My eco solution to rat problems

[Hayleybug]

WOW hopingforchickens that looks amazing!!! you've worked really hard putting that together! what size is it? ive only got room for a 6x6 but wish i had more as that one looks like youve fitted some great bits and bobs inside for the girls to keep them amused. great colour choice too. looks fab, i can see why you are pleased with it but also why you wouldnt necessarily recommend the company, which is a real shame- the guy needs to sort out his customer service and change his delivery estimates and maybe communicate a bit better and judging by your run they would get lots more customers. might send him an email after mine has arrived with some tips

do post some pics when your girls are settled in after your well deserved holiday!

[hopingforchickens]

Thanks I will do, although I agree with Plum - they might spoil it! thr run is just over 10 foot by just under 7 foot - it was supposed to be 10foot by 7!

 

More pics when we get back...

[beachbum55555]

I bought a pen from petpens 4 u off ebay and I'm having a horrible time. I think their products are fine if it all goes well. But, ours arrived late, was missing the fixtures and, when we finally got it erected, the roof was faulty. In response to all that they offered to reimburse us if we bought the fixtures and some posts to correct the roof. We haven't had a penny. I eventually (after 3 weeks of not being reimbursed for the fixtures and 1 week after not getting the money for the posts) left negative feedback on ebay. He's been trying to coerce me to remove the feedback in exchange for the money ever since. but, I know he won't give it given his failure to do so over the space of 3 weeks despite many phone calls and emails. He just wants the comment gone. Left me feeling really low. Need to commune with me chooks.

[hl050]

Hi Beachbum5555

 

My problem sounds similar to yours i've been casing him for over 4 weeks to get the correct parts i am still missing hinges, bolts, guttering etc. he promised me £51 reimbursement from the courier as 'they damaged the panels' on the first delivery!

he has also told my to buy they parts and then he'll pay me the difference still no money.

As for the roof panels i think i may have yours as i certainly don't have what i ordered, HB and I have been scratching our heasds as to how it fits and we just can't make it i don't think we are that silly!!!

 

Also i ordered a 8 x 4 sectioned joined to a 8 x 12 but i've got a 9 x 4 and a 7 x 11 which doesn't sit on the concrete base i had laid especially.

its really wearing chasing him, I've been completly ripped off - now if i call him he doesn't answer but if i try from a friends number he'll answer but then hang up if i start to speak with him. emailing or texting him doesn't work either

 

Any one out there thinking to buy from PETPENS4U don't bother you'll get ripped off - what ever Chris says in the beginning he'll be nice as pie and say all the right things but take it from someone thats been there - please save your money and go else where !!!!!!!!!!!!

[Hayleybug]

everyone that has had bad experiences i would definitely recommend that along with leaving feedback you actually open a dispute via ebay/paypal- if the item has arrived with parts missing then it is not as described, and you can open a case. this way he has to send you the replacement bits, offer a partial or full refund on return of the item. doing the partial refund request via ebay means that if you paid by paypal and he doesnt action the refund they actually have the power to judge the case and automatically take the money from his paypal account to send to you. do it! i certainly will do if mine turns up missing bits or with damage. he's really taking the mickey if he doesnt realise that recommendations are what would keep him in business and theres a lot of people on this forum who would go to someone else if they read about these cases (i certainly would have ordered elsewhere if i had known this before the 9th! )

[hl050]

Hi Hayley Bug

 

I ordered directly from him so i can't leave negative feedback or or go down the paypal route but i did order via my credit card so i have been in contact with them and then we have to build a case against he and they will try and get monies directly from his bank.

I've been so mad about this but now feel resigned to the fact i've been ripped off. So anything the bank gets back for me will be a bonus - i went to B&Q yesterday to get what i need and i'm just goung to try and cobble it together.

and i agree with you i just don't want any lovely people who use this site to get ripped off by him.

 

Fingers crossed that yours turns up is yours a standard shape? it seems to me there are more problems if there are unusal dimensions.

