[boosmummy]

what is your opinion on them as chicken keepers? xx

edited to say: should chickens not be able to roost up high?

[Dominic]

I have a Go
The build quality was a bit less than I expected in places, but I'd never go for a wooden one.

Cleaning it is just stupidly easy.

[joyfull]

I have 4 plastic coops - 2 are big Solway Arks (for up to 20 birds each) and the other 2 are Omlet Eglus. One of the eglus is the standard chicken one and the other is a rabbit one which I use as a broody ark (I did buy the conversion kit for the chicken one last year when I used it as a broody ark but wasn't impressed - the rabbit one makes a better option). I love all my plastic coops and did a lot of research before buying them. I do still have 2 wooden coops that I need to replace with plastic. After having redmite I will never go back to wood - but each to their own. For a backyard poultry keeper with just 3 or 4 birds the eglu is ideal and the runs are great although I would either build a big run or buy some extension sections if your birds can't free range at any time. I only use runs when I have little chicks or am getting new birds and they need quarantining.

[kimmcb]

I bought a wooden coop just because of the cost difference. I constantly live in fear of red mite, however - which would be much easier to control / eradicate in an omlet coop. So, should I ever have an infestation, I may swap over.

[boosmummy]

I have a Go
The build quality was a bit less than I expected in places, but I'd never go for a wooden one.

Cleaning it is just stupidly easy.

how many chickens do you have in there? do you think they have enough room?

[OpiumEater]

I had three in mine, but they roost on one side only leave the other half empty.  :blink:

So probably fit four in the house, but the run isn't big enough without some drastic extension work.

[Dominic]

edited to say: should chickens not be able to roost up high?

They are above ground, even if only buy an inch or two, but mine dont complain.  They do have a tree branch for a day perch

For a backyard poultry keeper with just 3 or 4 birds the eglu is ideal and the runs are great although I would either build a big run or buy some extension sections if your birds can't free range at any time. I only use runs when I have little chicks or am getting new birds and they need quarantining.

I thought the run was little more than highway robbery.
I built an 11sqm run for a days labour and under £150.  Eglu great, Eglu run less so.

how many chickens do you have in there? do you think they have enough room?

Four, at night, yes, during the day, no.  At least 12 could cram themselves in during the night once they start to sleep, my 4 take up less than a third of the roosting bars.  However, when they first go in, there is quite a bit of squabbling as they all get into position, which would only get worse with more.

[compostqueen]

I loved my Eglu so did the birds    I had 3 brown hybrids in mine and it was plenty big enough as they mostly sat on top of each other at bed time, leaving most of the Eglu unoccupied    I put my Eglu in a larged roofed run and I had the Omlet netting too

[boosmummy]

hmm i am in a pickle on one hand they look great but its just the money they are sooo expensive...

[OpiumEater]

You get £50 off if trading in an old wooden coop, (they only need you to e-mail a picture, I found one down the road ), so came in at £290 without the run. I wouldn't bother with the run and make a WIR.

At that price, it's actually very compatible with a lot of wooden ones.

[Dominic]

Boos
The Eglu Go without a run is £235, the standard Eglu is £290

18x1m and 12x2.4m of 2"x2" timber and 30m of suitable weldmesh will cost around £120-130.
A big box of 4" turbo drive screws will cost around £15-20.

Its not cheap by any measure, and only you can decide if its worth it for you.
For me, it was.

Cleaning my Eglu involves turning a big knob, giving the back panel a big of a whack (uneven ground) and lifting it out.  20 seconds
I then slide out the base, another 20 second.

Take it up to the top of the garden, stand it up against the fence, blast off the chicken poo with the jet setting of my hosepipe.  1 minute.

Forget about it

Put it back together a few hours later when the chickens want to go to bed, another minute.

For me, the convenience is worth it.
I am extremely lazy

[Aunt Sally]

The chemicals for constantly combating red mite in wooden coops are very expensive 

Go plastic

[Kenilworth]

The chemicals for constantly combating red mite in wooden coops are very expensive 

Go plastic

That is a very good point.......Our wooden coop is coming to the end of its life and i have been questioning as to whether it would be worth going down the eglu route. I would hate to think how much we have spent on redmite treatment!!!

What may seem a silly query but are eglus Collapsible?  One main reason we never went down the eglu route originaly was access to the garden in our old house was through a narrow, roofed brick alley and the wooden coop we got came flat packed, do eglus?

[Dominic]

My Go came flat packed.  Box was maybe as wide as an A4 sheet of paper?  Individial piece, tickest maybe 2 or three inches?

Not sure about the others, never looked at them in pieces.

[OpiumEater]

Don't think the Classic comes flat, but the Go definitely does, and it's the cheapest.

I actually went Go, sorry for quoting Classic prices, got confused as I paid £290 with run (i think).

Making husband put roof on large run now, but he's taking he bleeding time