Will hoey

[Steve.]

Hello folks,

 

First Post!

 

Please excuse the stupid questions .... getting this sorted will help us decide what to do next.

 

To set the scene - we are in suburbia, have a 15M width x 25M length garden, of which 15M is on a incline, leaving 15M * 15M for potential coop locations. We have two boys, 23 months and 5 months, and no pets.

 

We are thinking about chickens as they'd be pets / and of course a source of free eggs!

 

 

Questions are as follows:

 

(1) Can we put the run right next to the patio or will the smell be too much?

 

(2) If fixing the elgu in place, what is the lowest maintenance stuff to put down that will resist rain? (I have three bags of bark chippings spare).

 

(3) Would a fixed run smell more than a portable one?

 

(4a) How much daily maintenance would be needed on an eglu?

(4b) How much weekly maintenance would be needed on an eglu?

(4c) How much monthly maintenance would be needed on an eglu?

 

Many thanks - there are more questions to follow!

[Egluntyne]

Ahoy there. Welcome to the forum.

Hello folks,

 

 

(1) Can we put the run right next to the patio or will the smell be too much?

 

If you keep thinks ship shape the smell should be minimal. Add some Bikashi Bran to their pellets and their poo hardly smells at all.

(2) If fixing the elgu in place, what is the lowest maintenance stuff to put down that will resist rain? (I have three bags of bark chippings spare).

Bark gets smelly and slimy, and can harbour nasties. Wood chippings would be better. I like Aubiose, but you would need to cover the run if you used it as it is very absorbent.

 

(3) Would a fixed run smell more than a portable one?

Depends on you cleaning regime.

 

(4a) How much daily maintenance would be needed on an eglu?

10 mins. Collect Eggs, top up feeders and drinkers. Empty poo tray twice a week. (Or more often if you wish).

 

(4b) How much weekly maintenance would be needed on an eglu?

Half an hour at the weekend, doing the above plus a wash of the drinkers, feeders, nest box and poo tray.

(4c) How much monthly maintenance would be needed on an eglu?

An hourish. All of 4b plus clearing and replenishing whatever you use in the run.

 

Many thanks - there are more questions to follow!

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Hi Steve, welcome to the forum . Can't add much to what Egluntine's said, but will put my tuppence worth in anyway .

 

 

(1) Can we put the run right next to the patio or will the smell be too much?

I have a smaller garden than you, and have the run close to the house. The run door is about 4ft from the kitchen window. There's no smell if you keep on top of things (very easy to do!).

 

(2) If fixing the elgu in place, what is the lowest maintenance stuff to put down that will resist rain? (I have three bags of bark chippings spare).

I use * Hemcore * on soil in a fixed run. You do have to keep it dry in the winter - I use corrugated plastic sheeting which I take off when it's dry.

 

(3) Would a fixed run smell more than a portable one?

Possibly if you didn't look after it, but it's less work than moving it around (and doesn't ruin your grass!). Give your hens garlic powder and bokashi bran and their poos will be firmer and hardly smell at all.

 

(4a) How much daily maintenance would be needed on an eglu?

Fill grub & glug - 3 mins. Collect eggs - 2 mins.

 

(4b) How much weekly maintenance would be needed on an eglu?

Half an hour - empty poo tray, clean & put fresh newspaper/shredded paper in; wipe/brush down eglu/nestbox & put fresh shredded paper in nestbox; put clean roosting bars in; dust diatom round roosting bars & sprinkle red mite powder in nestbox; wash roosting bars at your leisure during the week. (tip: get spare set of bars!)

 

I also do a poo pick in the garden every now and then - a plastic food scoop is great for flinging poos off the grass and into the flowerbeds . Just make sure your aim is good .

 

(4c) How much monthly maintenance would be needed on an eglu?

Up to an hour maybe - take eglu apart and wash down; move run to side, rake off top layer of soil/hemcore, sprinkle Stalosan F (disinfectant, helps keep smells & nasties down) and garden lime (balances pH of soil - chicken poop is acidic), new layer of Hemcore. Put eglu back together. I do this every 6 weeks or so.

 

That's just my routine - everyone is different.

 

Many thanks - there are more questions to follow!

