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wire cloth

The materials called wire cloth are usually used as fencing. They are sold cut to length or in 100-foot rolls.

Poultry netting

Also called chicken wire. It is made with either 1″ or 2″ hexagonal holes, of 20-gauge (0.035″) galvanized wire.

Size	Available widths, in inches
1-inch mesh	12, 18, 24, 36, 48, 60, and 72
2-inch mesh	12, 24, 36, 48, 60, and 72

Aviary netting

A smaller version of poultry netting, with ½-inch holes suitable for confining birds smaller than a chicken. It is made of 22-gauge (0.028″) galvanized wire in widths of 36 and 48 inches.

A page from the 1898 catalog (#97) of Boulton and Paul, an English manufacturer. Page 238, slightly adapted for legibility.

Hardware cloth

Also called wire cloth. A stronger and stiffer material than poultry netting, made of heavier wire. The openings are square. Often galvanized after weaving. Hardware cloth is available in widths of 24″, 36″, and 48″. It is used, for example, to make sieves for garden soil and to cover entrances to crawlspaces.

Nominal hole size inches	Actual hole size, inches	Gauge
1/8	0.109	27 (0.0173″)
¼	0.226	27 (0.0173″)
½	0.460	19 (0.041″)

Welded wire fabric

Stronger than hardware cloth, usually used as fencing. The openings are usually rectangular. Instead of being woven, all the wires running in one direction lie on top of, and are welded to, the wires running in the other direction.

Nominal hole size in inches	Gauge	Available widths in inches
½ by 1	16 (0.0625″)	24, 36
1 by 1	16 (0.0625″)	24, 36, 48
1 by 2	14 (0.080″)	24, 36, 48
2 by 4	12½ (0.097″)	36, 48, 60, 72

Field fencing

Also called hog fencing mesh. In this type of welded wire fabric the size of openings changes from one edge of the fabric to the other. When the fabric is erected as a fence, the fence has small holes at the bottom and big ones on top. The wire is 12½ gauge; available widths are 26″, 32″, 39″, and 47″.