What makes a chicken coop easy to live with?

[The Dogmother]

That's great news Egluntyne

[jimnpaula]

Very interesting, thanks for posting as I've been looking at these too. Would they fit in the cube nesting area? Am I correct in thinking that you've put these outside the house?

I'm torn between these or making something with a tilted floor and covered area.

 

P

[MummyHen]

I too am keen to know how you get on; how you have installed them and if the'd fit in to the roosting area in a cube perhaps without one or both of the racks removed. I have two cubes one used for sleeping and the other for laying

[abwsco]

Today is now tomorrow so where are the pics

[Egluntyne]

They are too big for the cube nesting box. I suppose you could rig them up somehow inside the cube, but it would compromise the roosting area quite a bit.

 

I'm going to order a third one eventually as I have 14 hens in the WIR at the mo. Not massively obvious from the pic, but they are quite far back under the Cube. If I tweak them d forward a bit, there will be room for a third.

 

I've blocked the light out at the back too in a makeshift fashion for now, and am pondering on making the whole under-Cube area darker, as they prefer this for egg laying.

 

 

Please excuse the poo on the Cube steps.

 

You can see they have been using them, as there are muddy footprints in evidence.

[MummyHen]

Thanks for posting the pictures

Umm now that gives me an idea for my egg laying cube - remove the bars and put one nest box either side

how deep are they from front of the purch to the back of the box, and how wide

[The Dogmother]

That looks like a good idea. Some plastic feed sack cable-ties to the wheel chassis of the cube ought to make it nice and dark.

[stehaggan]

I was just wondering how you are getting on with these? I am thinking of completely ripping off your idea lol as these would be so much better for me as our girls are on our allotment so sometimes the eggs get a bit mucky,

 

How many eggs do they hold? and do they just rest on the floor or have you strapped them up somehow? Also, if i order more roosting bars for the cube, do you think they would fit in the nesting box if i removed the divider wall to create more space inside the cube? x

[Egluntyne]

Getting on with them really well. I guess they would hold 8 or so eggs. They just rest on the floor, and there is a little thingummybob with which you can attach it to it's neighbour.

 

I've tried it in the cube, and it is very big, leaving little room for nesting.

[stehaggan]

great stuff i will order some when i get back off holiday thanks for the idea! x

[Barkisland]

Just wondering how did you convert the nestbox in the cube to roosting space please? The nestbox looks too small for the plastic roosting bars, so did you improvise with something else?.

Think I have got an egg eater (or maybe even more than one ) so am becoming very interested in these rollaway boxes, which I could fix in the shady corner of the WIR.

[Egluntyne]

The larger bit of a set of plastic roosting bars perched on two house bricks.

[Barkisland]

Ah, eglu roosting bars, I hadn't thought of those. Cunning! Thanks

[Lewis]

Looks good!

I remember Janty posting about them before + I emailed about other colours too ... they said they were interested but obviously didn't have enough demand for other colours.

 

Clever idea

[newcountrygirl]

Hi Egluntyne - i understand the bit about the boxes being underneath the eglu - but not the bit about convertine the egly nest box into a perch? I have an eglu go.

[Egluntyne]

Ahh ... I put a brick at either end of the nest box in the cube, and then rested the larger piece of a set of plastic Classic roosting bars over them, They fit nicely.

 

These nesting boxes wouldn't fit in a go run. Way too big.

[newcountrygirl]

Thanks - I'll have to think of another cunning plan!!!

[katieD]

Don't want to sound negative but my only thoughts on these types of boxes is that is it part of a chickens behavioural needs to lay their eggs in a nest with bedding material? Just a thought?

[The Dogmother]

I see your point katieD, but if that results in smashed/eaten eggs (which is a very hard habit to break) then I guess that something has to go

[katieD]

I understand using them to prevent a problem such as that but i meant just to make cleaning out easier it surely would be better for the chicken to have bedding material and for us to have to do more cleaning

[Egluntyne]

I do scatter a little Aubiose in them.

 

They don't seem to be too fussed about bedding material when they lay their eggs under my cotoneaster bush!

[stehaggan]

cleaned out the girls yesterday... nice with of bedding in the nest box... legbar went in laid an egg and did a nice big poo in there grrrrr

 

So I have ordered two rollaway next boxes from wells poultry... both in yellow so will be nice and funky. I hope they use them well.

[Barkisland]

Mary is broody again, and being white, it is very easy to see that an egg has been scoffed today by someone, as Mary is wearing the yolk Think Gerty, my remaining ex batt, is laying thin shelled eggs now, so they are probably getting trampled and then eaten.

So I've just ordered 3 Chick Boxes from Flytesofancy, and a spare set of eglu bars. Just need a couple of bricks and we'll be sorted. Just wondering if it would be a good idea to make curtains from strips of something, to make them a bit more private? They seem to like that for laying.

[stehaggan]

oooo my rollaway nest boxes have just arrived, they are both yellow. They are a lot bigger than I thought but i suppose I should have expected it as they need to have chickens fit in them lol.

 

I think I will not put them under the cube but put some extra pieces of wood in the WIR and screw them on because the girls like going under the cube sometimes.

 

I hope they work for me:-S

[Barkisland]

Well, my chick boxes have arrived, and also my spare eglu roosting bars for converting the cube nestbox, but the chick boxes (x3) are rammed one inside the other and I have been trying to separate them with no success . I'm beggared. Waiting for Mr B to get home and exert some muscle, otherwise I don't know what I'll do.

Any suggestions??