Patridge bantam chicken poorly foot?

[The Ives Clan]

We have always closed the eglu door when it goes dark, however this weekend we are going away.

 

Does anyone leave their door open? We have read in the Omlet info that they are fine for a few days.

 

We are worried about the girls not being there to make sure they are safely locked up. We have not seen any foxes but living in the country know they must be there. We have two dogs and the girls free range every day with us popping out to make sure they are O.K.

 

If someone had told us we would be worrying about chickens a few moths ago Iwould have said they were mad but chickens are great pets and give more than they ask.

[Hen Watch]

They will be fine with the door open.

 

I'm off next week for 8 days and the door will stay open the whole time. I've been away 4 or 5 times since I've had them and it's never been a problem.

 

In fact for me, Autum/Winter is a better time for me to leave mine. My lot went through a nasty habit of alarm call bokking in Summer 07 at 4am, woke me and the neighbours. So that is the only reason I shut my door, to keep them quiet not for anyother reason. Prior to that incident I happily left the door open all the time.

 

But in Autumn/Winter they get up so late with the dark mornings I don't have to worry about them noisily annoying the neighbours early.

 

Don't worry, they will be fine.

[helenmb]

I always leave the door open unless is it seriously cold ie snowing. I think Egluntine leaves her door open too so that is a good enough recommendation as any!

No adverse effects for my girls, thankfully they are not noisy usually only if something scares them.

[Mollystar]

My cubes open 24/7 too, the only change I made a few weeks ago was to get a green shower curtain from Ikea (£2.99) & OH placed it over the door side & top of run, so no driving rain or wind can get to the door & girls.

[Carol U]

I've always left my eglu door open unless there is a really hard frost. They much prefer to be able to come and go as they please. I'm sure yours will be just fine.

[Mutrix Farmers]

We're on holiday next week and our neighbour is going to check on the girls in the mornings, top up food & water and collect eggs. We haven't asked him to come round in the evening to close the eglu door as we have left the girls over night before and they have been fine. Would be wary of doing this in the coldest weather but Margate in October isn't really that chilly at night.

[Maccbean]

My cubes open 24/7 too, the only change I made a few weeks ago was to get a green shower curtain from Ikea (£2.99) & OH placed it over the door side & top of run, so no driving rain or wind can get to the door & girls.

 

That sounds like a fab idea (as I've worried about them getting cold at night). However, can I ask how the girls get back in past the curtain of a night?

 

Ta

Debbie

[PurpleTree]

We've had our three for a week now, I only shut the door the first couple of nights and have left it open ever since, as I have two young children to get sorted in the mornings and I didn't want the girls getting annoyed if I couldn't get out there early enough.

 

We did have an incident the other night where the security light came on and all three came charging out into the run. Hubby's just doing dishes now and he could see one of them in the run. Does anyone elses have night time wanders? They are not that far from our back door and kitchen window so I don't know if the light disturbs them, although it still looks pretty dark out there.

[alih]

My eglu door is always open and they are fine - have a nice trip away and don't worry!

[Mollystar]

Hi Maccbean,

 

The shower curtain is on the outside of the run OH fastened it with zip ties to cover most of the door side & the roof as I thought the door was far to exposed to the elements, I'll take a picture at the weekend to show you.

[The Dogmother]

I have always left the eglu or cube door open at night except on the most freezing of nights. I feel happy that the chance of a fox attack is minimal. Having said that, Omlet recommend closing it at night for total security.

 

Macbean, here's a photo of my old orange eglu with a shower curtain on the run

 

 

 

A couple of others here:

http://club.omlet.co.uk/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=6700

[Kayte]

Ok

 

I've got good news and bad news

 

bad news - i've lost two girls to minks inside a locked run with eglu door open - they seem to be able to get them through the wire.of the run and the gap at the back near the droppings tray.

 

good news - the shower curtain idea looks fab and would make it harder for minks to get to the girls - I am going to try it myslef. I would just suggest that the shower curtain is attached right next to the eglu so mink/ferrets can't hook the girls out when they are in bed.

 

If you are nowhere near a river I'm sure it wouldn't be a problem for you anyway... even after my run of bad luck i still like the idea of the girls being able to go in and out of the eglu as they please. there's always a minimal risk of clever predators, whatever you do.

 

hope that hasn't put you off

 

Kayte

[The Dogmother]

Sorry to hear about that Kayte - the neighbour's Ferret has had a few goes at getting into the run, but hasn't managed it so far!

[Louisdog]

I'd advise you to check all your run clips and ensure they are still strong and have not weakened with the sun or movement, before you go away. We have clocked up years of leaving ducks and quail and chickens in the Eglu with the door open, in perfect safety, but last week a fox did manage to break into our run, all the clips were broken. We have mended it with cable ties and he has not got in again since.

[Maccbean]

Hi Maccbean,

 

The shower curtain is on the outside of the run OH fastened it with zip ties to cover most of the door side & the roof as I thought the door was far to exposed to the elements, I'll take a picture at the weekend to show you.

 

I think I get the gist, though I'll wait to see the photo. My run is hand built but I think it might work with a couple of shower curtains!

 

Cheers

Debbie