Poo help please!

[Lorax]

So my situation, as mentioned in other posts (sorry for repetition) is that we have a fairly large garden but nowhere that, now at least, we want to set up a permanent chicken house with a WIR.

 

What I was thinking of getting is the Cube with the standard 2m extension. I am planning to get 2 chickens to start with (how many eggs, roughly, do you think I'd get with two?). I plan to let them roam around the garden, mostly (when I'm there anyway) and if that doesn't work for any reason then keeping them in the run although I'm not entirely comfortable about that as it seems small for them and I like my chickens to be free range.

 

It's important that whatever we buy can be moved around relatively easily.

 

I've looked at other chicken houses and I can see you can buy them from about £50. However, when you start adding on size, wheels etc they add up. The Cube is still really expensive however.

 

Is it worth it? By that I mean does it give me something really over and above a wooden house?

I realise this is the Omlet forum, and I mean that question respectfully since I do absolutely prefer the Cube above anything else I've seen (we're modernists round here).

 

Is it easy to move around?

 

Does what I'm planning to do sound sensible, or will I always regret not just getting a WIR, even though I really don't feel we have a logical permanent place to put it iyswim.

 

Thoughts welcome. Thank you.

[chicken bark]

Unfortunately I think it is one of those things that you'll only know the answer to after you have tried one.

 

I've tried a few plastic hen houses now and I prefer green frog design ones.

 

My set up is hen houses within electrified netting. However this does mean I then need another 'run' which is covered to provide the hens some shelter.

 

I'd prefer it if mine was up higher (like a cube) but the house I got worked out cheaper and I can give girls a good free ranging area.

 

IMO a cube doesn't offer anything much over and above a well designed wooden house other than it dries quicker when you hose it down and a cube would need less yearly maintenance. However those are also the advantages of any plastic house over wooden.

 

Have you seen a cube in the flesh? - at the price it might be worth seeing if you could see one in person. There maybe someone on here near you who has one.

 

Ah decisions, decisions...

[Chicken shack]

Hi I have only had my and girls for nearly three weeks and I visited a owner in Bishops Stortford and an that was for sale. A friend of mine has about 25 chooks who free range but have wooden houses in a WIR. She was dead set against me having an Omlet however she has had a red mite infestation for the first time and also succumed to purchasing a at the same time as myself. The space a takes up is not that much more than the . I decided on the and yes they are expensive but should last a life time and hold there price so if chicken keeping is not to your liking you can always sell it. Mine is sited in one place as I only have a small garden and I have an area fenced of so the 4 girls can free range when we are home. I had a go at moving the and double run around and found it quite easy to move. I would also suggest the netting, you could put aroung the cube and allow the hens to free range in a controlled area. Oh yes get hens they enjoy the company. I suggest you buy the best you can afford. Good luck!

[Bertrum]

From what I have seen 2 hens in a cube with a 2M run will positively rattle around! You will have no worry leaving them in there all the time, in fact I'd be a bit worried that they had too much space myself. Imagine having to warm up all that space with just two chicken heat.

[Jools]

Don't make the mistake of comparing any of the good quality houses (plastic or wood) with the flimsy, cheap imports littering e-bay and the poultry press, but if compare like with like, there is not a lot of price difference between the Cube and wooden housing.

 

If you only want two hens and they're going to get a lot of free-range time, you won't need the run extension which will bring the cost down. By going straight in with the Cube, at least you won't have to get something bigger as your flock expands (and you can always add run extensions as you need to).

 

Unless you have a lot of space, most people find moving the Cube (or Eglu for that matter) impractical as the ground soon gets trashed. If you're going to be letting them out a lot, you could keep the Cube in one place (maybe on slabs to make it easier to clean) so you don't have the "how easy is it to move" problem.

 

Two hens will be absolutely fine in a Cube, even in the depths of winter as they come with feather duvets pre-installed.

 

Two hyrid hens should supply you with a dozen eggs per week during their first laying season, but they will slow down as they age and while they go through their annual moult.

 

HTH