All Activity

Hello! Being chickenless I haven't posted for a long time but Omlet was always my first port of call so I thought I would pop back on my perch! I have cold feet, freezing cold feet and I am desperate to find boots which keep me warm. I have Dublin Arctic but they are worn out but they did the job. I would prefer ankle/calf length just for a change. I have Uggs, but they're no use other than pottering around or a night out. So, I need fairly rugged, dog walking/ out walking / working in the garden, quality, waterproof but above all warm. So dear Omleteers, please tell me what works for you x

The end of an era Laura!

Hi Laura, My hubby and I are looking to start or chicken keeping adventure and I'm interested in your green Eglu. Can you let me know some more information about it, please? Thanks Lisa

Do you still need glugs

I have a red classic mark 1 and a green classic mark 2 for sale. Both in good condition. I'm in Nottingham. Open to sensible offers for either 1 or for both.

It's not an easy decision, we got chickens from Omlet and an Eglu in 2008. We were down to one, and rehomed her just before we moved to Scotland from Kent in 2021. We were moving in with family and didn't know how long it would take to find our own home, it was 18 months as we ended up doing a self build. It was strange not having them at first, but we've been so busy that we've got used to it now. My Eglu is currently on loan to my daughter's friend, but my daughter now wants to get chooks so who knows?

We starting keeping chicken in 2005 and our first 2, henno and nugget where from omlet along with their home a mark 1 eglu. Fast forward to now with 2 eglus and over the years numerous characters we have now decided not to have any more chooks. It will be a bit odd not seeing them in the garden or shutting them in at night and they have bought much joy and laughter with their little ways. Our final chook is going to live out her old age with some new friends tomorrow. So it is the right decision and right time to say a final farewell to our last feathered friend.

Hi, for some reason I've had to re register even though I've had chooks and bought my eglu not long after omletbstarted. I've also niw been told my email is being used by someone else after reregistering Is this normal??

Hi, sorry for the late reply. She started to make a cockeral like sound mainly in the mornings so appeared to be calling out for a reply maybe. She didn't seem to be getting quieter after a few weeks. Allthough she was eating and drinking I felt she would be better in a new home with friends and managed to find a good home locally with someone who worked at our local vets.

Debbie where are you located? It's looking like we might lose one leaving the last one alone. I'm thinking we could maybe adopt one that's in the same situation.

She is about 12-15weeks old. So now clue of thats fully grown. We will see how she goes i guess, shes moving around fine on it, just didn't want her to be in pain

All I can suggest is keep her off hard and very uneven surfaces, like gravel. Can't say if it will become worse, perhaps it will just stay as it is because her feet should be fully grown by now? On the subject of surgery. Even if it was possible to separate the toes, they would still be bent and it may be that them being joined gives her more stability? We had a nasty accident a while back and one of our chickens had a main toe sliced off. She managed fine with two (inner and centre) and could actually stand on that foot and scratch herself with the other. Yes they do have 4 normally (or 5 in the case of our young cockerel who had his 5th splinted because it was dislocated when he arrived), but they only stand on 3. Hope all works out well.

A This is why i posted this on forum tbh, because yes loads of people post ***** on the internet. She is ok now, but will it get worse? Is there anything we can do to make it better, easier for her? Regards James

Even with all our experience we wouldn't be cutting the toes apart!!! Chances are you would hit a vessel and wouldn't be able to stop the bleeding. Even if you were lucky (or she was lucky) chances are the cut wouldn't heal properly and infection sets in. Just goes to show how much rubbish is on the internet. A vet may be able to do 'hot knife' surgery, but why bother if she is otherwise OK?

Cheers for the reply. I've been doing some more searching on the internet and some people have cut the webbed bit and released both toes. Is that a thing and is it that? We are new to chickens so dont want to do/dont do something we should. Kind regard James

Curled toes are cause by a vitamin B deficiency resulting from a poor diet of the parent. You could buy pellets formulated to the needs of breeding stock when I lived in the UK. They can be corrected by splinting when a young chick (delicate and tricky job), but in your case she is far too old for that. Fortunately she is not restricted by it, so just leave her to carry on as normal. Worth keeping a watch on her to make sure she doesn't damage her claws or scales which could lead to an infection in the foot.

Will an Eglu Go fit inside a Zippi run ok or is it too high for the single height run?

Afternoon all, We have just got six new bantams that are around 15weeks old. We noticed our patridge one has a wonky curled foot, where two toes look to be attached to each other. Both feet are the same but one side is more curled. She seems to be walking fone, eating and drinking. Its really hard to get a good picture. Is this something we should be worried about? what to do? Any help really. Kind regards James

You could put strips of weed membrane underneath, which you can buy by the metre off a roll, but of course that will kill the grass underneath. Make sure the chickens can't reach it because the membrane is made of woven plastic strips and you don't want them grabbing an end and trying to swallow it! I've found the best way of cutting the stuff is with a hot carving knife which seals the edges to some extent, but not completely and they will still fray.

We have a omlet go up with a run attached. Every now and again we would pick it up and move it to a different spot. However, the last time we moved it, we hadn't done so for a long time and it took us most the day to unearth the guards from the tangled grass and mud that built up around before we were able to lift it up. We vowed to never leave it so long again but guess what.... we did! Its not as bad this time but anyone got any tips to make it easier?

Yes she can Debbie, but she will need a lot of attention and be somewhere where she can see other animals or people all the time. She will get lonely otherwise, become depressed, stop eating and just fade away. We have had many single hens; there is one in a cage next to me as I type. She comes into the house at night (we leave the door open) and goes out during the day to wander freely in the garden. Obviously there is a risk doing that.

One of my hens is now on her own after her sister died on Monday. I don't want to get anymore chickens now so can she live on her own? I have unsuccessfully tried to find her a home. She is 8 years old.

I very rarely look in, and I don't remember commenting on this thread, but when I saw the photo just now I squeaked again and my tummy went funny! Thank you so much for updating and letting us know that Daisy had a good rest of her life, its important to have hope. RIP Daisy.

Update on Daisy! Sadly, she passed away last night in my arms, but I wanted to look at this thread to see how long ago this was. The original vet said it's best to put her down but she's lived a very full and complete life for an additional 18 months since this, which is fantastic! Eventually I think it was just age as she had rapidly deteriorated in around 3-4 days and strugged, but wanted to share with everybody here!

I had a similar experience when I was overseas and had to leave my cat with friends. They ended up keeping him longer than planned, and I faced a tough situation getting him back.One thing that helped was keeping communication open and documenting everything about the arrangement. I also offered a reward or gesture of thanks for their help, which seemed to make a difference.Interestingly, while dealing with this, I looked into adopting a sphynx cat as a potential future companion. The experience was a bit of a distraction and a reminder that there are options out there if you ever need them.