urbanchick Posted April 1, 2008 Share Posted April 1, 2008 My ex batts are doing well, but how long do you think I need to wait until I leave the eglu door open at night? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted April 1, 2008 Share Posted April 1, 2008 I left mine open last night. I forgot about it I am embarrassed to say. They were absolutely fine this morning and were up before I was. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajm200 Posted April 2, 2008 Share Posted April 2, 2008 We've left ours open since Friday and the girls have been fine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welsh sarah Posted April 2, 2008 Share Posted April 2, 2008 hi i leave mine open every night, they are very sheltered though, they are getting up at 5.30ish and i am definately not up and about normally at that time sarah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted April 2, 2008 Share Posted April 2, 2008 I left mine open last night...deliberately this time. They were fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarbaraJ Posted April 2, 2008 Share Posted April 2, 2008 I wonder if my wooden coop is quite dark because even if i dont get out there till 8am they are quiet and sleepy in there still. Usually its 7-7.30 but i take the food indoors so wouldn't want them letting themselves out as they would make noise if no food! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urbanchick Posted April 2, 2008 Author Share Posted April 2, 2008 Great, I think I'll be "accidentally" leaving the door open tonight and see how they get on. I am just a teensy bit fed up of getting up early EVERY morning Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superjules Posted April 2, 2008 Share Posted April 2, 2008 Oooh, it's going to get chilly again at the weekend though. (Well, it is here anyway!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiggy Posted April 2, 2008 Share Posted April 2, 2008 now Saffy has 3 friends I leave the door open,unless it really is freezing I leave them snuggled up, they get up at the crack of dawn & I don't want to be going out too early on my crutches slid down the bank one frosty morning in my dressing gown Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trixabell Posted April 2, 2008 Share Posted April 2, 2008 I put my chickens away in their hutch at night and padlock them in because i am so worried about foxes (we tend to get a lot around here), they seem to be happy to get up when i get up, although the hutch is for 6 and there is only 3 of them, is this okay to do? i'm reading about you all keeping your eglu's open but i think i would panic all night??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urbanchick Posted April 2, 2008 Author Share Posted April 2, 2008 I have put mine on patio slabs now, as I want to be 100% (or as near as) sure that they are safe from predators. I fully intend to leave the door open in all but freezing and wet & windy weather, but was particularly wondering when the ex batts can be considered strong enough to withstand the cold and draft as well as the Omlet hens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajm200 Posted April 3, 2008 Share Posted April 3, 2008 I guess the ex-batts will be ok when all of their feathers have grown back Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gallina Posted April 3, 2008 Share Posted April 3, 2008 Urban Chick: your name implies you live in the city. Urban foxes come out in daylight, at the same time as the hens, which could be before 5am in June. And they have no fear whatsoever of humans. Only leave the door open at night if you are sure your run is foxproof. If you have light soil, make sure that the ground is perfectly level and that you weigh the run skirt down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urbanchick Posted April 3, 2008 Author Share Posted April 3, 2008 Only leave the door open at night if you are sure your run is foxproof. If you have light soil, make sure that the ground is perfectly level and that you weigh the run skirt down. The batts are in an eglu next to the cube. The uneven bits of ground are weighed down with slabs so think they'll be ok. They'll be in the cube with the others soon. I have the entire cube and run on patio slabs now, for that very reason, so I don't see how a fox would get in unless it breaks into the locked run, which is have assumed is pretty unlikely. Has it happened to anyone with an eglu before? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiggy Posted April 3, 2008 Share Posted April 3, 2008 Saffy was making a dreadful noise early one morning last week & there was a fox on top of the eglu trying to bite through the run not a chance I do worry that those plastic clips will hold in the long term, I've only had my eglu for 6 months, do you need to replace those clips at all? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhapsody Posted April 3, 2008 Share Posted April 3, 2008 I leave my eglu door on the latch- shut it enough to keep draughts out but dont lock the handle down, they push it open in the morning to get into the run themselves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gallina Posted April 3, 2008 Share Posted April 3, 2008 I keep adding plastic clips to the eglu run, because I think they do get brittle and therefore weaker. I have had a fox lying on top of the run, and that is quite a weight. No fox is known to have broken through anyone's Eglu run yet, and I think that the only foxes which have dug their way in have succeeded because the run was on uneven ground and the skirt was not lying flat, let alone weighed down. But three people on this forum (including me) have lost a hen when a fox has taken a swipe or bite through the bars. This is very unlucky and unusual. It is much less likely to happen with the Cube run, as the fox can't reach the hens on the ground from the top of the run. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KitG Posted April 3, 2008 Share Posted April 3, 2008 I am obviously being extremely cruel to the Chicky Girls. Once they have headed into the Eglu for the night I shut them in. I certainly haven't been getting up at 5 every day to let them out either. They get let out about 7am most mornings and seem perfectly happy with that. Now the evenings are light I am letting them out of the run when I get home from work so that they have a couple of hours to free range before bed and they seem to like that too. Weekends they are out all day unless obviously we go away. We are right out in the country so I assumed that if I left the Eglu door open at night I was asking for a visit from Brer Fox. Am I getting this completely wrong? Kit, apparent abuser of Thelma, Louise and Ellie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superjules Posted April 3, 2008 Share Posted April 3, 2008 KitG, it's a matter of preference. When I lock mine away at night, I worry about them less, so most of the time I do close the door. Our eglu and other house are in a big walk-in run, surrounded by paving so nothing can dig in, but I feel the door of the house is the chooks' last line of defence. I always go out there anyway to bring their food in at night so I may as well close the door. Having said that, if we go away for the weekend their houses will be left open (inside the closed run though), and when we go away on holiday, because I can't expect my friends to come round twice a day to open and close them up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gallina Posted April 3, 2008 Share Posted April 3, 2008 KitG: There are two schools of thought about leaving the Eglu door open, and this topic comes up on the forum all the time. We agree to differ on it. One school leaves the door open all the time, and they and the hens are probably both happier. The other school thinks that there is no point in buying a fox-proof Eglu and then leaving the door open, as the run is only fox-resistant, not fox-proof. These are generally people who can't sleep at night if they know their hens are exposed to a slight fox risk and a more likely rat risk. And of course, very rarely, someone in the first school of thought loses a hen to a fox and moves into the second one. I am too scared to leave the Eglu door open all night, but I do get fed up with getting up before 7am to let the hens out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheik Posted April 3, 2008 Share Posted April 3, 2008 I don't let my girls out until about 8.30am! It's quite dark in the Eglu, so they shouldn't be too anxious to get out. /\dam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
