Eglu Cube Coop For Sale

[Mercedes55]

I'm going to be very brave and post a couple of pics of the WIR. They aren't going to be brilliant as I think it will take some time for the run to blend in with the garden.

 

I have put about half a bag of aubiose down and I have to say it does look nice. Bella has been nibbling it, I guess to her it looks like food

 

My OH had a great idea of using the run from the Eglu to give the hens access to a FR area at the end of the garden. As I need to access the end of the WIR to get to the doors at the back he's made a little tunnel that they can go through from a hatch at the back of the run. They go through the tunnel and then into the back border which is fenced off with chicken wire and is somewhere they can go and have a good old forage in. The border itself isn't fox proof but at least they can now get from the hatch to the garden and I can also get round the back to clean out the trays. It probably isn't making much sense, I will have to take a pic of it when he is finished

[Bertrum]

The tunnel sounds ace. Can I move in?

[Mercedes55]

Sure, I'll ask the hens if they would like a friend to join them on their adventures

[frizz]

sorry to hear you are so upset. I agree with everyone else, there is a little settling in period but it is for you not the hens, they will think it is their birthday and christmas all at once. I feel for you with the messy side of things, I am a bit of a tidy freak and clean up after my girls all the time. The smell side of things, pretty much the same as others have said with the disinfectant powder but a friend of ours who works for defra suggested Virkons which you can buy at most farm type suppliers very cheaply. I use this (diluted of course) about once a month over the wood chips whilst the girls are FR and then rinse it through with the hose, this helps to break down any poo and reduces the smell.

 

Hope you soon feel better and start to enjoy watching their funny antics, they really are a joy to have around.

 

Big hugs.

[Alis girls]

If its leaking is it faulty. My Eglu go is difficult to shut at back but when Iposted several others had the same prob. I have the knack now - OH struggles with it. If you got it new I'm sure Omlet would replace. My girls are not ex batts but stayed at friends whose run had a slope and they couldnt hack it so bless her she lifted them in every night. As for the poo OH and I nearly divorced as it is the downside of hens but have sectioned off a bit of garden and hey presto poo is hidden. I use a rake to rake my run when chucks are FR and nearly lie on my tum to do it but its worth it. My neighburs must think I'm off my trolley. Good luck and chin up - should have a NW london/ Herts meet up. Love Ali

[Mercedes55]

The Eglu itself doesn't leak and as far as I know neither does the Cube, although we haven't had the Cube long enough to be sure yet. It's the actual roof of the WIR that was leaking this morning. The water was going to the back of the roof then backtracking where it's joined and dripping inside the run

 

I do need to phone Omlet though as one of the glugs I bought is leaking. I did wonder why the hens were on tip toes trying to drink their water and when I went to have a look water was spouting out of the seam

[debsygooch]

Hi Mercedes, glad to hear you are feeling more upbeat about your girls and your new set up with the tunnel sounds really clever, for someon who professes to not want chickens your OH is being remarkably creative and resourceful isn't he ? He obviously loves them really!

I use Hemcore both in my Eglu (under the roosting bars) and also sprinkled on the floor of my WIR which I have to say does have a corrugated plastic roof, which I thoroughly recommend as in the recent rainy weather the girls are completely dry as it has an earth floor. I am in Luton so again if you want to pop round (I do work all week) but weekends would be fine (give me a chance to tidy up first through )

I got my girls on the 30th April and like you fretted for ages about having made the wrong decision - believe me it is all worth it in the end (including the poos!)

Don't forget we are all here for you (and each other)

Long live us chicken loving loonies

[Plum]

Put some guttering along the bottom of the roof and it will channel it away. We didn't put a downpipe and have a wonderful waterfall at times Guttering fortunately doesnt cost a lot if you use the mini profile one.

[Mercedes55]

Put some guttering along the bottom of the roof and it will channel it away. We didn't put a downpipe and have a wonderful waterfall at times Guttering fortunately doesnt cost a lot if you use the mini profile one.

 

We do have guttering, so it's weird that it's leaking. OH has been up on the roof today and thinks he has fixed it, but until it rains again we don't know if it's worked. If it does leak again I think he is going to use some silicone on it.

[Mollie333]

electric fencing in by far the cheapest and safest option.

Cheapest, yes, safest, no.

I had a friend who lost around 20 chickens and 8 Muskcovy ducks, they was in a electric fenced area.. The fox dug under.

 

Hope your feeling better Mercedes!

[debbier]

Just adding to what others have said, but for me, the best thing I did was move from the eglu run to a wir. I found the eglu run a nightmare to keep, even when moving it a few times a week.