Fire away

[Olly]

Welcome to the forum, Steve. I'd concur with all the answers above. Chickens don't smell. The poo smells, but if you don't leave it lying around then it's not a problem. Besides, if you feed them garlic powder it hardly smells at all.

 

I used to have two Eglus, and I could clean both of them thoroughly and reassemble them in half an hour. They are very, very easy to clean and you don't need to do the whole shebang every week - poo trays and roosting bars are the bits that get mucky.

 

If you are ordering an Eglu, then I definitely recommend getting an extra set of roosting bars so you can swap them over and let the other set dry out. However, I believe they are now doing plastic roosting bars, so that may not be necessary!

[Steve.]

Dear All --- thank you for the replies!

 

It has boosted our confidence that we are not taking on more than we can maintain - and hopefully chucks will add character to our rather bland garden. From all the descriptions it appears that indeed the eglu has been well thought out and keeps maintenance to a minimum. It is good to read that all the experiences on day to day maintenance / smells etc are the same.

 

Have made a note ( in this thread ) to get some:

 

o Bikashi Bran

o Garlic Powder

 

to keep smells at bay. We are lucky in that we have great neighbours and want to keep friendly with them all.

 

We took a trip to the local Jolleys this morning and had lot of the things that I had read about on the forum.

 

I think we will try a number of different run floorings, and see what works best at different times of the year! That there is three options helps!

 

Sorry --- there are a lot more questions!

 

(5) Where are the cheapest types of places to get feed / bedding from? Jolleys looked okay-ish but not that cheap. About £8 for a 20kg bag of feed.

 

(6) As I mentioned our Garden is on a slope. The bottom of the garden is only allowed to have a 5 foot fence. The slope stops 2 meters from the bottom of the fence. Would this be good enough to stop any escapes? The other fences are +6 foot high.

 

(7) How chicken-proof will my garden need to be? What is the smallest size hole that a medium size chicken would need to go through to escape? Cats don't visit although we do get a regular nocturnal hedgehog. Oh, and despite living on 'Brookside Close' we get the occasional fox-poo on the front lawn.

 

( How many chickens to get? I was going to get them delivered with the eglu. I'd like enough to feed us eggs (my wife has a blindspot for buying eggs) give away a few to friends and family in return for the stuff they've give us over the past years. I was thinking of three chucks?

 

(9) Is it viable to sell any left-over eggs to neighbours/friends or not really worth the effort? I work from home so don't go into the office unless there is a special reason.

 

(10) We have occasional late evenings and light up the Iron Chimena (a wood or charcoal burning patio heater). The plastic part of the eglu would be about 3 meters away from the back of the Chimnea and the metal honeycombed door would face away from the run. Our plants (even herbs) survive without any grilling at a much closed proximity. I don't think there is any risk to the chucks? We time it so that the fire has burnt down before we turn into bed. Roast chicken would not be a good thing in this case.

 

Many thanks!

[Egluntyne]

 

(5) Where are the cheapest types of places to get feed / bedding from? Jolleys looked okay-ish but not that cheap. About £8 for a 20kg bag of feed.

That is dear. I pay £6.50. It's not organic mind you.

 

I get it from a local equestrian shop.

 

(6) As I mentioned our Garden is on a slope. The bottom of the garden is only allowed to have a 5 foot fence. The slope stops 2 meters from the bottom of the fence. Would this be good enough to stop any escapes? The other fences are +6 foot high.

 

Hmmmm. You might get away with it. Some of mine use the Eglu as a launch pad and are able to get over the Omlet fencing. Position it as far as you can from the fence and then they shouldn't be able to flutter over.

 

(7) How chicken-proof will my garden need to be? What is the smallest size hole that a medium size chicken would need to go through to escape? Cats don't visit although we do get a regular nocturnal hedgehog. Oh, and despite living on 'Brookside Close' we get the occasional fox-poo on the front lawn.

 

They can squeeze through very small holes in hedges etc. Best to block up every escape route if you can.

 

( How many chickens to get? I was going to get them delivered with the eglu. I'd like enough to feed us eggs (my wife has a blindspot for buying eggs) give away a few to friends and family in return for the stuff they've give us over the past years. I was thinking of three chucks?

