Anyone own an "Eglu" chicken coop/run? Thoughts?!

[MCCmomof3]

We've had our Eglu Cube for over a month now and I love it. I did find that the run that came with the cube was a little too small for my 5 chickens, so we enclosed the garden area next to the Eglu and I let them out there during the day. Other than that I have loved it. It is so easy to keep clean and with our set up of doing wood chips under the run section, there is almost no smell at all. We recently had my daughters birthday party in the back yard and all of the parents commented on how they thought the chicken area would stink, but they couldn't smell anything at all. Before the birthday party, I put the chickens in the garden area and pulled everything out of the cube and hosed the whole thing down! It was completely clean in a matter of moments. I let it dry and put everything back in and presto...done!

To address the predator issue, we wrapped the bottom section under the cube with hardware cloth, giving the girls a safe corner to run to. In addition, we close our girls in the pod everynight which is super easy with the little door handle that pulls the door closed.
As far as how the cube handles heat, when it hit 97 one day I just let the girls lay in the dirt in the garden area and then at night I didn't close the pod door but duct taped a square of hardware cloth over the pod door to let air move through the pod and they seemed to be okay over night. I don't know how it handles the cold, but I am not super worried about it since it really doesn't get that cold in the winter in our neck of the woods.

Here is a picture of our setup.

 

[NewHen]

You can buy run extensions for the eglu cube run. I was going to order the cube for our second coop but there are more reviews for it in the UK and people complained the sections didn't stay tightly together. In the end, I think I'm going to go with a second wooden coop from a local builder.

 

[Zahboo]

No way 10 chickens should fit into that. A third of the coop is nest boxes. I'd fit three max in there.

 

[elmo]

Quote:
Just so you know, that really isn't how chickens react to predators. They don't know that this is a "safe corner." If a predator threatens them, they'll try to escape, bump up against one of the walls, flutter and scramble to a corner where they'll likely pile up in terror. If they're lucky, this will be the hardware cloth protected corner; if they're not lucky, it won't be, and if the predator is a racoon, it will grab through the wire and kill them.

It's not that big a run. It would be much safer if you reinforced all of it with hardware cloth, or just something with small openings that would guard against the pull through predation problem.

 

[sydney13]

they seem really expensive for what they are

i find it hard to believe they can fit the number of hens that they say they can especially this one that says it will hold 10 hens

http://www.mypetchicken.com/catalog/Eglus-Plastic-Coops/Eglu-Cube-up-to-10-chickens-p623.aspx

 

[harleyhappy]

here is another thread on making an eglu-like coop from a rubbermaid dog house. i see this doghouses on craigslist all the time for $30-$50. even if you don't have great construction skills or much time, most people can modify an doghouse.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=155288&p=1

also, where do you live? if your climate is mild, your chickens will be spending most of their time outside. if you need to keep them inside during the winter, you may think about giving them extra space.

good luck!

 

[chickboss]

Personally, I look at those and think to myself, other than the cool colors what exactly makes it different from a large dog crate or house with a yard? In fact I think a really large crate may even have more room. I keep the ones with the turn latch that has the spring clip that makes it impossible to open the door with out pressing down the clip (hook?) and turning the knob at the same time. I cover the vents and door with hardware cloth, and use them for broodies, sick/injured birds and for birds that have out grown the brooder, but are still just a bit too small to be enclosed by the electric poultry netting that we use. Admittedly, not nearly as cute, but very functional, easy to move, easy to clean, ect. I put a flap door that folds down over the wire door, just to block drafts. I just picked up another one, and I am pretty sure this is the largest sized crate or close to it that you can buy, used for $45.00. I do think that the Eglu looks very slick, but the price, for what it is, is off putting for me.

 

[HHandbasket]

I've seem some really cute eglu-type chicken houses made out of old used plastic children's playhouses. You can get one of those brand new for $350... half the price of the Eglu. Add a run and cover windows/doors of playhouse windows with chicken wire. Voila! Henhouse.

 

[harleyhappy]

oh good idea! not to hijack your thread with other ideas, but here is a really cute plastic playhouse coop.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=37990

i see playhouses like this for $50-$70 on craigslist. i bet if properly primed you could paint the plastic coop fun eglu colors!

 

[americancowboy]

Quote:
They are terrible. I worked on a farm a few weeks ago that had a bunch of them and they didnt like them at all. The problem is they are plastic and the coop is too close to the ground and it can get very very hot in mid summer. If you do get it though it might help to put a tarp about chest high above it so it takes most of the heat off the plastic coop.