4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[supayogamama]

Hi, Not sure if tis is the right place to post but here goes..........

 

At the moment I am reseaching getting some chooks, never had any before so thought I'd best do some reading and ask some advice. I have quite a few questions I hope you don't mind......

 

1 - housing - I like the look and the practicality of the eglu range BUT..... it is a large outlay (boom, boom!) to start with. Has anyone got experience of an eglu/cube vs a tradition wooden coop & run?

 

2 - Free Ranging - I have a very large garden (approx 1/2 acre!) and to be honest I wouldn't really want to be running around after chooks to put them in their bed for the night. Is it okay to keep them in the run provided with an eglu or would I be better keeping them in a larger walk in run (more pennies!!). Is it easy to train them to go to bed?

 

3 - I live in at the top of a windswept hill in rural devon, so not much protection at the moment other than the housing for the birds. Would I need to think about adding extra protection to runs etc?

 

4 - how easy are they to keep? I realise that there is work with any animal, but is there anything extra you feel I should know?

 

I think thats it for now.....give me 10 minutes and I'll think of something else!!

 

THanks in advance

 

Sinead

[chickenanne]

Hi sinead,

 

Housing: I have a wooden coop, which is great. SOME wooden coops are appalling though. With any coop: you need to make sure they are robust, draft-proof but well-ventilated, with a minimum of nooks and cranies for mites to hide in during the day. You would also want one where getting to the nest boxes is easy (for you and them) and you can get at all of it for cleaning - the full back of mine is hinged and comes down, so reallly accessible. Eglu's and cubes have all these features, as do some wooden houses (but not all). I put wood preservative on mine once a year, which doesn't take long and isn't at all expensive. If you do get a wooden house, be wary of it's quality etc: some really are dreadful.

 

Free ranging: They put themselves to bed once it starts goind gark, as soon as they know where the house is! So you don't need to round the m up etc, jsut shut the pop-hole door after them.

The problem you're likely to have is foxes: it might be better to get electric fencing to protect them a bit. I let mine out of the run only when we're about. If electric fencing is too expensive, then personally I think you should get as big a run as practical.

 

Shelter: they love scratching about under hedges/trees/bushes etc. We live somewhere very exposed and cold and windy, and ours do spend a good deal of time playing in the hedge in bad weather. It's easy enough to put a plastic cover on a run, e.g. shower curtains, or else you could consider planting a few bare-root trees/shrubs. Some cover like this will make them feel a bit more confident, too.

 

Easy to keep: Very! If you could keep a pet rabbit or a cat, then you could keep chickens.

It's worth getting a book for reasearch first, and also going somewhere where you can see and (preferably) handle them if you've not had much contact with poultry before. They can trash gardens, depending on how many you have of course, as they love to scratch in flower beds etc: I s'pose it depends on what you grow, how wet it is where you are, and wether you like things ultra-neat or not.

[Daphne]

I agree with the above and would add

 

a) housing - we have both eglus and wooden housing. I prefer the eglu from a cleaning, no mite. ease of moving and safety perspective but the wooden housing is a lot cheaper and I can fit more birds in. Next time I will be buying wood again, but I'm glad I started with plastic and I will always keep an eglu. I don't have experience of cubes.

 

b) free ranging - we have 1/4 acre and I do let the girls free range and/or they are kept in omlet netting. If we're out for a long time then they are shut in the run. Once they know where home is they do go to bed of their own accord.

 

c) exposure - make sure the house door is oriented away from the prevailing wind. Chickens don't appreciate drafts in the house.

 

d) ease - well like anything you do have to put the effort in, but chooks are well well well worth it. Hours and hours of entertainment, some sadness (you do get attached), some/lots of eggs, endless conversations about the minutiae of what they've been doing/not doing/looking like they're thinking about doing etc etc

 

HTH

[C&T]

I've only had my chickens for a few weeks, so can't really answer many of your questions, but did go through the Eglu v Wooden house decision. I too thought Eglu was much more expensive then the wooden alternatives, but an Eglu is now residing in our garden...

 

This because: an Eglu does come with everything, including the run, the feeders, food etc. Most of the wooden ones come as seperates and have to be added together, and the prices I was looking at for a well made wooden coop and run, Eglu's were not a lot more money overall. Also, an Eglu is easier to keep clean and there is less chance (from what I read) on having real problems with mites etc.

 

Also, where I live, it was all delivered to me, by a lovely delivery man who helped me put it all together.

 

Don't regret getting an Eglu at all!

[Happy chickens!]

Hi

 

I'm a newby too - just got my eglu cube and ex-bats at the weekend. I've pestered OH for a long time, and the thing that tipped him into agreeing was the hygiene aspect of the eglu ie less chance of rats which was his argument against for ages.

 

On the other hand, the chickens don't seem to have read the books and are determined to spread their food all over the ground, do their business on their food and lay their eggs on top!!!

 

Good luck whatever you choose, I hope you'll love them like I do already!

[Mutrix Farmers]

I've only had my chickens for a few weeks, so can't really answer many of your questions, but did go through the Eglu v Wooden house decision. I too thought Eglu was much more expensive then the wooden alternatives, but an Eglu is now residing in our garden...

