ThinkingChickens Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 Hello everyone. I'm from California and we're getting our first three chickens this Sunday. We went with the Eglu Go because of it's stylish looks and the overall ease of beginning to keep chickens. I sure am getting a lot of flack from other chicken owners. Anyway, just a couple questions: What extra measures, if any, have you taken to keep raccoons away? What time to you let your chickens out and what time do you bring them in? What, if anything, do you add to your coop in winter? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chicken bark Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 I keep my hens behind an electric fence but I would guess as long as you don't leave any food out vermin will not be as attracted to the eglu. I let mine out when I get up - anytime after 7am, and I just lock them in when they go to roost at dusk. Chickens are brilliant and put themselves to bed. Don't worry about other keepers - just do what you feel is right for your hens. Good luck with it and don't forget to post photo's of them when you get them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sammiboo Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 as above. I let mine out 6.30 - 7am when its properly light and they put themselves to bed. I close the eglu hatch when i come home from work which is about 7pm. Dont worry about what others say. I know i am in for some flack from one of my friends who is a traditional chicken keeper and hates the eglu! but i dont care Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bouldercroft Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 What extra measures, if any, have you taken to keep raccoons away? What time to you let your chickens out and what time do you bring them in? What, if anything, do you add to your coop in winter? Welcome! you won't regret it...despite trying to get through a brutal winter I still love my girls. They bring so many smiles to many people - even my poor suffering husband secretly likes them. Raccoons...funny you mention this but I was just thinking them the other day. My raccoons have figured out how to twist and lift the lid off my compost bin and I was thinking it was just a matter of time before they realized how easy it would be to remove the pin that keeps the run door closed. But so far - no raccoons. I bring the food in every night to discourage the mice/squirrels/rats/raccoons/possums - haven't had any problems yet. We'll see what Spring bring us. My girls wake and sleep by the sun - they put themselves to bed just before sunset. Hard to tell what time they actually wake up but I let them out at 7.15 on weekdays and sometimes as late at 8am on the weekends. I have noticed that they are a little more vocal in the mornings recently. But it'll be soon warm enough to leave the door open so they will be able to come and go and they please. For your californian winter - you won't have to do anything. I would suggest throwing a clear plastic shower curtain over the run to keep it dry - but that's it really. I built an extra insualtion layer of foam board for my eglu but I'm in Boston. I haven't addded any extra heat to the eglu and the girls did really well. A lot of people told me that the summers would be harder - and I now believe them. We've had the coldest winter in recent menory and more snow than I can remember and they were just fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThinkingChickens Posted March 10, 2011 Author Share Posted March 10, 2011 Thank you for all the advice. The shower curtain is an excellent idea because that plastic painting sheeting is so thin. I'll add that to my "chicken box." As for summer I'm hoping we don't have any extremes. We've hit 100 here but since we are in the mountains we usually stay low 90's. I've put the chickens under a tree for shade and will probably buy a full run shade tarp soon. We can always put frozen water bottles out. It works for the dogs, not sure about chickens. Ha ha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
