My eco solution to rat problems

[Guest]

Well after lots of experimenting in the rain - I think I just may have found a solution.

 

When you slide on the roof -there is some 'play' in it side to side.

 

I have found that (looking from the front)

 

If you push the roof on, you can then push it (from the front) towards the nest box side that can 'leak in water' so the gap is almost non existent.

 

Then

 

When you go to the back to push in the locking levers do the nest box side first (you may have to move the roof a bit that end or wiggle the locking lever to fit.) Then do the other side. If it won't go in - you can then go back to the front and move it slightly to lock it, after which return to the front and push it back towards the nest box side to make the gap narrower.

 

We have had the most torrental storms and rain - and this finally worked for me yesterday so I have dispensed with the tarpaulin.

 

Give it a go and see if it works for you.

 

I was even thinking of buying paving slabs to put down to put the cube on - but it was not a viable option where my cube is.

 

By nature of the product - housing chickens in a garden - on a lawn or soil etc - it must have been designed with that in mind, so trying to ensure that where it is sited remains perfectly level is not possible really is it.

 

I hope the instructions make sense - if not let me know and I will try to explain it better or take photos.

Edited July 21, 2007 by Guest

[Gallina]

I don't get any leaking in the Cube's nesting box at all, but Dilly's message makes sense.

 

When Johannes put my Cube together, he left a whacking great drainage channel in the roof on the side opposite to the nesting box.

 

Maybe this is the secret, and I should rejoice at the inch-wide gap that I found slightly unaesthetic when I first saw the Cube (but don't even notice any more).

[Olly]

gosh, Dilly, maybe you should have pursued engineering as a career!

 

Doesn't mean anything to me as I don't have a Cube ... yet ... but I have been avidly reading about them to find out the highs and lows, and I see a lot of people have raised this issue.

 

I'll store this info somewhere, I know I'm going to get a Cube eventually! You all seem to love yours so much.

[starboyhull]

I too have been reading the posts about the cubes........I dont mean to put a spanner in the works, but did they release it too quickly because of pressure from customers??? It just seems that there are some design "features" that are not quite right.......

 

I have been thinking about upgrading almost since the eglu arrived but now more people are getting them there seems to be little things that need sorting out......

[Gallina]

I haven't found anything wrong with my Cube yet -- it's brilliant!

 

(The only problem has been the lack of a big feeder and drinker, but you can get round that.)

 

I wonder if the Cubes assembled by the designer (Johannes) have fewer problems than those put together by others? It did seem extremely tricky, and the big gap for drainage was a surprise.

[Guest]

My cube is brilliant and I am thrilled to bits with it. I only put this on here as seperate post as there were comments regarding it on another section.

 

We have had an inordinate amount of rain - the worst storms in memory around here, which would test anything to the utmost limits!

 

In normal rainy weather conditions things are fine - it is only with the horrendous storms, high winds, and unrelenting rains, that, I am sure, have created this minor problem - which can be addressed quite easily.

 

No one should be put off getting a cube - they really are excellent.

 

The only other quibble I have read about is that owners are keen to get the new feeders and the stiffness of clips for the water drinker. That can easily be addressed.

 

In their eagerness to please their very demanding customers (us), they have been developing new feeders and drinkers - and lets face it everyone, if we had the grubs and glugs without knowing there were new designs in the pipeline - we would have been just as happy - and would never know any different.

 

So come on one and all - less grumbles about silly little things - and more appreciation about everything that is brilliant about the cube.

 

Whatever product you buy that is a market leader, there are always minor adjustments. You can't design something that can be 100% can you. No matter how many tests, and trials you perform in the developement, it is only mass production and use that can show up anything.

 

Think of all the recall of other 'brands' for expensive cars, childs safety seats, toys, latest electronic wizardry, even well known brands of chocolates - and what about a certain MP's egg fiasco.

 

A little bit of water getting in now and again in extreme weather conditions is hardly a major design fault is it!

 

Well I don't think so, and I am happy to keep promoting my cube and eglu on my website, with 100% confidence that anyone who gets one will be overjoyed.

[Couperman]

We are more than happy with our Cube. I can see a couple of areas which could be improved, but I don't regard them as design flaws. A couple of grips on the roof to help with its sliding would be useful for instance. I would also welcome a quick release method of attaching the run to the Cube. It would make 'mucking out' much easier if you could detach the run quickly and easily. I am going to have a look at doing this myself, shouldn't be too hard.

 

On the whole the Cube is great product, great looking, easy to keep clean and does exactly what it says on the tin!

 

Omlet seem to be very good on customer service too which is refreshing these days!

 

Maybe we should start a suggestions thread for Omlet to consider incorporating into the next version. I don't think it could be improved that much as it is very good already.

 

Don't be put off it really is good!

 

Kev.

[starboyhull]

I was making an observation and asking peoples opinion of them after previous posts on here and then this one......Not suggesting there was any major faults......

 

Just perhaps a little rushed, eg. the new feeders that are advertised on the website when you order......I think the omlet products are great and I would recommend an eglu to anyone who wants to keep chickens......

 

 

I wonder if there is a knack to putting them together like you say Gallina..... Either way they do look good and im sure we will get one

[Guest]

They may well be a 'knack' with some us DIY pack flat assembler

 

Some of us who had the first MK11 Eglus, after a year or so, snapped the plastic screws - so what did Omlet do?

 

The rushed out metal screws and washers right away and had already introduced them as an improvement anyway with the new ones.

 

So if we do advise Omlet by email if we do have something we feel in not quite right, they can advise - as some of us did with the water getting in - then they immediately set too to sort it out!

 

Great.[/u]

[Twiglet]

Sent e-mail to James just to register my "niggles"

 

Have also just been out & wiggled the roof as suggested.

[Guest]

You can't beat a wiggle can you

 

Couperman made his 'properly' he said in another thread - but being a woman - and an old one at that - I just wiggled too

[Couperman]

My idea of 'properly' isn't necessarily how it is meant to be!

 

I had to bend a few bits and bobs to get them to go together how I thought they should.Thats maybe why the run doesn't sit right

 

Kev.

[Twiglet]

And I BET you didn't feel the need to follow any instructions!

[Guest]

Twiglet - men only know them a destructions!

[Couperman]

We didn't get any instructions as they were in the box that didn't arrive!

 

You know the one with all the fasteners in! I had it just about finished when i noticed!

 

Some might say you should check everything is present and correct before starting, but I think you shouldn't have too, but you do have to, and I don't but should, I think,maybe.

 

Kev.

[Guest]

Just like that Tommy

[Gallina]

My nest-box has been as dry as a bone (even though Oxford has been very wet, and is about to go under the River Thames at any moment -- but not me, as I am up a hill).

 

I still think that the inch-wide gap allowing a drainage channel on the opposite side to the nesting box is the key to a dry Cube. Johannes said that the gap was a necessary part of the design.

[Gallina]

Sorry, it must be annoying being told that someone else's cube is dry. I just wanted to emphasize that although I had been bombarded with unprecedented rain recently nothing had got in. I don't want people put off having Cubes, as I think that they are so wonderful.

 

This is the gap on the opposite side to the nesting box where all my water drains away. But perhaps one of the reasons it is still working is that I am afraid to take the back off my Cube or move it at all, so there hasn't been any slippage. It will be interesting to hear what Omlet say.