 

This because: an Eglu does come with everything, including the run, the feeders, food etc. Most of the wooden ones come as seperates and have to be added together, and the prices I was looking at for a well made wooden coop and run, Eglu's were not a lot more money overall. Also, an Eglu is easier to keep clean and there is less chance (from what I read) on having real problems with mites etc.

 

Same reasons for me.

 

As you say all animals cause work but with chickens the daily tasks don't take long (feed, water, collect eggs, talk to a bit) and the regular cleaning tasks are quite straight forward with an eglu. The benefits outweigh any effort!!

[supayogamama]

wow..........

 

Thanks for all the replies so soon!

 

I have a lot more thinking to do! And a lot of saving!!

 

THanks

Sinead

[Suzy]

Hi,

 

I'm still a newbie as I've only had my ex-batts for a month and a day but wanted to say I agree that Eglus are brilliant. Yes they are expensive but being in sales I did a payout analysis and worked out they needed to turn out 1,182 eggs for the cost of the eglu vs cost of eggs that i would buy in Sainsburys (and I'd always have bought free range!) In a month, we've had 69 eggs, so at this rate in 17 months the eglu and the chooks will have paid for themselves, and if you look at it callously - the eglu will outlive the girls...

 

You get huge benefits with the eglu - they are easy to clean and easy to install (I went and picked mine up and installed it and it is so easy to do. The other thing is safety and warmth. Safety because you know at night they are safe from foxes and things like that and warmth - it's been so cold recently and my poor girls still aren't blessed with many feathers so it does make me feel a bit happier that even though it gets cold they are snuggly and warm.

 

Yes, they've trashed the garden (sadly, I have significantly less than half an acre) and my garden is what you'd probably give the chooks as an enclosure if you have that amount of space, but in all honesty, they've probably not been the main cause of the garden looking trashed - the rain and me trudging up and down it has been a big factor.

 

One thing you do find on here is people are so helpful and willing to offer advice. It's one of the best bits of owning chickens as I'd have been to the vets about 20 times for no reason as the advice is all on here.

 

You can try ebay - a lot of people upgrade to cubes and sell eglus on there - not a huge discount but you might be lucky. I know that if I had to chose again, I'd have definitely had the girls and I would have bought an eglu - well worth it.

[Egluntyne]

 

1 - housing - I like the look and the practicality of the eglu range BUT..... it is a large outlay (boom, boom!) to start with. Has anyone got experience of an eglu/cube vs a tradition wooden coop & run?

None personally, although I used to help a friend with her chickens and she had terrible problems with red mite in her wooden houses.

 

2 - Free Ranging - I have a very large garden (approx 1/2 acre!) and to be honest I wouldn't really want to be running around after chooks to put them in their bed for the night. Is it okay to keep them in the run provided with an eglu or would I be better keeping them in a larger walk in run (more pennies!!). Is it easy to train them to go to bed?

 

If you leave them to go to bed by themselves, you will still have to go out and lock up, and they are very vulnerable to fox attacks at dusk. I always put mine in the run well before then. A handful of sweetcorncorn is all that it takes.

 

3 - I live in at the top of a windswept hill in rural devon, so not much protection at the moment other than the housing for the birds. Would I need to think about adding extra protection to runs etc?

 

You could cover the run with a clear plastic shower curtain and tether it down with luggage cords.

4 - how easy are they to keep? I realise that there is work with any animal, but is there anything extra you feel I should know?

 

I think thats it for now.....give me 10 minutes and I'll think of something else!!

 

Welcome to the forum.

[supayogamama]

THANKS

I have my eye on a MK1 on ebay at the moment..............please don't bid against me......I NEED it..............

 

Hopefully if that comes off the I will be joining the ranks of very small scale poultry farming!!

 

Sinead

[Egluntyne]

Don't worry...I won't. Good luck.

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Welcome to the forum, Supayogamama

 

1 - housing -

I have an eglu and absolutely love it . So easy to clean and looks really nice too . I just knew I wouldn't be good at the upkeep of a wooden coop so knew an eglu would suit me best.

 

2 - Free Ranging -

I have a very small garden . They don't really need rounding up as they like to go to bed at dusk but a handful of corn or mealworms can get them in more quickly. If you want to keep them in a particular area you can buy netting from Omlet which is apparently very good.

 

3 - protection -

My garden is small but is very exposed. I have two lengths of corrugated plastic on the run which keeps the rain off and most of the wind out.

 

4 - how easy are they to keep?

Very easy . I'm a bit slovenly and only clean the poo tray once a week and the run every 6 weeks but it works for me (no smells or quagmires!). The daily routine is minimal. You will however, spend hours either watching your chickens or on the forum - or both .

 

Good luck with the Ebay eglu . Do bear in mind though that (I don't think) you can't get spare parts for Mark I eglus any more and you won't get the plastic roosting bars (which are sooo easy to clean compared to the wooden ones!).

[jade&mike]

hi sinead

i used to have a wooden coop and then switched to a eglu which i prefer by far, i also live in devon so if you want to pop over anytime and have a look at the eglu close up your more than welcome.

[Tweety]

If you don't have any luck on Ebay, you could try phoning Omlet to see if they have any reconditioned eglus available.

[Ain't Nobody Here]

That's true . Mine's reconditioned and you'd never have known - it was almost impossible to see any marks on it and all the extras (run, feeders, etc) are brand new. You save £40.