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

[cliveb]

Still trying to get my three new girls to mix with the original two. as a result they were living in thier own run with a wooden coop and own feeders etc, whilest the original two were living in thr Eglu as normal. Free ranging during the day together.

 

Tonight however they have all gone to roost in the Eglu , thats all five Chickens! It makes for quite a sight. Hopefully this will be the beginning of them getting accepted as part of the flock.

 

Will this be a problem though in the future as five to an Eglu may be too many

[Egluntyne]

I had eight pile into an Eglu once when my round up didn't quite go according to plan.

 

So long as they have plenty of room in the day in the run, it shouldn't be a problem.

[Lewis]

As long as they have enough space during the day, which they do as they are free ranging, I'd think it'll be fine

 

You might want to add another nest box to the run, a cat carrier or something similar

[ajayb]

I agree with the previous posts. We have a Cube and as a result of a few sad losses to the fox, we've added new groups over the last few months and now have 11, when the literature says the Cube's designed for 10. To be honest, when you look inside when they've all gone to roost, they seem to have enough space and I think it helps keep them warm on the cold Scottish nights that are just beginning here again!

 

I do think the space they have during the day is most important. Ours free-range over a really wide area but you'll still find them 'clumped' together on tree branches, rocks or dust baths under plants & trees when they're resting. The only problem would be if you were restricting them to the eglu run all day.

[Laura & CTB]

Aww - it's so nice when they all snuggle up together isn't it?

 

I agree it's the run space you need to think about not the eglu so much - I'm sure I've got room for a least 5 more

 

[Ain't Nobody Here]

I've the same setup as you, 3 originals and 2 new girls. They sleep 3 in the eglu and 2 in the pet carrier at present but I'm planning on them all sleeping together eventually.

[Janty]

I brought up six chicks in an eglu. Even now, given the choice, all six will pile into an eglu not matter who else is in there. The record is six hybrids, two RIR minis, an Orp mini and a pekin.

 

[dippy bird]

I wonder if there is a record for how many girls you can squeeze into 1 eglu/coop?? I have 5 girls and 4 of them all squeeze into the nesting box with just 1 on the perch - I wonder if I could squeeze 4 more in?

[Saronne]

I had 2 Miss Pepperpots, 3 Gingers, 2 Sussex... and a small Gnome who mended shoes in my eglu.

 

 

Saronne x

[Kairen]

I am not sure if the post is talking about the cube or original eglu. I have the cube eglu and have 9 chickens, we are thinking of getting another 2 chickens will 11 be too many? We have extended our run by another section already as ours can not be free ranging in the garden as we have lots of foxes and we both work

 

[Poached]

hi

i have 7 girls in a 5 metre by 4 metre run and i just pop a cat carrier full of hemcore in there although none of them are laying

[alet_chicken]

Hi, I have 11 girls in a Cube, out of their own free choice.

 

Actually, I have a Cube and an Eglu (Mark I). The Eglu is the official residence of my three new (and generously-proportioned) youngsters, Alice, Gladys and Gloria, but they all prefer to pile into the Cube at night, so it can't be uncomfortable Actually, it looks quite snuggly in there when I peek in at night to count the heads.

 

I suppose the more chickens you have in an Eglu, the more vigilant you would need to be about bullying, feather eating, etc. Fortunately, here it's a case of so far, so good.

 

Edit: forgot to say we have a 5m Cube run (so 3 extensions, I think ) and they free-range most of the day.

[Willow]

I kept 5 chickens in an eglu for quite a while. I now have 6 chickens and 2 eglus so I'm continually tempted to add 4 more As others have said as long as they have space during the day and seem happy don't worry.

[cliveb]

Thats great to know that i am not overcrouding them. They have a large garden by day to free range in, and its true the cold nights are coming in now and they can all snuggle up together.