Single hen

[chick1]

Im looking at all options and as eglus are so so expensive i thought about wood just on the cost aspect really.

I was looking at this run house combo,its a good price ect and i was planning to line the bottom of it with some perspex sheeting or similar to make clean up easier.

 

Heres a link

 

http://www.bitsforpets.com/product_info.php?cPath=273&products_id=3450

 

What do you think?

 

Would it be ok?

Or is there better for the money?

 

Ta

 

Hev.

[The Dogmother]

TBH Hev, you are limited by your budget; you really do get what you pay for with chicken housing; the cheaper foreign (usually Chinese) imports are much less robust and more inclined to rot and be a pain to clean.

 

I don't want to sound negative, but a friend bought something similar and it didn't last the winetr!

[Guest]

we started off with a wooden house and run from e-bay, it cost about £150 all in. Unfortunately we got red mite and did everything we could and just couldn't shift it; poultry shield, diatom etc nothing worked. DH even blowtorched all the nooks and crannies!

 

I think we had it less than 12 months and ended up buying a cube.

 

I notice your link has a felt roof, apparently this can harbour red mite and give them a place to hide and would be impossible to shift from under the felt.

 

I love the look of wooden houses and I really did love ours but from our experience they can be a liability if you get red mite.

[TAJ]

Is this cheap? 190 + 22(+?) delivery, plus run cover, plus water & food containers - then with OMlet you get the chicken keepers guide & egg boxes. Eglu with all these bits included is £333 + £20 delivery. When you add on all the added extras to a wooden one it isn't far short of the Omlet price.

 

We have a wooden guinea pig house, eglu & cube - I know which I would go far every time.

 

Tracy

[The Dogmother]

Me again! I've been having a similar email conversation with someone who contacted me via this forum; she can't afford/really doesn't like the Omlet housing. I'm not in any hurry to talk her into it, but pointed out that the cheaoer wooden housing is usually made with ordinary plywood rather than a base of marine ply, so it rots very quickly. As the others have said, the roofing harbours nasties and the whole thing is much harder to clean.

 

Most people on this forum have experience of wooden housing and know what they'd recommend! The better built wooden housing will last much longer but is still prone to lice and mites. The yard I present my courses from sells both good quality wooden housing and Omlet housing... the sales of 'plastic coops' are more that triple those of the traditional coops. You can see their selection of wooden housing here

[ted]

What about a second hand eglu? Mine was and it scrubs up like brand new!!! That is the difference for me. The longevity and ability to keep clean and fresh...

[furryelephant]

Hi,

 

my friend has a wooden house which looks very similar to that one. He's had it for about 2 years now and it's still fine.. but when he looked after my 2 girls last summer he said the Eglu was much easier to clean with it being plastic. When he finshed buying all the extras, he's spent almost as much as buying an Eglu with all the bits included.

 

I think Omlet have some Eglus with a slight defect in the plastic for sale on the site with a 10% discount.. don't know if that makes the price any better for you. I must admit, it's a big chunk of money to shell out in one go, but I don't regret the decision to spend a little more as the Eglu should last years

 

I'm nearby (from your last post, you're near Wigan?) if you'd like to pop by and have a look at the Eglu at any time... feel free!

 

Paula

[craftyhunnypie]

We have a wooden walk in house , a cube & 2 eglus. We do love the walk in wooden house as we have 9 ladies & 2 cockerels in there & room for a few more- but if I had the space & the cash then I'd have 20 eglus. I wouldn't buy any more cubes. I don't like them, but the chooks do - so I keep it.

Eglus are fab!

 

Emma.x

[Griffin]

My first coop was almost identical to that wooden one and it wasn't very good at all. The nest box roof just lifts on and off, there is no way of securing it so we tied bungee cords around it and plonked a few bricks on top to make it safe as our dogs could easily knock it off. The top of the run snapped in days. One of the hinges broke and the very soft wood made it easy for other screws to fall out. We repaired it with cable ties and despite being promised a new run top it never materialised. I bought it on Ebay, not from the seller most people have problems with but a different one.