 

My wir has a corrugated roof, and is brilliant. I also have a clear tarp (from tarpaflex.co.uk) on the side which gets the prevailing wind. This is BRILLIANT at keeping the run drier. I've used Aubiose and or Hemcore since moving to a wir, and, honestly, it makes life so much easier for me and the chickens.

 

Best wishes.

[abwsco]

electric fencing in by far the cheapest and safest option.

Cheapest, yes, safest, no.

I had a friend who lost around 20 chickens and 8 Muskcovy ducks, they was in a electric fenced area.. The fox dug under.

 

I didn't think foxes could dig under if the electric fence was working properly

[Plum]

Put some guttering along the bottom of the roof and it will channel it away. We didn't put a downpipe and have a wonderful waterfall at times Guttering fortunately doesnt cost a lot if you use the mini profile one.

 

We do have guttering, so it's weird that it's leaking. OH has been up on the roof today and thinks he has fixed it, but until it rains again we don't know if it's worked. If it does leak again I think he is going to use some silicone on it.

 

If it's going between the overlapping layers we used this clear duck tape http://www.amazon.co.uk/Power-Duck-Tape-Virtually-Clear/dp/B000J6CTBI

Hope that helps.

[finger lickin good]

electric fencing in by far the cheapest and safest option.

Cheapest, yes, safest, no.

I had a friend who lost around 20 chickens and 8 Muskcovy ducks, they was in a electric fenced area.. The fox dug under.

 

I didn't think foxes could dig under if the electric fence was working properly

 

If I was a fox I wouldn't want to dig under it, it gives you a right bolt (We know we have tried it out of curiosity). Foxes apparently test the fence first and if they get a shock won't try again. We have had it for 2 years with no problems. It is wired into the mains so unless there is a power cut it is always electrfied. We did have one casulalty last year unfortunatley a hedgehog tried to get under and was electrocuted.

[chooksandcrooks]

Hi,

 

I've read the posts and went to have a look for aubiose and found flax as well which seems to work the same but is cheaper and available from Countrywide. I have kept hens for a year and a half and will be upgrading my hutch/WIR in a couple of weeks to a cube with run. I'm fed up with the constant - losing - battle of red mites in my wooden hutch (a couple of my poor hens are lame from scaly leg mite) and the mud floor in my WIR.

Putting a tarp on the top of the run really helped with the mud but its starting to leak and the rain gets in through the sides, from the great tips here I will look for a clear tarp to cover the run completely.

There have been bad days, losing 4 hens to a dog and slipping over in the mud and rolling down the compost heap are just two, but watching our ex-barn hens scratch around is wonderful and we get rewarded with an egg a day from all 7 of them.

[MarkBevBen]

Oh Mercedes, hope you're feeling a bit better today. You've certainly gone to a heck of a lot of trouble, not to mention expense for your lovely hens. I'm sure they'll appreciate everything you're doing for them.

 

We're new to owning chickens as well, going to be taking delivery of our girls and Eglu classic next week

[Mercedes55]

I'm so grateful to you all on here

 

Well the sun is shining this morning, rain has all gone, so everything looks better out there.

 

We left the door of the Eglu open last night as none of the hens seemed to want to go into the Cube, despite having a new custom made ramp. I guess it will take time and encouragement for them to go in there. Usually we can hear them first thing in the morning making noises, kind of like 'let me out of here' This morning not a sound. We kept looking out of our bedroom window to see what was going on and it was after 8am when they all finally came out.

 

Still have a lot to do out there. OH is going to get some hemcore to fill the rest of the run as the place closest to us doesn't sell aubiose. We have also decided to put up 4 more lots of trellis along the front of the run with some clear taurpalin or something similar behind it, so that we know those parts won't get the wind and rain in, but will look nicer with some plants growing up.

 

Also debating whether to stain or paint the whole run or might just let it weather in.

[majuka]

I'm so glad that you are feeling more positive about your girls

[poachedegg]

I'm so glad that you are feeling more positive about your girls

 

Me too!

[Bramble]

Glad you're feeling more positive this morning, keep us all posted! Have a good weekend!

[CallyChook]

not that this thread really needs another reply, the omlet forum folks have done a fab job of showing support

 

I had one of those days last week. My 4 big chooks live outdoors in a traditional style wooden coop (no way I can afford anything plastic right now or for the foreseeable future) and for the past month or so we've had red mite. I've done absolutely everything, and I seem to have gotten rid of the large infestation but there's still a good number of the little critters munching on my birds overnights. With new baby due in 6 weeks the thought of 3 daily treatment continuing seemed to be just too much On top of that, I had a garden shed which in the spring I emptied (pre red mite haha) with the idea of splitting hte garden (i say garden, really it's a muddy cess pool full of lumps of coal and rough grass) into two. One side with the existing coop and the big folks, and the other half with the shed. So I emptied it, bought an incy, selected eggs, and now I have 4x 9 week old polands and 7 other polands and silkies, all 6 1/2 weeks old. They are in two indoor rabbit cages in my lounge, and are lovely, but are beginning to drive me mad. I'd pplanned to have them put outdoor by now, but the shed has been harder than I expected!

