craftyhunnypie Posted September 3, 2007 Share Posted September 3, 2007 Ha ha That got your attention!!!! By stripping I mean stripping the eglu & cube apart to thoroughly clean them. I did the eglu and reassembled it all within about half an hour as usual. Love the eglu, sooooo easy! However, when I stripped the cube apart, what a chore! There are so many bits that come out or off & they are sooo big & heavy! My girls stood underneath the ventilation holes & got a shower on their heads when I washed the nesting box etc down. But I think the worst bit to clean is the roosting bars. All in one piece & so big. Who has got a bucket that big??? Think I will have to buy a baby bath to stand them in! So many nooks & crannies to powder too. I powder everywhere, even round the egg port! Touch wood none of my girlies have ever had redmite or lice. They get covered in powder all the time. Emma.x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 3, 2007 Share Posted September 3, 2007 I don't find it such a chore as you. If you paint the roosting bars with Plastidip - as recommended by Claret (which I did from new) the poo does not stick to them, and its a doodle to clean. I just dip a big scrubbing brush into a bowl of water and its clean in literally minutes. Or with a hose - quicker still. Which way up do you put the bars in - you might have them upsidedown perhaps, making it more of a chore. Did you need to take the cube apart to clean it? Erm, I never do. I just slide the roof forward, take off the back panel which I don't find heavy (even with my bad back),and take out the roosting bar that way. I find it easier to empty the droppings trays as they are at waist height and narrower - that takes just a minute or so for each one. My cube, even with 11 in doesn't seem to need a full 'spring clean'. Just the droppings trays and roosting bars each week. I line the trays with newspaper, add aubiose and a sprinkling of powder Stalosan powder to stop smells and mites. The nest box I find a doddle to do with the big side door - just Aubiose and Stalosan once a week or so, and scoop out any 'accidents' if they occur in the nest on the day. I loved my Eglus to bits and think they are a brilliant design - and you can lift the top off in one piece, take out the sets of roosting bars, pull out the big drippings tray and zap it all with a pressure washer. The Penthouse Cube can be pressure washed in situ by just taking off the back panel and taking out the trays. The only difference being that if you need to move it you have to wheel it - and the Eglu could be lifted - (if you had a stronger back than mine) I honestly do find the Cube the easier option for my circumstances - but both are brilliant. Swings and roundabouts really Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feemcg Posted September 3, 2007 Share Posted September 3, 2007 I struggle with the roosting bars too, Emma - they fall apart every time I move them - ,they are really flimsy compared to the eglu bars (which makes me a bit angry considering how much we all paid for our cubes). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craftyhunnypie Posted September 4, 2007 Author Share Posted September 4, 2007 No I didn't pull the cube apart - just did what you did Dilly. But I think my chooks have been sleeping upside down as there was poo in most peculiar places! I've always pulled the eglu apart regularly and will do the same with the cube. I like to blitz them! I also change the bedding & poo trays every other day - or the trays everyday & poo pick the nest. The newbies make more mess, so I do have to keep on top of them more. The roosting bars are terrible! Why oh why can't they make them from the same stuff as the ladder? Oooo imagine an orange set of roosting bars I don't really think the chooks would mind if they were plastic! Emma.x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gallina Posted September 4, 2007 Share Posted September 4, 2007 I think the Cube roosting bars should be in two sections so you could get them out without taking the back of the cube off. But I like the fact that they are wood: it feels natural. I don't do the meticulous cleaning that some people on this forum do, but haven't had any problems since using Diatom to keep the mites away. I use a sheet of newspaper in the poo trays so they don't get dirty, and this means that the serious cleaning amounts to just the bars. I love the fact that the Cube is off the ground. It is so much cleaner and more hygienic than the Eglu, which is always under siege from something in my garden. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted September 4, 2007 Share Posted September 4, 2007 My eglu gets a good clean with soapy water and tea tree oil once a week. The roosting bars are a doddle since I coated them as Dilly mentioned. I dry it off with an old towel and then put Stalosan and mite powder in the poo tray, next box and roosting bar ledges, line the poo tray with newspaper and Hemcore. Put Hemcore in the nest box and I'm away. Every 6 weeks or so, I renew the Hemcore in the run and jet wash the eglu. My orange eglu si fine and comes up like new, but the pink rablu has faded and stained. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