Best of luck

[Hayleybug]

thats good that you paid with a credit card, hopefully they will sort something out for you. mine is a 6x6 standard size but i have asked for kick panels and a pop hole and sloping roof to be added, just hope that the extra changes dont cause the same sort of problems. if i dont hear anything by tomorrow i will email him again and see whether i get any luck with at least a delivery estimate. its hard for us to receive deliveries at the best of times as we both work full time but my OH can organise to work from home once a week but only with enough notice really and i can see that even if you are given a delivery date it doesnt always come that day anyway!!

definitely wont recommend him if it goes on longer than this week anyway as its too long to have to wait, even if it turns up complete!

[hl050]

Hi

i'm afraid my delivery experience wasn't great either. HB waited in all day on first delivery date - nothing.

follow up delivery date told it was going to be a friday turned up 7.30pm on the thursday ( didn't complain as it was a day early but lucky we were in!)

third delivery date for missing parts turned up a day later than promised when we questioned the courier company they said they had only been given the job the day before by petpens4u so theres no way they could have delivered in the time frame he promised.

and forth delivery for further missing parts nothing still waiting

he told me he is getting his own vans to speed up delivery process but i'm not sure if its true. fingers crossed for you.

i hope that because yours is a slighty more standard shape you shouldn't suffer the same problems

keep us posted

[Chortle Chook]

I'm really sorry for all you people who are having a hard time with that supplier. It sounds really unsatisfactory and stressful too.

 

hopingforchickens your WIR is absolutely FANTASTIC! I hope you have the most wonderful holiday because you certainly deserve it. (Bet you sneakily can't wait to get back, though, so you can put your chickens into their palace )

[Hayleybug]

well i have eventually been contacted by the courier who is delivering my run, but their next delivery slot isnt until a week tomorrow!! aargh! just hope it actually does turn up then. will have to keep myself busy until then!

[hl050]

fingers crossed it all turns up

[Hayleybug]

well, it has arrived at last! a day later than it should have done, so OH took yesterday off to do other bits around the house and luckily hadnt just stayed in for the delivery otherwise he wouldve been

it hasnt come with any instructions so has anyone got any they can email me?

luckily it has arrived with fixings.

unfortunately i asked him for a hole to be fixed in one panel for the eglu to fit up against, but he has obviously not understood as he has just made an extra door in the top half of one of the panels (i guess this is what people use when they put the eglu inside the run), which looks nice but im not sure im going to fit the eglu inside a 6 x 6 and have enough room for the chickens still so we're going to have to adapt it.

Also he hasnt drilled the wavey plastic stuff for the roof and i think ive read on here before that it is very hard to drill without breaking it??

plus side is that it is very nice wood and very well made.

so if anyone can help with instructions that would be brill!! thanks!

[AndreaT]

Glad it has finally arrived!

 

Don't think mine came with instructions but it was quite simple in the end. You just screw the sides together, the small triangular pieces are for the tops of the sides to make the roof slant in whichever direction you like. I think there may be some batons too which we used across the top of each set of two panels to make them sturdier. I hope that all makes sense!

 

The roof panels didn't come pre-screwed either but they where pretty easy to attached and we didn't have any breakages. You might need to put some extra batons on the roof though, just give some extra support.

 

If the pop hole is half way up the panel it sounds like possibly he's sent you one for a cube. You could try raising the eglu up on something then you still have it on the outside.

 

Looking forward to seeing pics once you've set it up!

[hopingforchickens]

Glad it's arrived, hope you manage to adapt it how you wanted it mine also didn't come with instructions. The side panels just screw together quite easily, with the roof, you will have some long thin rectangular panels that go at the front on top of the front wall, then the triangle bits go down the sides, the batons go along the back wall so there isn't a gap at the back... that's how we did ours anyway! I thought the roof would need more strengthening, but touch would so far it's been really sturdy without it. Pics needed soon!

[Hayleybug]

thanks both of you, that makes me feel a bit more positive about us getting it put together correctly!!

