latest I read (my new gardening book!) says to bury the fence at
least 4", although I've read previously that a foot was required. The
point is that they *will* dig if you plant green beans on the other
side of the fence. :-) Also, you don't need much more than 2' above
ground. As for mesh size, isn't there some 'rule' about critters
being able to get through any gap that's as big as their head
(sideways)? 2" mesh would *definitely* admit a small rabbit.

On Sun, 17 Aug 2003 16:37:44 GMT, "Kathy"
wrote:

Ok, it has come to putting up a chicken wire fence around my veggies. The
rabbits have left nothing but stems of my green beans. How high, and what
size of chicken wire works best. I have just a small area to surround. ( 10'
x 8' ) Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I even tried the hot sauce spray on the leaves and apparently they loved it.

Thanks in Advance, Kathy


Another possibility is to use a tubing bender to create rectangles of
EMT (thinwall electrical tubing) and wire the chicken wire to these
permanently. They can then be picked up and moved without hassle for
weeding, tilling, digging, and other garden work. This is a variation
on what I do for my raised beds, where squirrels and deer the the
primary vermin.

I tried chicken wire and the rabbits jumped over it. I got a cheap electric
fence box from Lowe's that runs on 110 or a car battery.
PROBLEM NOW SOLVED! However, I did have fun with my pellet rifle after
giving up on the chicken wire fence before getting the electric box.

"B.Server" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 17 Aug 2003 16:37:44 GMT, "Kathy"
wrote:

Ok, it has come to putting up a chicken wire fence around my veggies. The
rabbits have left nothing but stems of my green beans. How high, and what
size of chicken wire works best. I have just a small area to surround.
( 10'
x 8' ) Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I even tried the hot sauce spray on the leaves and apparently they loved
it.

Thanks in Advance, Kathy


Another possibility is to use a tubing bender to create rectangles of
EMT (thinwall electrical tubing) and wire the chicken wire to these
permanently. They can then be picked up and moved without hassle for
weeding, tilling, digging, and other garden work. This is a variation
on what I do for my raised beds, where squirrels and deer the the
primary vermin.

I tried chicken wire and the rabbits jumped over it. I got a cheap electric
fence box from Lowe's that runs on 110 or a car battery.
PROBLEM NOW SOLVED! However, I did have fun with my pellet rifle after
giving up on the chicken wire fence before getting the electric box.

"B.Server" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 17 Aug 2003 16:37:44 GMT, "Kathy"
wrote:

Ok, it has come to putting up a chicken wire fence around my veggies. The
rabbits have left nothing but stems of my green beans. How high, and what
size of chicken wire works best. I have just a small area to surround.
( 10'
x 8' ) Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I even tried the hot sauce spray on the leaves and apparently they loved
it.

Thanks in Advance, Kathy


Another possibility is to use a tubing bender to create rectangles of
EMT (thinwall electrical tubing) and wire the chicken wire to these
permanently. They can then be picked up and moved without hassle for
weeding, tilling, digging, and other garden work. This is a variation
on what I do for my raised beds, where squirrels and deer the the
primary vermin.