Solitary chicken - need advice

[Steph101]

I've currently got a green eglu with a run, converter and extension. I've also got Omlet netting and let my four girls free range all day (which was not my original intention).

However, I am sorely tempted now into getting a cube - even though I've only had my eglu six months. But having read some bad reviews on it, problems with leaking, cleaning, etc, so I'm not so sure now. The lure of more chooks is tempting, but am I being reckless?

What is the maximum number of chickens I can keep in our garden, which is 36 x 36 square feet (about 1000 sq ft)? I can't decide.

My OH says do what I like (is he MAD)? It will have to be my birthday present...

What are the upsides and downsides?

[Olly]

I think the Cube is brilliant. It's easier to clean, as it is higher up. I haven't had a problem with mine leaking, I know some people did but Omlet produced an adaptation to fix that. It has lots more room for the chooks, I have four in mine, and the run is bigger - because they can go underneath the Cube, there's more space. It has more height, so you can put perches in.

 

Downsides? It's harder to move than the Eglu, despite the wheels - if it's got an extension you really need two people. I think the run extension is essential, tbh. The ONLY thing I don't like, is that the nest-box drains into the run, so when you clean it the water runs in. Not a huge problem, really.

 

If you're considering getting more girls, I'd keep your Eglu as well at least for the introductory period, so you can separate the new ones. If you're able to let your chooks free-range all day (lucky you!) then could easily fit six or seven chooks in the Cube. I can't answer 'how many chooks in the garden' though - depends how much you love it!

[Yolky]

Hi

 

I had a set up the same as yours (conveter + extention) and found it was hard to poo pick and so I wondered about trading in my eglu for a cube (this was while it was under the 30 day guarantee) but all the posts about leaks, gaps etc really put me off. They are very expensive and for that money I would expect it to be perfect. So we decided to make our own walk in run (heres some pics viewtopic.php?f=5&t=30900 ) and I am so glad we did this. The chooks have loads of room when they have to stay in and as it is walk in it is soooooo easy to clean/poo pick. It cost us to make less than the extra it would have been to buy the cube with at least one extention if we had traded in. We also now have a 4m x 2m run which could hold far more chooks than the run which is attatched to the cube.

 

I would also like more chickens, I have my eye on some bantams, so have decided if I still want them next year I shall buy another eglu for them to live in. I will try to mix them with my girls and if that works out then I will just put the extra eglu into the walk in run by making the platform that is there for the red one bigger so they will be next to eachother and then the chooks can choose where they sleep. However if intros didn't work out I would then have the separate accomodation of the eglu and run and I could just keep 2 flocks.

 

Sorry for my waffle and good luck whatever you decide

[Steph101]

That's exactly what happened with me. I dithered about the eglu and the cube, and the negative stories about the cube put me off in the end. Like you, I thought if I'm paying that much money, it would have to be perfect. Olly's post is reassuring though; it sounds like Omlet may have ironed out their teething problems.

[Angels4]

I think the Cube is brilliant. The ONLY thing I don't like, is that the nest-box drains into the run, so when you clean it the water runs in. Not a huge problem, really.

 

Could you just "cork" the nest box drain, and use a towel to sop up any moisture left in the box itself? I will be getting a cube as soon as they are available here in the US.

[Janty]

The cube is excellent. We have just spent the last two and a bit hours dismantling the eglu and cubes, scrubbing them and putting them back together. The eglu is much harder work...more back breaking!

[Lydia]

Well I'm sure I'm in the minority but I absolutely hate my cube. Can't stand the thing in fact! With hindsight I would have got a third eglu instead and never got the cube at all.

 

It's unsightly and has none of the lovely charm in shape that the eglu has. I find it difficult to keep completely clean, impossible to manoeuvre around and the hens don't much like laying in it either and, when possible, will make a beeline for the eglus. Whereas I could easily dismantle and clean 2 eglus in an hour or so on my own, the cube takes 2 of us because it's so so heavy and cumbersome - just getting the roof off is a feat!

 

None of the hens liked the ladder either because it doesn't go right to the floor and is at a bit of a steep angle I think. So my husband made a new one out of wood for them which they do use.

