[compostqueen]

Omlet site answers all your questions. There are tonnes of pages on every aspect of chook keeping and they have a forum so have a good read, but nothing like first hand experience so there are loads of knowledgeable peeps on here to help you

I have an Eglu, as do others on here, and mine is fine and I've had no probs with it.  I empty the poo tray every day and give it a quick wipe over now and then to keep it looking nice    It's all easy to clean. I have three hens in mine and they don't make much noise. One of them is more vocal than the others but that's only when she's laying an egg or about to    The run is ok to keep them in for a short time but they need more space to range about it. I'd keep the dog away from them if it's a chaser

[Chooken]

Thanks =]

And I've read the Eglu site. To me, it looks exremely good, but my Dad doesn't like it so much. He says they're trying to advertise their product, so they'd make it seem better than it is in reality.
'tis why I'm posting here for advice on them  

[violet]

Had our eglu cube for a couple of weeks now and I am so pleased with it.....ok it would take many, many eggs to cover the cost of it, but we have hens as pets/hobby...three at the moment and soon to be six.  Cleaning is a very simple job and no maintainance such as treating wood........

So far it is just as good a Omlet say it will be.  

 Looks like a Romany Caravan, very quaint!...ok, ok, I know I am sad!

[Aunt Sally]

I've had my eglu for 3 years. Best thing since scrambled eggs  

[blossom1044]

I haven't read all the posts yet, but great topic.

I was very tempted to get  the eglu.  If I buy a new coup I'd invest in the cube as i holds more birds and it will be easier to clean.  The reason why I haven't is Money.  I don't have the cash to fork out for one.

Therefore in Nov last year I bought a 2nd hand 1 year old wooden coup for 6-8 birds - £60.  We've recently added a larger wooden run which cost £40 and resited it nearer the house.  My previous chooks loved it, but I only had 4 so they had lots of room.

Since the fox took them, we've had spider mite as coup was left unattended.  It has cost me 2 weeks of constant cleaning with disinfectant and jet wash, poultry shield and mite sprays almost daily post work to clear it up.  this is in an empty coup.  I've not done anything for 5 days and it looks like we're mite free.  fingers crossed.  I've had to buy more Poultry Shield and more powder etc which cost about £50, but this is what I had before and would have to replace anyway as I was running low.

Would I have done it differently - no.  This is because if we'd still had the chickens I'd be jet washing monthly and poultry shielding at the same time too as well as dusting on each weekly bed change.  Therefore I'd probably would have kept the mites at bay.  They came because I had an empty coup and though it had been cleaned - it was left unattended and attracted the mites.  In my experience mite and lice can be kept at bay with good cleaning control.

Would I buy and eglu now - Yes, but the cube as it is bigger.  I've seen the 2-3 bird standard eglu and I felt it was only just big enough for 2 chickens.  Also I didn't feel it was big enough to leave the chickens in all the day.  Ours stay in the run and coup during the day and have a run around out of it at weekends.  therefore I didn't want them coup'd up all day.  This is my opion of course and probably in practice I am wrong.

My friend has an eglu and the chooks are free ranging in her garden during the day when she's at home which is most of the time.  this means they get more space and are happy.  I'm not home all day so it didn't fit me.  Though the cube is bigger, so I'd probably agree with one of them for birds who spend 70% of their time in a coup/pen.

On the other scale - I bought my coup off a lady who had an eglu.  She didn't like the wodden one and felt it was too big/heavy for her garden which was 60 ft by 35 ft.  She also said 6 chickens was too much for her - eggs, cleaning and food.  So she has gone back to her eglu with 2 medium sized birds.  She's said that if she wants more chickens she'll get another standard eglu to compliment it and just move it around her grass.

I have a rabbit too and I have to admit the eglu for them is something I would consider as my rabbit cage is a pain to clean - more awkard that our boxed shaped coup and run.

To sum up - buy an eglu - probably if I had the money, but the cube version.  Wooden v plastic - long debate and I'm not sure who'd win.  Cost - since ours was all 2nd hand or/& self built add ons - wooden wins hands down as the coup and run have cost us about £100 in total.  Cleaning - no experience of eglu, but it does look easier to clean.

I am rambling.

Just my opinion from my experience.

[Foxy]

I have wooden sheds dotted around -5 of them at the moment -landscaped into garden well trying too! the smallest is I think 3X3, and the largest is 6X4. I think they give a lovely rustic feel to the garden. Red mite I have only had a prob with a small broody arc which prob had them in already. I spray regulary with Milbenex and use a sprayer and that doesn't take much time. I clean them out only once every 3 weeks -but check daily, in the winter I clean them out more though. As the houses are large there is plenty of space in them so I dont need to clean them out weekly. They all have big doors and cleaning is a breeze I just use a shovel and pop it all on the compost.
Eglus are fantastic -if you only intend to keep 3 -even the cube I really cant see how you can keep 10 hens in that without them developing behavioural problems like pecking and egg eating,yes   I suppose you could stick a cabbage or two up but really shouldn't they really have more room?

