Solitary chicken - need advice

[The Girls]

Hi there, I am new to chicken keeping. But would like to make others VERY aware of a design flaw in the Eglu Go. To cut a long story short, 10 days ago a fox managed to get into our Go via the back door, after furious paddling he managed to twist the black k"Ooops, word censored!". As you can imagine all our girls were killed much to our horror.

I have to say Omlet have been very good about it and I am happy to say that a lovely new Classic has been set up in our garden today curteousy of Omlet. We are much a happier with this and cannot get over the differnce in design and just how much better the security is of this one.

However I am still filled with horror at the thought of others buying the GO and the same thing happening. I would be so happy to find that Omlet were going to change the design in the back door/k"Ooops, word censored!". Clearly it needs to be changed to one that is on the Classic.

Please be very careful with these.

They are not fox proof at all.

 

We await our new girls at the next ex battery rescue.

[alet_chicken]

I am so sorry to hear about your girls.

 

Hope your new ex-batts will bring you much joy ... and that they will be safe from Mr. Fox in their new Classic.

[Tweety]

How awful, I'm sorry to hear that. I'm really surprised too, because I have quite a struggle to open my Go at the back.

 

I think you will be much happier with the Classic, it is a much better design and quality than the Go in my opinion.

 

Good luck with your new girls.

[Olly]

Really sorry to hear this, it must have been a terrible shock. I don't own a Go, but I do know that Omlet's products are all designed to avoid exactly this thing happening - the Classic door, the eggport etc are all made so that you need opposable thumbs to be able to open them, and I have always assumed the Go is the same. The fox must have been very persistent.

 

I hope you'll enjoy your Classic, glad to hear that Omlet were able to help resolve this. I haven't heard of this happening before, but it's a useful warning for anyone who owns a Go.

[bouldercroft]

yikes!! I always check that my doors are firmly closed - I'm really surprised that the fox got in if it was completely closed. We have racoons who are very adept at getting into things that they shouldn't and they haven't gotten in yet. But I'll be keeping an extra close eye out

 

I hope your new girls settle in well...

[The Girls]

thanks for the replys. For any one reading who hasnt compared the two, the Go's door is loose and rattly (mine was) where as the classic is as tight as can be.

I am still feeling very insecure about getting more hens, as if the fox got them again I would really loose the plot! My insecurity now is the run! We had no signs before of any attempts to get in but of course I am covering all possibilities! Considering buying an extension run and possibly some pegs to hold it down. But where do you draw the line with all of this. We have spent almost the amount you would spend on a second hand car!

For anyone reading who was suspicous that the door may not have been closed properly, it was 100% shut, I was obsessive with checking each time it was opened. There is NO doubt what so ever that it was shut. If you paddle yourself using your hands you will discover that the Go will come open

[Tweety]

I think the Omlet runs are as fox resistant as it is possible to be, although they are not and do not claim to be fox proof.

 

There will always be instances of predators getting into apparently secure houses and runs, but i believe that these are few and far between. I lost 7 hens last year, killed in what I thought was a predator-proof run. I hadn't bargained for a rat, mink, stoat or weasel getting into the run and the experience has taught me that there is only so much we can do to protect our girls.

 

You have had an awful experience, but don't let it put you off. You have a really good chicken house with a sturdy run and, if you put it on concrete slabs or peg the run down into the ground, you should be fine. You will have to be careful and not let your hens out of the run unless you are there with them, as the fox now knows that hens are there, but otherwise there is no reason why they should not be as safe as it is possible to be.

 

I do hope you can recover from your sad start to hen keeping, and enjoy having your new girls. They really are wonderful creatures!

[Egluntyne]

Gosh. What an awful shock for you. I wonder if your particular model had a faulty catch? Good to hear that Omlet have sorted the matter out to your satisfaction.

[Heathers Hens]

Hello

So sorry to hear about your girls and the eglu go - we are also new to chicken keeping and have had an eglu go since August, with two girls in an extended run. There are foxes regularly walking down our road at night and early morning and so I'm more than a little concerned about our eglu go and the rattley back door! I had been considering looking for a cube so that we could add a few more girls to the flock but thats an even larger price tag and wonder how safe that would be?

Its good that you have a new eglu classic now, hope thats a lot safer for your new arrivals .

[ohcarolina]

So sorry to hear about your girls but to try and reassure you...

 

I have 12 girls (and counting). 7 in a cube, 2 in one Classic and 3 in another Classic. All with the Omlet runs. All of mine were bought 2nd hand and the runs are fixed down with Gardman Heavy Duty galvanized tent pegs (my brother gets them for me at cost) as I didn't want to pay for the Omlet pegs. Plus an assortment of metal fruit cage poles and assorted bricks (my garden is a mess!)

 

I always see foxes about (there are many urban foxes and I live on the edge of countryside) but this week for sure I've had one visiting every morning. I chased it away one morning and it got caught in my Omlet netting before escaping . I heard it bounce off one of the runs this morning (the top of the cube run I think and I regularly find pawprints on the shades where the flipping thing must sunbathe (or lie in wait) . So far all it's done is bounce so hard on a run (albeit one of the original mark 1's the current design is better) that the grub has bounced off onto the floor

 

OK, so its not great for the girls but they seem to be used to it - the Cube Girls ignored all the commotion the other day and stayed in bed as it wasn't affecting them. I think it says a lot for the design of the Eglu.

 

I did lose a girl to a fox last year (my fault - Eglu door open & FRing alone) and I know how awful it is. However my girls give me so much pleasure I can' imagine life without them (or their eggs) now. Despite the state of the garden .

 

Caroline

[chickat]

So sorry to hear about your loss. Thank you for posting the warning for all of us who use a Go.

 

My Go door is the opposite...it fits so tightly that sometimes it is a struggle to get it open. Especially if I have just moved/dragged it to a new spot and the ground is different and there is more pressure on the door.

 

That being said, some safer back door for the Go would be a good idea, and I may install a hook or latch to prevent any predator from being able to open it. Since you have told Omlet about your problem, they will have the knowledge to recognize that the back door may require some redesign.