 

If you are keeping it on grass I can see the advantage of it being off the ground to preserve the grass beneath it, but we have a large permanent run so that makes no difference to us. Also, people say it keeps cleaner for longer but, with 6 hens in it (soon to be , three of which sleep in the nest area as a matter of course, I'm afraid I don't find that and clean it just as much as the eglus.

 

So my advice would be think very carefully about the cube because it's not as easy to maintain as an eglu as the marketing might suggest.

[Guest]

i'm still dithering too about buying a cube (see my thread about query with cube roof) if they can get the eglu so flush and streamlined, I don't understand why they can't do it with the cube

[Steph101]

Precisely. For every three good stories I'm reading, I'm reading a horror story about the cube. That's why I'm dithering - I'm still not convinced.

 

Look at this...

 

http://forums.thepoultrykeeper.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=10875

[Electricbarbarella]

well I love my cube, I have the run + extension with 6 chooks, I have had no leeks, nothing but perfectin from it, I love it so much, it takes me about 10mins a day to keep it perfectly spotless (slight clean freak here). I don't know about the eglu but I have a small garden and the cube takes up a lot less space for a lot more usable space.

Amnyway I love it.

[Electricbarbarella]

and I have just read that link and it has made me feel all defensive. just because some of us are new to it doesn't mean that we haven't done our research. and i would reiterate that i l;ove my cube.

[Steph101]

and I have just read that link and it has made me feel all defensive. just because some of us are new to it doesn't mean that we haven't done our research. and i would reiterate that i l;ove my cube.

 

Look, I'm not out to offend anyone; I'm actually consideriing getting a cube myself - I'm just weighing up the pros and cons.

This person obviously had problems, and if I'm to invest that kind of money in a chicken house I want to know about it.

[Electricbarbarella]

Oh god I wasn't having a go at you, some of the opinions of poultry keepers seem to be so negative about people who have cubes if you see what I mean. Of course you need to do an awful lot of research before you spend the amount of money in question, the pictures iof the cube on that thread were clearly wrong, that particualr cube was all out of line, I think it is just the attitude that we as new chooks keepers do not have valid opinions.

The comment was not about you at all but about some of the people on that thread, and not even the person who started it as they obviously had a faulty cube and were well within there rights to be fed up.

[Steph101]

Oh I know you weren't having a go at me, I felt like I'd offended you by putting the thread on there! But I know what you mean, there does seem to be an 'attitude' towards eglu owners in general, and the so called new 'fashion' for chicken keeping.

There's a dig on the black rocks website; doesn't name Omlet and Eglus directly, but from the way they describe the chicken houses and backyard chicken keepers, you know who they're having a go at. I was even sneered at by an egg seller at our local farmers market a short while ago. I was complimenting him on the size of his dark brown eggs, asked what breeds he kept, but when I announced that I kept a few chickens, he just rolled his eyes to heaven and looked away!

Mind you, at that point, he presumably realised I probably wouldn't be buying any of his eggs, and was just 'picking his brains' about chicken keeping!

[Electricbarbarella]

that is funny, not a very good customer prospect. Every body I know that has chickens loves our cube. Of course they are a ridiculous amount of money, my theory was that i have 2 small children, 2 cats and a husband so i have quite enough work to do already withour adding treating wood and things to my list. I love that every day i can poo pick the trays and hose down the bars and it looks good as new, I like thing s to be nice and sparlky clean, especially since we only have a small garden so it really isn't that far from the house.

My dd's love helping me clean out and I don't think they would be able to with a wooden house.

I do like the look of the eglu so much but always new that 4 hens was never going to sate my chook broodiness.

[Steph101]

Yes, they DO make you broody! Can't get enough of them, I love them to bits.

I've heard far more positives than negatives about the cube. I know the wooden houses look quaint, but the cube is surely worth it to not have to treat it every year and suffer red mite problems - and we all know how they hold their value. (I'm selling it to myself now). It's obvious what my decision will be....

[Guest]

steph, I'm not someone who rushes into things as a general rule and like to consider all the pros and cons. It took me 17 years to marry my other half for example, luckily he's water tight and doesn't have any gaps so I went for it in the end!

 

Are you getting your cube soon then? Will you keep me posted as I'm still teetering and just need a push, so to speak! I'd really appreciate if you could let me know how you get on.