 

Everything has to be done on a budget in our house, as well as pets our chooks have to be relatively affordable as we have very little disposable income especially with child #2 on the way! Also I like to be eco friendly and recycle as much as possible, with a bit of a chickeny dream in my head about making my own coops etc. Anyways, instead of what I would have liked on the shed roof (onduline) my dad re-felted it. He said he wasnt sure how to change the whole roofing so just stuck on a new layer of thick felt. The red mite are going to love my dad! Then the paint for the shed - I figured white would be best as you can see critters. So the floor paint, ronseal diamond hard floor paint, has cost me about £18. Then exterior white gloss £24 for the walls. Outside Ronseal fence life wasn't cheap either. I had to buy a pressure washer to clean it all with too. Now nest boxes - as our chooks aren't anywhere near laying, I haven't sorted this one yet - I have an old outdoor rabbit hutch which I thought I might adapt, but that's just bringing yet more crevicey wood into the hen's environment, so I'm a little nervous about that solution. Perches- B&Q, Gleaves, T&G... no builders marchants sell any timber that looks like it might make a suitable perch, it's all tongue and groove or thick stakes, so I'm thinking maybe the old wooden ladder might be a good idea if i sand it down and coat in many painty layers or varnish to try to minimise mite housing.

 

Today I started painting the inside of the shed and got stopped within 10 seconds - the HUGEST spider I have ever clapped eyes on was hiding in the inside above the door. It even waved at me and whispered seductively in my ear that it wanted to crawl against my skin. So one hour later and several brews, I have calmed down, and my dad (ever suffering, OH is at work and also more scared of the 8 leggers than me!) has rescued me from the Beast and released it... amongst my potato patch!!! Ag!

 

Started to paint the inside of the door (by standing outside the shed haha!) and within 3 mins, torrential rain. Joy. And I haven't even started on the fence that will seperate the two sides of the garden.

 

Time to get another brew I think! And will sit here in my lounge, listening to the Loud sounds of 11 junior chickens and the scents of their digestive systems... the sooner they go out the better, so I best not languish too long!

[Mercedes55]

Oh heck CallyChook you really do have your hands full with all of that. I'd be pulling my hair out by now

[CallyChook]

just been out to paint again, finishedthe door before torrent #2 happened. Back to the lounge

[dixie chick]

You have made me feel exhausted just reading that! I remember the strong 'nesting instinct' that took hold in the few weeks before giving birth - but I think you must have an overdose! Take care of yourself, and lots of luck. I must live fairly near you because we have had a morning of sudden downpours interspersed with bright sunshine too!

[heatherjulia]

Hi Mercedes

 

So sorry things have been difficult for you. I actually couldnt believe it when I read your post because - awful as I feel putting this down in words - I feel the same and think we have made a huge mistake getting our chickens.

 

I think we got our 4 ex-batts a week after you? It's 7 weeks today, anyway. 3 weeks ago Henrietta died, which was just dreadful. So then we were incredibly anxious over the other three, watching their every move in case they got ill too, then last week my hubby was filling up their food and noticed an awful smell. It turned out that the entire ground where their run is had gone completely rotten and mouldy underneath their wood chips. I just couldnt believe it. I feel really misled by Omlet to be honest as we were following their recommendation on the website that if you dont have an area of lawn to keep the eglu on, you can build a permanent site and fill it with wood chip. So that's exactly what we did, and despite regularly changing the chippings etc, in just 6 weeks the whole thing was mouldy!

 

We dug it all out, but god knows what we are going to do long-term. I'm really worried that it will make them ill.

 

Then to make matters worse, I saw a mouse eating from their grub yesterday afternoon, which makes me think rats will be along next.

 

I just don't know what to do. It's been one thing after another. The whole experience hasn't been what I expected. We have chickens where I work and they're so calm and just potter around, so that's what I was expecting! But ours are completely different. They just dig non-stop, so whenever we let them out to FR, I can't just relax and enjoy them, I'm just literally running round constantly trying to stop them digging up the plants and covering the paths with the contents of the flowerbeds.

 

***sigh***

 

I do love them but it's just not at all what I expected, and to be honest, I feel really upset about it all.

 

PS Mercedes - I'm in Herts too - Wheathampstead.

 

Hope things work out for you.