AndreaT- unfortunately the 'pop hole' which he has fitted in is actually the full upper half panel if you see what i mean, which i think he intends to be attached with hinges so it opens, but this isnt going to allow me to leave the door open on the eglu as the gap will be too big. i wanted to have the wire fitted around the eglu just under the cover (as some people on here have done before) so that it was more fox proof. it would definitely still need to be on a table of some sort- i have measured up and will see if i can find anything at the car boot sale tomorrow morning!

will defo post piccies as soon as we get it built, might not be till mid week though as we have just removed all the floor tiles in our kitchen so have got quite a bit of work to do in the house this weekend!!

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Hayleybug, I may have got this wrong but what you're describing sounds a little like the stable door I have on my run which you'll see in my signature link. If so, you could do what I've done with my eglu .

[hl050]

Hi

Glad for you its finally arrived

Side panels will be the ones with kickboard at bottom, panels that are all mesh will be roof panels. triangular bits go on top of side panels for you to angle roof the way you'd like to, if he's sent you the wrong panel, you should contact him and get the correct one - he may actually help you

 

the ironic thing is with this terrible company is that when the WIR goes together its actually very good. Minedidn't come with any pre drilled holes either but it does go together okay.

 

The thing thats nearly made me and HB nearly have a divorce is that we didn't have a single roof panel the correct length so we have had to shorten three panels lengther 2 and make 2 up from scratch, so we had to by more wood and wire and a staple gun

I truely hope yours has got all the parts, but definitly chase him for the correct panel - you may get lucky, in the mean time you can assemble the rest of it - good luck!

[Hayleybug]

Hayleybug, I may have got this wrong but what you're describing sounds a little like the stable door I have on my run which you'll see in my signature link. If so, you could do what I've done with my eglu .

hi, yes it is like the upper half of yours, but i dont have a lower opening (there is a full door on the next panel) so im not sure whether to put the eglu inside on a table like yours or not, as im not sure how easy it would be to clean the eglu out without the lower door part if you see what i mean... what table did you use for yours tho? its definitely worth a think about that...thanks!

[Hayleybug]

for those of you who attached the plastic roof panels without breakages, did you pre-drill or did you just carefully screw down through the plastic? thanks!

[hopingforchickens]

We just carefully screwed, tough wood no probs, is it the stuff from Wicks?

[Hayleybug]

i dont know as it came with the run, its that wavey plastic panel stuff, actually not sure it looks like theres going to be enough there...eek!

[Ain't Nobody Here]

hi, yes it is like the upper half of yours, but i dont have a lower opening (there is a full door on the next panel) so im not sure whether to put the eglu inside on a table like yours or not, as im not sure how easy it would be to clean the eglu out without the lower door part if you see what i mean... what table did you use for yours tho? its definitely worth a think about that...thanks!

 

The only thing I use my lower door for is letting the girls out into their freerange area. When I'm cleaning the eglu, I take it apart inside the run then take the parts out through the big door for cleaning so you should be ok there. Doing a minor clean is so easy as it's at waist height.

 

My table is basically an old rectangular school table with metal legs. However, I took the top off and put a pallet on top of the legs for the eglu to sit on, with only the end of the table top under the eglu and the rest forming the "landing". The weight of the eglu and pallet holds it in place (I do have a couple of posts at the other end just in case!)

[Hayleybug]

what a good idea! I think i will go for that, was trying to avoid putting the eglu inside as its only a 6x6 run but i think if i put perches etc in like you have then it will work ok.

how have you fixed your grub and glug onto your wire? mine has got quite small holes in the wire and i dont think the grub or glug will fit on without some sort of added support...

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Mine is only marginally bigger so I think you'll be fine . I bought some cheap metal shelf brackets from B&Q which which are good for attaching planks/perches/etc (have a look in B&Q for bargain odds and ends in the skirting board/shelving sections). Rapstraps and cable ties are also invaluable .

[Hayleybug]

thats great, thanks! oh, and one last question- where did you get your tarpaulin type stuff for your wind break curtains?