Storms and chickens

[Guest]

I have been lurking on the forum for a while and I have seen some posts saying the maximum number of chickens that can be kept in the Eglu is 4 hens, some posts have said 6 hens and some have said more than 6 (but they must be talking about bantams).

 

So how many medium size hens and how many bantams could you squeeze into an Eglu, if they were allowed to free range during the day?

[Chuck Morris]

I have been lurking on the forum for a while and I have seen some posts saying the maximum number of chickens that can be kept in the Eglu is 4 hens, some posts have said 6 hens and some have said more than 6 (but they must be talking about bantams).

 

So how many medium size hens and how many bantams could you squeeze into an Eglu, if they were allowed to free range during the day?

 

Hi FoxyLady and welcome.

 

I have just taken on 4 chickens and have them temporarily housed in an Eglu until my Cube arrives and they all seem contented. I think that any more would be a bit too much and that they would quickly start getting on each others nerves.

[Gallina]

New Eglus hold four medium-sized hens comfortably, but are not suitable for large breeds. The Eglu run is not adequate for four hens, however, if they are kept in most of the time.

 

Note: some people sell Mark 1 Eglus on eBay without mentioning the fact that Mark 1's only hold two hens. You will be safe with a new Eglu, as it will be a Mark 2.

[daisymay]

Hi

 

I had 5 in my mark 2 eglu with run plus convertor (max age now 23 weeks so not sure that they are fully grown). My girls free range all day every day and i think because of that I would've been happy to keep them in there. I looked in every evening to see what they looked at and they were all squashed up together in the corner with at least half of the eglu being unoccupied!

 

I think if I was keeping them in the run for any real length of time during the day then I would feel different about it....unless maybe I had extended the run even more....

 

When I posted a question about the number of hens in the eglu most came back and said 2-4 large sized hens and more bantams but a few people contacted me by 'pm' to say they or friends of theirs kept 5 larger hens in them, but like me they freeranged them a lot.

 

I have now bought a reconditioned cube as I am so addicted to chickens I need more....

[alison]

From another aspect, do you think that 4 might rattle around and be a bit cold in the winter in a cube? Should I have more?

[Guest]

I had 5 in my mark 2 eglu with run plus convertor (max age now 23 weeks so not sure that they are fully grown). My girls free range all day every day and i think because of that I would've been happy to keep them in there. I looked in every evening to see what they looked at and they were all squashed up together in the corner with at least half of the eglu being unoccupied!

 

So if 5 chickens only take up about half the space inside the eglu, does that mean that you could keep up to 10 medium sized birds in an Eglu, if I was just using it for them to sleep in?

 

How big is it in there? It must be like the tardis of chicken houses, because looking at the dimensions it's only 2.8ft x 2.8ft.

 

10 seems like an awful lot to me, but I know they like to squash together when roosting. I was thinking it might hold 6 at the most!

[Omletina Kyckling]

My three original girls sleep pretty much in the nesting box of the Eglu with one to one side, so it leaves a huge space to one side. They free range all day every day, so only really sleep in the Eglu.

 

The problem comes if you get more and you ever have to shut them in for any reason, which I've had to do on quite a few occasions. For instance, if you are going out for the evening and won't be back until late, you would have to shut them in the run/Eglu so a greater number of chickens would really be squashed in the run and that's when aggression/bullying is more likely to take place. Also unless you are going to either lock them in the Eglu overnight until you let them out in a morning or get up at about 5am at the moment to let them out of the run, they will be stuck in for quite a while in the mornings too, during the summer....

 

If you want lots of chickens, then think seriously about the Cube....

[Guest]

I was planning to get my partner to build a walk in fox resistant run, with a few nesting areas and perches...

 

Then I thought I could just be lazy and leave the Eglu door open and let them put themselves to bed when they was ready.

 

I don't really like the shape and design of the cube and I have read some posts about them leaking, as well as leaking superglugs and wheel axels breaking when placed on uneven ground. Plus for £100 more than the cost of a Cube, you could have 2 Eglus!

 

So is 10 a realistic number? Or is it more like 8? Or 6?

[AmandaR]

We have a walk in run with our Eglu for the girls to just sleep/lay in. We have 5 hens - 3 gingernuts, 1 pepperpot and one bantam. Personally, this is my limit. Although my girls too, all squash themselves into the right hand side of the Eglu of a night time, I think it's because they don't like being by the open draughty door. If we had more hens and they all wanted to sleep in that spot, they would be on top of each other.

 

Another point is that we also made separate nesting boxes but found that the girls are not interested they all prefer the Eglu nesting box. Laying times can get quite heated sometimes when they are queuing to use the nest. If you have more hens who all insist on an 'Eglu only' policy, I guess you may be running the risk of eggs being laid on the roosting bars or ground, which may cause them to break.

[Omletina Kyckling]

Another point is that we also made separate nesting boxes but found that the girls are not interested they all prefer the Eglu nesting box. Laying times can get quite heated sometimes when they are queuing to use the nest. If you have more hens who all insist on an 'Eglu only' policy, I guess you may be running the risk of eggs being laid on the roosting bars or ground, which may cause them to break.

 

That's a good point. I remember reading on here before that you should have one nesting box per four hens to avoid arguments over laying?