The Poultry Keeper

aaronmusgrove123 · Joined: 15 Aug 2008 Posts: 21 Location: newcastle

hi what do you all think of the new eglu i have 2 bantam silkie chicks which in want to put in when they are older i wont keep them locked in it permentally just during the night and when I'm out i will just let them in the run but i really like them what do you think Surprised

aaronmusgrove123 · Joined: 15 Aug 2008 Posts: 21 Location: newcastle

http://omlet.co.uk/products_services/products_services.php?view=Chickens

Diane · Joined: 05 Feb 2006 Posts: 271 Location: Dorset

Well, I prefer the Cube - but I still think they are overpriced and the run is too small.

Sorry.

jreeve · Joined: 26 Jun 2008 Posts: 78 Location: North Wales

Personally i dont like them.. they are too small, too expensive, and awful to look at Embarassed

.. size wise i think they would be suited to use as a broody coop/ somewhere to keep a sick hen/ somewhere to keep chicks before they move into the main pen etc.. but not as a full time home. Theyre just that bit too small and in my opinion would be really boring for the hens, but i can see them being good for somewhere safe to keep two hens at night/whilst youre out.. but not for long..

Each to their own, but just not my own personal taste!.. you can get cheaper, bigger hen houses if you look around Smile

Yolky · Joined: 16 Aug 2008 Posts: 35

Hiya

I have an eglu and I really love the little house. So easy to clean and is like new when cleaned. I haven't had chickens before so cannot compair with a traditional hen house so this is just my opinion on the housing I have. I have three chickens and have the eglu with the standard run and have added the converter and extention on so the run is 4m long. It does seem big enough (if a little tunnel like) and although my girls also free range when I am home I still wanted something a bit bigger so we are in the midst of building a walk in run of 2m x 4m which I hope will be ample room for my beautiful girls. However I know many people keep their chooks in a eglu run and are very happy with it, I guess I am just a little fussy (much to my husbands

lol!) I know that a walk in run will be easier to clean Very Happy

oatley · Joined: 25 Feb 2008 Posts: 35 Location: cornwall

We originally kept our 2 bantams in a forsham ark, which although one of their large models is MUCH smaller than the eglu. We have now taken delivery of the eglu cube with extended run which is bigger again as we are up to 6 bantams.

Really I am wondering - how much room do chickens need?

Which bit of the eglu is considered too small - the house or the run or all of it? A walk in big run is not possible in my garden as there is nowhere to put it, so I thought that I was doing the right thing buying the eglu? How much space do they really need?

Pekinout · Joined: 29 Apr 2008 Posts: 1058 Location: Cornwall

I dont like them personally. They're designed by someone who has no idea what a chicken house should be like, they're ugly and the run is way too small. They get too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter, and their overpriced. You could get much more for your money in timber and something that would actually look nicer.

I'd rather have Del Boy's 3 wheeler on the lawn than an Eglu.

Yolky · Joined: 16 Aug 2008 Posts: 35

Pekinout · Joined: 29 Apr 2008 Posts: 1058 Location: Cornwall

A friend of mine had one, she thought as it was plastic it wouldnt have redmite infestation, but she was wrong it did. Her's got very hot in the summer and cold in the winter, so she got shot of it and bought a proper wooden house. But I'm only going on hers, maybe they've changed the insulation properties of them since she had hers.

Each to his own though, some folk love them some hate them. Bit like the SMART car, thats like buying half a car but some people love them to bits lol

Yolky · Joined: 16 Aug 2008 Posts: 35

I am sorry your friend didn't like hers but glad she found something that suited in the end. You are right, horses for courses and all that lol. I do agree that I think the run is a bit small, that is why we have ended up making a walk in run. Mind you I might just be a fussy so and so who wants her girls to have loads of room. Also cleaning a walk in run should be lots easier than the 4metre tunnel I have attatched to my eglu (I have a 2m extention to the standard 2m run) Very Happy

Pekinout · Joined: 29 Apr 2008 Posts: 1058 Location: Cornwall

Yep the runs are very small, sounds like you've sorted yours out well though.

The good thing about Eglu's is that they don't rot like wooden houses, and you don't have to keep painting them with preservatives. That saves a lot of time.