[violet]

We have the cube without the additional metre extension.....we have two "standard" hens and a bantam...soon adding three more hens.

None of the three roost on the bars very much they tend to cuddlke up in the nest box.

Even with the extension to the run I do not think it would be suitable for ten hens to stay in all the time....ours are out all day pretty  much every day.

I have to say if I had the money I would like the rabbit eglus...again our rabbits only sleep in their hutches but even so they are not easy to keep kleen,one has a plastic tray but the other is just wood and of course the rabbits shuffle the shavings before having a pee therefore smelly wet wood....

I have seen some plastic/resin type dog kennels which are cheaper than eglus and have thought about one of those for the rabbits...anybody on here got one?

[blossom1044]

voilet - oh that smell I know it well.

That smell is one of the things which made me cagey (no pun intended) about keeping chickens originally.  Cleaning then rabbit each week is a a pain because it requires distinfectant and a wash every week to stop the smell.  This is why I've been thinking like you.

I found the chickens a lot less smelly even though we have a wooden coup.  The cleaning regime is different as well.

[violet]

For the first couple of months that we had the hens they were in a small wooden hut lent to us by the person that gave us the hens...it never smelt anything like the rabbit hutch... infact it didn't realy smell at all.  

The rabbit hutches are cleaned out every day and considering the rabbits are only in them overnight, they realy are smelly!

[FCG]

I was initally going to plump with an eglu with two birds, but i baulked at the price. I really thought it would be around £200- £250 not £360ish!

So when i spied a large double rabbit hutch marked down from £120 to £40, i jumped at it. Happy as larry. Even the diy to convert it from rabbit to chicken use cost nothing as all i really needed extra was one plank of wood, a fallen 2" thick branch and a handful of nails+screws. Simple and cheap! I would estimate the coop itself has cost £45 in total if you had to buy everything. Now making the run, which you obiously get with the eglu, was easy and cheap too. I got 4 thick wooden poles for supports from a pallet and the rest of the pallet went on making the gate. All i had to buy was the wire and the overhead netting (which, admittedly i have not yet) which cost £22 (again, only for the wire).

So in total i have spent £67 getting the coop and run in order and i'm unashamedly proud of that achievement. It'll probably cost me a further £20-30 to buy the feeders and first bag of feed but that is all i expect to need in terms of what you would get free with the eglu.

So, £360 for an eglu or with ducking and diving and a sprinkle of DIY... £100? I know where i put my money.

(A side note, my coop has a a bottom that can be removed without dismantling the coop, so it's easy to clean)

Therefore i think in my experience if you have the DIY skill, time and most importantly enthusiasm you can get a brilliant coop and run for far less than the eglu. Which i think weighs most positively for the wooden argument.

However! Eglus are extremely easy to move, clean, transport and a whole host of things wooden coops and home built runs simply cant do. So if you are unable to do the DIY, want a easy way to keep a few chickens and want minimum fuss down the road with regards to cleaning and maintenance... there is really only one way to go which is the eglu way. But to make up for this you really have to stump up the dough.

[Patricia7455]

I haven't read all the posts in this thread, but wonder if the eglus or cubes get damp inside with condensation? Do they get too hot.  I haven't got chickens yet, still thinking about this for the future, but something puts me off putting the hens inside a plastic box. :?

[Aunt Sally]

You should check out the Omlet site Patricia.  All the answeres are there.

http://www.omlet.co.uk/products_services/products_services.php

I have an eglu.  It's dry and well ventilated. It's double skin makes it warm in winter and cool in summer.  It's ease of cleaning and lack of hiding places makes it almost impossible for red mite to be a problem. Nill maintenance cost because you just wash it with water and a dash of washing up liquid.  No spending on jayes fluid and poultry shield.

This all goes for the cube too.

[compostqueen]

I've only got 3 girls in mine and it's lovely.  I was worried it would be too hot but it's not and I've never seen condensation.  It has good ventilation so no worries. Not had the red mite worries either thank gawd
I pooh pick the pull out tray every day and I put Aubiose on it to absorb wees. You have to clean them out just the same but no chemicals needed. The plastic roosting bars are easily washed and dried in hot soapy water.  

The hens seem very happy in it which is the important thing  

[Patricia7455]

Thanks everso for your replies. No condensation, not too hot for the chicks and easy to clean, with nowhere for red mite to hide, confirms that I will go with Omlet.   I will have to save up for a cube because 5 chickens (that I am getting) will be too much for the eglu.  The plan is to get two chickens from Omlet to come with the cube, which will then be set up for me on delivery, with the larger run, then I will scoot over to Thorne's in Letchworth to get my other three birds so they can all start the same day!

I can get the other bits and pieces a little bit before and organise the space in the garden.

I like the idea of the netting roll with poles from Omlet that compost queen has suggested.

Hooray! Thanks, guys

[Aunt Sally]

I've got some of that too - very useful