[Elcie]

Never heard from the Housing Assoiciation about permission, spoke to the neighbour who was fine, so....

2nd hand Eglu coming on Saturday, hens being collected on Sunday!  (One Gingernut ranger, one Amber star and one Black star)

We are very excited but wondered if you could offer us some advice.  What is the best way to settle the hens in when they arrive?  I am off work all next week so it is ideal timing.  I have read that we should leave them inside the Eglu for 48 hours, then someone else said leave them in the Eglu/run for a week before letting out into the garden.

Any advice gratefully appreciated please.

[GrannieAnnie]

As the Eglu is quite small Elcie, I would collect your new girls as late in the day as you can, then put them in the Eglu overnight at least.  There wouldn't be room for them plus food and drink surely?  Then next morning let them out into the run and keep them in the run for a few days to get used to their new home before letting them free range.

but you'll get lots of other ideas, as we are all different!  Good luck with them!!!!!

[compostqueen]

With the Eglu you get an attached run which is 7 foot or so long which you can keep them in safely until you have your garden secured from foxes so the hens can free range. The Eglu run is not big enough to keep them in permanently, well I don't think it is. You can get run extensions for your Eglu from Omlet  which will enable you to make it longer, and you could then move it about your lawn so they get some fresh grazing daily which they'll need if you're not going to let them roam around your garden.  You put the Omlet "glug" and "grub" pots in the Eglu run - they attach to the weldmesh.  I'd keep them confined in the Eglu run for a few days, you can move them easily to a bit of fresh grass every day. This just gets them acclimatised to new sights and sounds. You need to clip their wing too before letting them out into the big wide world, if you dont' want them to fly off that is    As an Eglu owner I would definitely check out OMLET website as they have chapter and verse on all things Eglu