[Steph101]

steph, I'm not someone who rushes into things as a general rule and like to consider all the pros and cons. It took me 17 years to marry my other half for example, luckily he's water tight and doesn't have any gaps so I went for it in the end!

 

Are you getting your cube soon then? Will you keep me posted as I'm still teetering and just need a push, so to speak! I'd really appreciate if you could let me know how you get on.

 

Water tight and no gaps... I like it!

Hopefully ordering it this week; I will let you know how it goes.

The majority of people are raving about them, I've been SOLD!

[Guest]

thanks steph, hope it all goes swimmingly, post some pics when you've got it

[Ain't Nobody Here]

thanks steph, hope it all goes swimmingly, post some pics when you've got it

 

Won't that mean she's got a really really bad leak .

[Clash City Rocker]

I had an Eglu for 10 months and then swapped it for a Cube in March 2008.

 

My Cube is one of the "leaking" Cubes which I have posted about on numerous occasions .

I've had a replacement Roof & a replacement Side Panel. The original delivery and the replacement delivery were assembled by Omlet (not myself) and both times my Cube continued to leak. Around June 2008 I received a "Retro Leak Kit" which also has made little difference to the "Leaking" problem.

Every time I remove the Back panel of my Cube during cleaning I use Masking Tape to divert the Leak from the Roosting Box.

I stopped posting about this problem months ago, Pointless

The response being "Try phoning Omlet and telling them" (I'd never thought of that)

or "It's only a few Cubes that leak" !!!! (A poll at the time showed almost 1 in 3 Cubes leaked).

 

My own theory is this, the Retro Kits were despatched at the same time as the weather improved (May-June). Most complaints were posted during April (heavy shower season).

Wait band see what happens in the Autumn/Winter months to find out how effective the Retro Kit is.

 

If anyone asks me about the Cube I say it's really easy to clean, Loads of room for the Chickens (I have 7 in mine), But I paid around £800 for it and it leaks.

 

Your Choice

 

clash

[Clash City Rocker]

This is the "Does your Cube Leak?" thread started in Feb 2008

 

current results

 

Yes 39% (20 Cubes)

No 60% (31 Cubes)

 

 

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=19124&start=0

[chelsea]

Well I'm sure I'm in the minority but I absolutely hate my cube. Can't stand the thing in fact! With hindsight I would have got a third eglu instead and never got the cube at all.

 

It's unsightly and has none of the lovely charm in shape that the eglu has. I find it difficult to keep completely clean, impossible to manoeuvre around and the hens don't much like laying in it either and, when possible, will make a beeline for the eglus. Whereas I could easily dismantle and clean 2 eglus in an hour or so on my own, the cube takes 2 of us because it's so so heavy and cumbersome - just getting the roof off is a feat!

 

None of the hens liked the ladder either because it doesn't go right to the floor and is at a bit of a steep angle I think. So my husband made a new one out of wood for them which they do use.

 

If you are keeping it on grass I can see the advantage of it being off the ground to preserve the grass beneath it, but we have a large permanent run so that makes no difference to us. Also, people say it keeps cleaner for longer but, with 6 hens in it (soon to be , three of which sleep in the nest area as a matter of course, I'm afraid I don't find that and clean it just as much as the eglus.

 

So my advice would be think very carefully about the cube because it's not as easy to maintain as an eglu as the marketing might suggest.

 

I agree with everything you say! We hate our cube aswell. So much so on cleaning day we are shouting obscenities at it! I used to clean both our eglus myself without the need for hubby. I cant move the cube at all and my girls dont like the ladder either. Another thing that annoys me is the door - it doesnt open all the way open so trying to get a broody hen out of the corner on the right hand side of the cube door is no mean feat either! .

[Guest]

the idea of a cube, in theory, is brilliant and I soooooooooo want one but at the same time, I don't because of what I've read. I'm gutted actually.

[chelsea]

its difficult Poet isnt it? I dont think there are many of us who dont like our cubes so you might be totally happy with it. If you got one would you keep it inside your walk in run or outside on the end? If its outside your run it would be easier to clean and access. Ours is in the run and because there are no handles to help you manouvre the cube its impossible for me to move it.