 

I had five hybrids in mine and it wasn't big enough for them. If they're being kept in the run all day I wouldn't have more than three.

[The Dogmother]

Don't laugh...!

 

I've been talking to a lady who has orps and can't get rid of their lice. Turns out that although the vet is treating them with Ivermectin jabs, they are reinfested as soon as they go back in the wooden sheds. Each time a shed got bad with mites and lice, she'd buy a new one, only for the girls to transfer the little crawlers over to the new (wooden) shed

 

I recommended a treatment of Xeno200 spray and Johnson's Anti-mite spray (*not licenced for use on poultry in the UK*) repeated after a week, and a different, non-wooden, type of housing. She got in touch just now to say that the girls are cured, she now takes preventative measures against lice (orps are hot critters and prone to crawlers), has bought 2 cubes (loves them) and has torched the sheds (she said this last bit with much glee!)

 

I'm no fan of the cube's styling but love its practicality and it's far easier on my back than the eglu when cleaning. This is from the grand-daughetr of a man who kept his chooks in a converted wooden railway carriage

[madchickenlady]

Hi chick1 I have a wooden house for my girls. Useless at links , but I bought it from a company called elbec, and it's the small chicken shack cottage style one. Paid about 190 for it, and have added to the run. It's fab, very well made and all comes to pieces easily so can be scrubbed/treated

[Dolly]

We got our eglu second hand on ebay, they do hold their prices well though but we saved about £60-70 if that helps.

[chick1]

Cheers all,

 

i think i would have to get a second hand one if i do get one,i must admit the temptation of it being easy to clean sways it for me,its just a pity about the price.hmmm wonder if i can talk the OH into letting me spend that much money on a what he would call a plastic hut.

[The Dogmother]

Tell him that he can jetwash that 'plastic hut'; he'll be racing to reach for his power tools!

[chick1]

 

so true,its funny he was looking to buy a powerwasher the other day as we always end up borrowing when we need one.

 

mabe he can see the idea coming

[The Dogmother]

I 'bucket wash' mine every week and every 6 weeks, i get the jet washer out and give it a blast

[Egluntyne]

Tell him that he can jetwash that 'plastic hut'; he'll be racing to reach for his power tools!

 

Point him in the direction of the forum and let him read the pros and cons and the experiences of those who have had experience of both. It might do the trick.

[ted]

and get him a Karcher brochure with nice pictures...

[Dodge77]

My first coop was almost identical to that wooden one and it wasn't very good at all. The nest box roof just lifts on and off, there is no way of securing it so we tied bungee cords around it and plonked a few bricks on top to make it safe as our dogs could easily knock it off. The top of the run snapped in days. One of the hinges broke and the very soft wood made it easy for other screws to fall out. We repaired it with cable ties and despite being promised a new run top it never materialised. I bought it on Ebay, not from the seller most people have problems with but a different one.

 

I had five hybrids in mine and it wasn't big enough for them. If they're being kept in the run all day I wouldn't have more than three.

 

What seller is that ? Given my current predicament i'd be interested to know

[Redwing]

I recently bought a second hand chicken house and run off ebay for £57 and am very pleased with it, I thought that a good second hand one was a better idea than a cheap new one so its another option to consider maybe?

[HENthusiastic]

HI.

I have had a wooden house for just over a year. I've had no problems with it at all. I really like it. It is kept in a walk in run in a sheltered position though so this may help it last well.

 

I know that eglus are wonderful for their ease to clean and their anti red mite propertys, but dont forget that chickens have been living happily in wooden housing for a very long time before eglus existed.

 

However, this is "omlettsville" and most people here love their eglus. Go on a different forum and you find get people who love their wooden houses equally.

 

Which ever you choose I'm sure it will do the job!