Chicken mesh, 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.. it is occasionally used to build inexpensive pens for small animals (or to protect plants and property from animals) though the thinness and zinc content of galvanized wire may be inappropriate for animals prone to gnawing and will not keep out predators.

In construction, chicken mesh or hardware cloth is used as a metal lath to hold cement or plaster, a process known as stuccoing. Concrete reinforced with chicken mesh 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.