chicken wire
{{Short description|Metal mesh used for fencing}}
{{For|the structure pattern in chemistry|Chicken wire (chemistry)}}
{{Refimprove|date=March 2011}}
File:Chicken Wire close-up.jpg
File:GallinerKikes.jpg built with chicken wire]]
Chicken wire, or poultry netting, is a mesh of wire commonly used to fence in fowl, such as chickens, in a run or coop. It is made of thin, flexible, galvanized steel wire with hexagonal gaps. Available in {{Frac|1|2}} inch (about 1.3 cm), 1 inch (about 2.5 cm) diameter, and 2 inch (about 5 cm), chicken wire is available in various gauges—usually 19 gauge (about 1 mm wire) to 22 gauge (about 0.7 mm wire). Chicken wire is occasionally used to build inexpensive pens for small animals (or to protect plants and property from animals).
History
Aaron Damen, an American ironmonger, built the world's first wire-netting machine in 1879. He based his design on cloth weaving machines. Soon the invention spread far and wide due to the vast improvement over the then used wooden fence.{{Cite news |last=Wilkins |first=Tadrick |date=June 10, 2024 |title=The Daily Iowan |url=https://r12.fodey.com/2840/143ea0ff9c9a433caaba7f3a3f883395.0.jpg}}
During World War II, the fine wire used to make chicken wire was used to make large wire ground mats for radar systems, evening out the random reflections from the uneven ground below. The installation of these systems caused a countrywide shortage of chicken wire in the United Kingdom.{{Cite book
| last = Dobinson
| first = Colin
| title = AA Command: Britain's Anti-aircraft Defences of World War II
| publisher = Methuen
| isbn = 9780413765406
| year = 2001
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=zXMSAQAAMAAJ
| page=277
}}
It was also commonly used by German soldiers to help camouflage their stahlhelm helmets by weaving plants and branches into it.
Construction
In construction, chicken wire or hardware cloth is used as a metal lath to hold cement or plaster, a process known as stuccoing. In Australia, that cladding material, known as "Conite", was used in the 20th century, particularly to help overcome the housing shortage after World War II. It involved stapling chicken wire, backed with building paper, over the frame and then applying cement render, finished in white cement.{{cite web |title=Additives and Finishes |url=http://mileslewis.net/australian-building/pdf/07-cement-concrete/7.09-additives.pdf |publisher=Miles Lewis |access-date=2025-03-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120813064018/http://mileslewis.net/australian-building/pdf/07-cement-concrete/7.09-additives.pdf |archive-date=2012-08-13 |pages=7.09.11-7.09.12}}
Concrete reinforced with chicken wire or hardware cloth yields ferrocement, a versatile construction material. It can also be used to make the armature for a papier-mâché sculpture, when relatively high strength is needed.
Other uses
In chemistry, molecules with fused carbon rings are often compared to chicken wire — see chicken wire (chemistry).
In photonics, the chicken-wire effect is a predominant pattern of low transmission lines between multifiber bundles in a fiberoptic used to couple the intensifier tube to the CCD sensor. The lines have a pattern similar to that of chicken wire.
In machine tool design, chicken wire may be used for safety guarding.
Chicken wire is sometimes used to provide grip on surfaces such as wooden steps or decking.
Chicken wire commonly used in construction has been found to block or attenuate Wi-Fi, cellular and other radio frequency transmissions by inadvertently creating a Faraday cage.{{cite news
| url = https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB126221116097210861
| title = Culprit in Wi-Fi Failures: Chicken Wire
| publisher = The Wall Street Journal
| date = 31 Dec 2009
| page = A6A
| author = Geoffrey A. Fowler}}
See also
- Chain-link fencing
- Oligodendroglioma, a brain tumor with a microscopic chicken wire capillary pattern{{cite book |title=Oncology of CNS Tumors |editor1-first=Jörg-Christian |editor1-last=Tonn |editor2-first=Manfred |editor2-last=Westphal |editor3-first=James T. |editor3-last=Rutka |chapter=Pathology and classification of tumors of the nervous system |first1=Guido |last1=Reifenberger |first2=Ingmar |last2=Blümcke |first3=Torsten |last3=Pietsch |first4=Werner |last4=Paulus |page=17 |publisher=Springer |year=2010 |isbn=978-3-642-02873-1}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20070304002616/http://www.meshdirect.co.uk/Wire-Gauges-Explained-p-9.html Wire gauges (SWG) used in Chicken Wire]
- {{YouTube|FZnU6JlhshU|Gabion Machine}} - a machine that makes chicken wire.
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmKS1YYJGkA Higher quality video of a Gabion machine]