Tombull10 Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 I am looking at getting an eglu with 3 ex batts. I'll be keeping it on the lawn and moving it every few days. How many days do you thik i can leave the eglu in one place before they completely destroy that section of lawn?? Also, once they've had a good go at a secion and i move them on, will that section recover ok or need re-seeding? Any advice to help at least partly save my lawn would be much appreciated!! After months of research i think I'm finally ready to get my girls!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chillicat Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 Oh, how exciting! They will eat the grass within a week or two I would think. You will know when its time to move it. This time of year is the worst. My whole lawn is now mud as they free range from dawn till dusk However, OH says that the grass roots are still there so it will grow again . We also have persistent rats who tunnel underneath the run, so this weekend we are going to put the run on slabs, then put aubiose down.......the run is covered with plastic sheeting. Good luck and let us know how you get on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tombull10 Posted January 28, 2009 Author Share Posted January 28, 2009 what exactly is this aubiaose and where do i get it? Is it just for on top of slabs or on grass aswell? If i do end up getting rats can i put rat poison down or will the chooks eat this? Oh there's so much to think about!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chillicat Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 Sorry, didn't mean to scare you There is tonnes of advice on this forum so have a look at the FAQ pages. Egluntine.....can you put some links in please?....I don't know how to! I use Aubiose (horse bedding/stable substrate) in the nest box and I line the poo trays with newspaper then top it with a layer of Aubiose - roosting bars go on top and it helps to soak up the unowots It's also compostable Look up Easy Bed too, which is cheaper. I wouldn't put Aubiose onto the grass because it will probably kill it, which is ok if you don't move the run around the lawn.......but others might. With regard to the rats, ours have only just appeared and we've had the chooks for nearly a year We have been a little careless with food and have left treats in the run overnight, which has attracted the rats, so before I have to call the council we are doing as much as we can to get rid of the blighters ourselves. Slabs for us it is BTW, I have no experience of ex Batts but what I've read on here is that they take a bit of time getting used to the outside world, so they won't know what grass is, so you may not have to move your eglu that much! You will now be glued to this forum.........FOREEEEEVVVVVEEEEEEEERRRRRR ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mazzarina Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 My lot (3 in eglu + run + extension, in run most of the time) tend to finish off a patch of lawn in a week. I got them three months ago and have noticed that they seem to be getting more efficient at stripping the grass: the early patches have recovered pretty well, but the more recent ones look like bogs. I have yet to find out whether the roots are destroyed or not... On the plus side, my lawn was full of weeds anyway, so by the time I've reseeded it (and thanks to the generous helping of chicken manure) it will look better than before! My run has the Omlet winter shade for cover. I think that in a few weeks' time I'll put the whole lot on a layer of woodchips, until Spring comes and some of the grass has grown back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tombull10 Posted January 28, 2009 Author Share Posted January 28, 2009 Thanks for all your advice guys. It sounds like i'll keep moving the eglu around to start with but I'm sure I'll have a dedicated woodchipped area before long. Right, off to B&Q now to buy some wire mesh to block up my my garden gate. Oh the things I do for these girls and they haven't even arrived yet!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mazzarina Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 Oh the things I do for these girls and they haven't even arrived yet!! Tom, believe me that it will only get worse... They can be terribly persuasive when they put their little minds to it! Good luck with it all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paynerj Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 Hi Tom. You added your original post onto the end of the one I posted yesterday. We are asking the same questions. From reading the Omlett website, I intended to keep the Eglu on my lawn and just move it every few days so the grass stays intact. However, from the replies I have had and from reading this forum it seems that wont work. The advise seems to be to have the run on a dedicated bit of garden, on slabs with some form of woodchips or the like for the girls to scratch around in. This means it will need changing regulary and some posts mention putting disinfectant powder in as well. So not quite as easy to look after as the web site implies, although I am sure they will be worth it. Have you decided what you are going to do yet? You have to consider hygene, rats, foxes, mites and after all, we only want to do it right. My girls arrive on 14th feb and I am still undecided as to the best set up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeckyBoo Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 Hi just to reiterate what others have said, I really think it's easier to have them in one place, saves your lawn because where you move the eglu and run the patch left will look fairly awful, mine can turn it into a nog in only a few days and there's only two in the eglu. Once it's in a permanent place it is simplicity itself to look after. You simply move the whole thing out of the way, rake up any poo and / or bedding if you've put any down, put new stuff down if thats what you're doing, then move it back. For the flooring you only need clean it out every week or so and then only if it's been raining. Use a shower curtain to keep the flooring dry and not even that often. Cleaning the eglu itself takes 10 minutes tops every week or so. I think when you haven't done it and you see everyones advice written down and it's all a bit different and you can't quite imagine it, it looks like a lot. But I've had various animals over the years and can honestly say, hand on heart, that hens are the easiest pet I have ever looked after. BeckyBoo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toots Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 Whats a lawn?? there was a green patch outside the house for while but there is now a mud pond! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roo4006 Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 Lawn !! Ours lawn has been eaten too, its just mud. The chickens have eaten it all and we only have two !! They have also dug up the gravel path,they rummage in the stones around the borders kicking them everywhere, they have dug up flowers, eaten the flowers, they poop everywhere, scrounge for food every time you open the back door, the list is endless. But I wouldn't be with out them, they are great and give us eggs everyday. I have just bought them a new house with a run, in the hope that I can salvage what garden I have left. I know they wont like being confined to a run, but I hope they will get used to it. Ruth x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G586 Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 My lawn is also a disaster. I have a very small garden and they free range most days. If anyone has a patch of garden they can spare for a couple of weeks near Linlithgow, that is the only thing I can think of.....my neighbours also found a rat in their shed and are blaming poor Millie & Mollie. Where did you get a pen? I've done some searches but not come to any conclusions. PS Had eggs all winter and we just love our chooks so not all bad!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackgold Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 My spare eglu is going to be set up in a permanent postion at the end of the garden I am going to use wood mulch that a local farmer sells and my chicken keeping friend uses. i have 3 ex battery hens and a faverolle and have had them since november. The weather has been awful since their arrival so they are still living in their eglu in a kennel and dog run. My lawn is fenced off to stop the dogs going on it because they would really turn it into a mudbath. The chooks can fit through the trellis so they can still go on it. Luckily the garden is quite big so they havent done much damage yet. Except to the crocus plants that they like to eat......i am now thinking of getting some more so beware they are very addictive..... Suexx If you go on my collietalk spaces i have some before and after pics of my girls. i have had them for 7 weeks now and what a difference.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prudance Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 We had our cube and chickens on the lawn for just three days and realised we had to move it urgently. It wasn't the chickens that were the problem as they're only just learning to scratch. It was my two very excited kids running round the cube, jumping up and down and generally scaring the chickens that did the lawn in! We've managed to get the cube in the link-a-board kit. It fits in a smaller footprint than the eglu and the bits were easy to cut smaller so goes nicely on the patio. Now we just have a lot of poo on the patio! Hopefully will move the cube onto the grass when it's lawnmower weather. We can then make a run for the children on the patio... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KAZAROO Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 I just got this in an attempt to rescue my garden Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackgold Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 Fancy locking all them chooks up. I can hear them from afar.... they are all lined up saying let me out, let me out.......lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cherryblossom Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 I had expected to have no grass left, but I did not expect the big pot holes they would dig! We had been thinking about putting our home made house and run on some concrete, but they just love digging too much, so we have decided to put them on a sacrificial bit of lawn. As we are in summer we have put them in the shadyest part, and we might move them to another part in winter. We have only had them two weeks, so we will see how we go. They will still get to freerange in the afternoons, but hopefully the lawn will take less of a hammering (as we are in a rental, otherwise I wouldn't care!). At the moment as it is so hot (was 44c yesturday) they get to free range most of the day so they can find the coolest place for them. So now to see if they will go back to the nest box if there are other choices out there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KAZAROO Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 Its awful- but my land lady said its that or they have to go... ( at least until the grass grows back.....) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madchook Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 You can make the moving run thing work, but you definitely need to move it every couple of days. If they haven't eaten all the grass then they will have trodden poo over the top of it ayway. I tend to sacrifice a block for a couple of months -when they have eaten the grass I would put bark down. Then pull out all the bark, move the run and reseed the area. Mine don't really stay in the run anymore, but it worked well for me and the lawn grows back a darker colour where it is so fertile Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cordelia Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 my girls had wrecked my lawn under the eglu within the space of two days, (I had intended to move them about, but it seemed pointless) they are now on wood chip or bark...depends what I buy... they have now really wrecked the whole garden, so I'm re-thinking how they are kept, they currently free range around the whole garden, with our labrador on chicken duty . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roo4006 Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 Hi 586, I had a look on e bay, and bought them a run, it has a nest box and roosting place. They are not going to like being shut in, but i have to do something,with all the rain we have had their run is like a bog, they are up to their arm pits in mud so i am moving them on to the patio for their comfort and for me to salvage the garden, i never realised the damage they cause I will let them out now and then for a rummage as they both love it round the garden. Ruth x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackgold Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 My girls havent dug big holes as yet unless they are digging them under the bushes and i havent found them yet. They now have their own pen which is bare earth so far and they really enjoy playing in it. It is only really weekends they get to mooch in the whole garden and they are only really in their new pen for an hour and a half during the week so we will see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