 

(9) Is it viable to sell any left-over eggs to neighbours/friends or not really worth the effort? I work from home so don't go into the office unless there is a special reason.

 

I give mine away. Keeps the neighbours happy and friends are delighted. You won't make a profit when you weigh everything up.

 

(10) We have occasional late evenings and light up the Iron Chimena (a wood or charcoal burning patio heater). The plastic part of the eglu would be about 3 meters away from the back of the Chimnea and the metal honeycombed door would face away from the run. Our plants (even herbs) survive without any grilling at a much closed proximity. I don't think there is any risk to the chucks? We time it so that the fire has burnt down before we turn into bed. Roast chicken would not be a good thing in this case.

 

Should be OK.

Many thanks!

[Stevie]

If i could back track to when i ordered my Eglu-i would have gotten three chooks instead of two.Three is a good number and should the worst happen-you will still always have a pair atleast which will keep each other company.Three chooks should net you around 20 eggs per week and theres no reaosn why you couldnt sell or give excess away.

 

My local animal supply stores (not strictly a pet shop-he sells horse,sheep,poultry,pig,dog food etc plus everything else they need) sells 20kgs of layers pellets (what laying hens eat) for £6.75 made by Dodson & Horrell.

Check out their site and look for nearest distributor because chances are-they'll sell everything else you want too.

http://www.dodsonandhorrell.com/uk

 

You really need to block up any holes in fences incase the chooks stick their heads through (they're nosy) and a predator is on the other side.Plus,a small hole can often be made much larger by dogs/foxes if they know there are chickens on otherside.Your 5ft fence should be ok,but you could increase security by adding trellis to the top which gets around any planning restrictions you might have with height.The humble Fox is enemy number one and you must do all you can to keep the chooks away from them.Be aware that Foxes can scale a 6ft fence,but most of the time will try to dig under so look for any weak spots.

 

Until chickens start to lay,they tend to be like Houdini when freeranging-trying to escape all the time! When they come into lay though,they become far too obsessed with stuffing their silly faces and you can relax a bit! I dont know where or how your planning on storing the feed,but a galvanised metal dustbin in essential to keep vermin from helping themselves.Plastic bins offer no resistence to rats & mice sadly.

 

Three metres from your chimenea is fine,but the noise might alarm them when they're roosting at night.Think about putting the Eglu a bit further so they can get some peaceful shuteye while you're all dancing.

[Cooks]

I cants add much from what others have said.. I am new to this as well.

 

I would go for 3 girlies, I have two, but I wanted three and now feel I cant add another to them without causing a lot of confusion both on my part and theirs

 

Good Luck.

[Egluntyne]

I would go for three hens.

[Steve.]

Thank you ... for all the answers ... running out of questions ....

 

I will take the advice on finding an equestrian shop ... we'll have a few visits to the local ones and see what they sell.

 

I was going to play the eglu nearest the fence, so a meter or so away. But as they may will use it as a launch pad, I'll swap it the other way around. The other postive would be that the egg-port would be accessible from the patio. The only negative would be that the eglu will be in the sun till around 5pm. Hopefully omlet have got their sums right and the chucks will be okay.

 

Thank you for the website of Dodson & Horrell, I will investigate.

 

Three chucks it is!

 

There is some trellis with Ivy on that is the only escape route as far as I can see. I'll have to cut it back and staple some chicken wire on. Would be a shame to mess up the local hedgehogs route but better than my chucks eating my neighbours substantial veg patch.

 

(11) I was planning on keeping feed in the garage. My folks gave us an anti-mouse/rat plug in thingy that makes rodents brains explode. I have a couple of plastic dustbins spare ... the plug sockets would be above the dustbins. If they were metal dustbins, could I keep the feed outside? I have a handy bit around the side of the house that could be well used. (And avoid stinking out the garage)

[Stevie]

I keep my pellets outside in a metal dustbin with no problems and have a bungee hooked on side handles across the top to prevent wind from blowing the lid off.Their pellets dont smell nasty or anything-they kinda smell of pleasant grassy meadows!

[Egluntyne]

I keep my chicken feed outside in metal bins, with a luggage cord holding the lid tightly down.

