4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[Jac and Rory]

I've been talking about a WIR for 18 months now and got fed up with local joiners telling me what I wanted and telling me a roof either wasn't possible or it would be too expensive ! So, after reading the comments on the forum decided an Omlet WIR was best for us. Speed is a great plus point and it looks good. Before and after photos are here:

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/65982686@N03/sets/

 

I have the roof covered in Omlet WIR covers - you have to overlap them to stop the rain dripping through the joins. When it rains the middle of the run stays very dry (had lots of rain so far to test this but not much wind) but it's wet around all the edges where the rain drips off the covers and the mesh panels. I bought one Omlet side cover (1m square) to try it out but while this may be good against the wind it seems almost useless against the rain which drips down both sides of the cover - you would need to overlap it under the roof covers but it can be tricky with where to put the bungees. The Omlet covers look good but big glass tarp(s) would be better and I'm off to investigate further.

 

So (eventually getting to the point) if I can't stop the run getting wet around the edges then is it worth putting hemcore down on the floor? I have a bale but is wet hemcore just as bad as wet earth?

[kissinuk]

Have you seen the large covers that Cotswold Chickens sell?

 

http://www.cotswoldchickens.com/coop-cover---large-628-p.asp

 

I used to use aubiose in the eglu run but it just gets too mushy if you can't keep it fully dry. Plus it blows everywhere too...

[Sam]

Wow, that really looks brilliant!!!!

I haven't really liked the look of them, but with the extension it looks great

[karlotta]

Wow that looks MOST impressive! I'm not a huge fan of silver mesh (it always seems a bit had to see the girls inside) but that's VERY low impact in the garden!

 

Have you thought about wood-chip - it doesn't really matter if that gets wet and they love digging about for creepy-crawlies in it!

 

Love your set-up!

[beach chick]

that looks really good, and I love the way it is tucked into that corner - much neater than before!

[squiffs]

Wow! How many extensions are on the WIR part? I do like the idea of an Omlet WIR but it just didn't look spacious enough in the standard size, yours looks just how I'd like it to look!

[fluffy chick]

Lovely set up you lucky thing

[LunaKiw1]

Hi, we're using Tarpaflex transparent tarpaulins. They do them in a 2m wide which is a perfect width for the Omlet WIR's roof (and sides). We bought a 2m x 4.6m one as one side of ours is against a fence so didn't need to be fully covered but if you got one that was 2m x 6m it would go across top and fully down both sides leaving no drippy gaps cf Omlet sized ones. We use bungies to hold tightly the edges in place and then you can roll up the sides as required. We just decide if it is a 'flaps up' or a 'flaps down' sort of day! I am using part of an previous 2m x 2.4 tarapflex to go across the door side. I can fold back the half over the door itself when it is dry or have it across when it is raining. The old run is also covered with a 2m x 2.4m tarpaflex. It sounds messy but it doesn't look too bad and offers very flexible weather-proofing at much less cost - and fewer gaps - than other approaches. (see photo).

[hammy72]

looks great! how many extensions have you added to your WIR. Like others I was concerned that mine would not really be getting any more room if I got from an eglu classic with extended 3 metre run to a 4 metre walk in. The omlet covers seem a bit small to me so I like the look of the one from that other company.

[LunaKiw1]

We had the basic Classic + 2m run for 2 chooks and we bought just the basic 2m square WIR just to give them more space really and for ease of cleaning. We now have 3 hens in the original 2m + the 4sqm of the WIR. I'd feel happy with another 1 hen in it - maybe 2 max. Ours do get to free-range a lot as well. Tarpaflex tarpaulins are really good in value and range of sizes and nicely transparent without grid lines and good number of edging holes. I think that Omlet's 1m size shades and the half width ones for the roof are really silly sizes and pretty pricey if you end up buying a lot. I like the fact that the WIR doesn't stand out as much as a wooden one and because ours is not on really level ground it is quite forgiving of th tree roots etc.

[Jac and Rory]

Many thanks for your comments everyone. Looks like there are plenty of options for better cover than Omlet provides. I'll need to get it sorted for the winter but isn't it handy that our summer provides lots of opportunity to test out these things ....

 

I've got 2 extensions to the WIR so it's 4m x 2m plus the cube and run, about 10m square. I wanted it to be as big as the FR area they had so I wouldn't feel guilty about keeping "caged birds". The fox is through our garden every day and now everything feels so secure. But... now that it's up I see I could fit in another couple of extensions - maybe next year!