mezzo Posted January 29, 2011 Share Posted January 29, 2011 I have been moving my classic cube everyday around the yard for 2 years. Needless to say my yard is a mess. I have noticed from pictures that some keep the cube stationary over wood chips. Do most Eglu owners keep it in one place? If so, what do you recommend for the run floor for my girls to scratch around? They are out and about on the weekends in the yard and several times a week after work in the afternoon. Being winter right now they are scratching the area bare each day. I plan to re-seed in the spring, but would like to have a somewhat grassy backyard! US, Carolinas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keyhole kate Posted January 29, 2011 Share Posted January 29, 2011 I gave up on the moving the cube around the garden as it still gets trashed I had mine permanantly sited on bark chips but found it hard to poo pick and keep clean. I finaly laid a base of slabs for the cube and run to sit on covered in easi bed (horse bedding ) which is very absorbant but I still had a problem with it getting wet even though the cube and run were tarped to keep the most of the rain out. Finally I ditched the cube run in favour of a 8 x 8 walk in run (WIR) with a clear polycarbonate roof and have the cube on the outside to give the girls max free range space this was the best decision I made as even with all the heavy snow we had in Dec it stayed dry and has been easy to shovel, hose down and brush clean when it finally needed to be replaced all I have left to do is source some clear tarps which I can roll down on the sides of the WIR when windy or raining. With the benefit of hindsight I wish I had done this in the begining as I would have saved so much money and time There are lots of photos on the forum of members WIR's to give you an idea of how they look hope this helps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoctorDoLittle Posted January 29, 2011 Share Posted January 29, 2011 Kate, I noticed that one of your jobs to do was finding clear tarpaulins. I live in Hertfordshire and by chance found a local company in Letchworth that do various tarpaulins on EBay. I ordered a 2m x 3m clear one for £27 (free postage), they rang me to say they were out of that size but could make any size in a strengthened translucent tarpaulin material (not as seethrough) and put eylets where i needed them. The tarp was delivered within 48hrs. The company is called allplas. As well as on EBay I noticed on their invoice they have a website www.allplas.co.uk Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G8rSteph Posted January 29, 2011 Share Posted January 29, 2011 We started out moving our Eglu every day, or every few days, but it was a bit of a hassle. Part of the problem is that half our yard is in full sun all day, so the Eglu couldn't sit in those parts and we had to go back and forth to each side of the house which confused the chickens. (Once the girls were full grown - and we felt they were safer from hawks - we let them run loose all the time.) But my husband didn't like the poo that ended up all over the deck so we decided to fence off part of our yard for the chickens to live in. Their entire side of the yard is now dirt. We're going to throw down some rye grass seed soon, though they'll end up eating some of it before it even grows. I'm gathering that wherever chickens live, there won't be grass remaining for long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keyhole kate Posted January 29, 2011 Share Posted January 29, 2011 Kate, I noticed that one of your jobs to do was finding clear tarpaulins. I live in Hertfordshire and by chance found a local company in Letchworth that do various tarpaulins on EBay. I ordered a 2m x 3m clear one for £27 (free postage), they rang me to say they were out of that size but could make any size in a strengthened translucent tarpaulin material (not as seethrough) and put eylets where i needed them. The tarp was delivered within 48hrs. The company is called allplas. As well as on EBay I noticed on their invoice they have a website www.allplas.co.uk Dave Fantastic thanks so much I will get on to them on Monday first thing I currently have a mish mash of green tarps and shower curtains it looks a mess Ps I am in Hemel so not so very far from you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plum Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 You can put down horse bedding in the run and cover the run when it rains or you could use woodchip. They enjoy digging around in it as much as being on grass but its a lot easier for you to manage. You need to protect them from the sun and keep them cool so cover with some sort of sunshade. I made a patchwork one for my run. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...