 

So far so good.

[Olly]

I keep mine in plastic bins in the garage (the pellets, I mean, not the chickens!) - rats can chew through plastic, it's true, but I haven't had a problem so far. You do need something with a lid though to deter acrobatic mice. They don't smell at all, or at least not unpleasant.

 

I don't know whereabouts you are, but there's a sticky under Chickens, on 'where to buy chicken feed - here's a link, you might find a local supplier. You can order from Omlet, of course, but that means paying a delivery charge.

 

PS: get three hens, definitely.

[Cooks]

mine kept in large plastic bins in the kitchen but up in back door end not need food end (if that makes sense) it's easier for us that way.

[Steve.]

To the poster that asked, I'm in Hampshire ... in a satellite town near to Portsmouth. I'll take a look at the link you posted thank you!

 

Last question (last as in, I can't think of any more at the moment)

 

Is there any reason that I have overlooked that means I should get a cube over an eglu?

 

Thanks!

[Cooks]

I think if you plan on getting more chooks in the future, get a cube.. if you know that you will only ever have 3 an eglu is perfect and is designed for that size chook family.

 

I knew I only wanted 3 max, ended up with 2 due to the breeder only having 2 clearly identifiable hens at the time. So the eglu will always be ok for me (plus it's orange) but..... we did build a walk in run.. and chose not to use the eglu one.. this was mainly becasue hubby is a carpenter and had the resources already at hand...and also the children find this way very easy as they can get in with them etc.. plus I felt that the eglu run was a little small for 3 hens to be left whilst I was at work (they free range when I get home) you can solve this by adding converters and extentions though

 

This way they have much more space, but it was our personal choice, not for everyone, and certainly not a necessity.. it's a luxury I guess.

 

[Stevie]

In addition to Loopyloo's post-if you get an Eglu and later on decide you want more chooks so need a Cube-you will easily get your money back when sold on Ebay so there isnt any depreciation worries!

 

I got an Eglu purely cos i dont need the size of a Cube.

[poachedegg]

Is there any reason that I have overlooked that means I should get a cube over an eglu?

 

Thanks!

The addiction of chicken keeping - from eglu to cube in just 4 posts - fantastic

[Steve.]

Is there any reason that I have overlooked that means I should get a cube over an eglu?

 

Thanks!

The addiction of chicken keeping - from eglu to cube in just 4 posts - fantastic

 

Well I aim to please!

 

Can I stick 4 medium sized hens in the eglu without needing a run extension?

 

Just wondering what'll happen in the event the British Egg Industry Council ask me to increase output.

[Cooks]

I think 4 is pushing it to be honest, not the eglu itself but the run area.. but others will be along soon

[Snowy]

You definitely need the run extension for 4 chooks. Ideally you need it for 3, unless they are out freeranging most of the day (not advised without supervision if you have a fox nearby!) If you think you will go for 4 chickens, I would definitely get the cube. Much more space, no need to feel guilty if you can't let them out for whatever reason (and space for future additions if you do get bitten by the bug ) It doesn't take up much more room than an eglu, and is shorter than an eglu + extension.

[lisa33]

I originally had three hens in an eglu with a convertor.

 

Having recently adopted another lonely hen I now have four in the same set up.

 

I am only leaving it like this as it's summer and they have a lot of free range time.

 

By September I will have them in a cube as I don't think the eglu & convertor is substantial enough for four.

 

Have you ever seen four hens trying to get on one nest!!!

[Ain't Nobody Here]

I've got 3 hens in an eglu with converter. That's it full as far as I'm concerned. Any more, I'd need a cube. A purple one would be nice .

[Steve.]

Thank you all - max of 3 it is then!

 

The wife has said that if we get hooked we can sell and upgrade - so can't complain really!

 

[Steve.]

1x Chicken Eglu Purple

2x Chicken - Miss Pepperpot - Eglu Package

1x Chicken - Gingernut Ranger - Eglu Package

1x Organic Chicken Food - Eglu Package

1x Link-a-board

1x Diatomaceous Earth

1x Garlic Powder

1x Bokashi

1x Chicken Spice - 450gm

 

Is there anything else I need?