Eglu/Omlet concerns/warning

[path.otto]

We got an Eglu Cube this spring as well.
The boxes came via UPS. Definitely took longer than what they said to assemble, but we figured it out. The gift-giving egg cartons are really cute!

Question for @path.otto & @gundalyn & anyone else who has an Eglu

How do you feel about the "roosting bars"?
I tried putting actual wooden roosts in on top of them but then the poop piled up on top of the roosting bars instead of sliding to the tray below. I guess I thought my hens would be more comfortable with wooden roosts. Should I just take the plastic roosting bars out?

Are you guys doing anything extra to the run for winter?
I'm in Oregon & there's a lot of rain & wind here. Tried covering the run with clear plastic but can't get good rain proofing and ventilation at the same time.

Lastly I had some rats dig in underneath the skirt to get in. So had to patch those areas with buried hardware cloth. Also added hardware cloth around the lower parts to keep grubby raccoon hands out. But then It's hard to find a place to hook the bungee cords for the cover

Thoughts?

Hi, @peckpeckpeck! My pullets didn't have any problems with the roosting bars, but when they were little they just kind of huddled around the back door. They continued to do that as they grew and I never looked in after they were asleep to see if they were using them like regular roosts. Generally, most of the poop fell through the bars though. I never saw a need to change that set up.

When I got my walk in run from Omlet my intention was to use the attached Cube and Go Up over the winter as a coop, but the more I thought about it the more I realized that the Cube is not for all regions of the US, especially in winter. Ours are cold, windy and snowy. Today is our first taste of really cold daytime weather. A difference of almost 40 degrees from yesterday and NW winds 45-50 mph! It just isn't big enough for the chickens to have to spend days at a time in it. I have wrapped the run with tarps so the prevailing winds are mostly blocked. I've left it open to the east and south. I also had a tarp over 3/4 of the roof, but I may leave it off due to snow load. I see shoveling in my future.

So I bought a friends 12 x 14 hen house and quickly scrubbed, disinfected, remodeled and painted to get it ready for winter use. I may sell the Omlets this summer or continue to use them as tractors, I haven't decided yet.

This past summer I covered the run portion of the Cube and Go Up with tarps to protect from wind and rain when necessary. My husband made one for me for the Cube that is 1/2 clear and 1/2 opaque. I didn't worry about the area under the coop itself. I know that Omlet makes heavy duty tarps but they were always out of them when I checked.

I can't address the tunneling as I never had a problem with anything attempting it. Sorry.

 

[AlexisWriter]

We got an Eglu Cube this spring as well.
The boxes came via UPS. Definitely took longer than what they said to assemble, but we figured it out. The gift-giving egg cartons are really cute!

Question for @path.otto & @gundalyn & anyone else who has an Eglu

How do you feel about the "roosting bars"?
I tried putting actual wooden roosts in on top of them but then the poop piled up on top of the roosting bars instead of sliding to the tray below. I guess I thought my hens would be more comfortable with wooden roosts. Should I just take the plastic roosting bars out?

Are you guys doing anything extra to the run for winter?
I'm in Oregon & there's a lot of rain & wind here. Tried covering the run with clear plastic but can't get good rain proofing and ventilation at the same time.

Lastly I had some rats dig in underneath the skirt to get in. So had to patch those areas with buried hardware cloth. Also added hardware cloth around the lower parts to keep grubby raccoon hands out. But then It's hard to find a place to hook the bungee cords for the cover

Thoughts?

Hi, PeckPeckPeck--
I haven't posted anything for a long time but I came back here for advice because I've been considering an Eglu Cube as well. I've had a number of cheaper wooden coops that just rot and have to be replaced; plastic seems promising, but wow, these are expensive. I live probably on your geographic opposite near Troutdale. Rats have become a significant problem around here, and I think in Portland in general, and everyone wants to blame people who keep chickens in the backyard. I'm not buying it.

Did you sort out the wind/rain issue?

 

[peckpeckpeck]

Hi, PeckPeckPeck--
I haven't posted anything for a long time but I came back here for advice because I've been considering an Eglu Cube as well. I've had a number of cheaper wooden coops that just rot and have to be replaced; plastic seems promising, but wow, these are expensive. I live probably on your geographic opposite near Troutdale. Rats have become a significant problem around here, and I think in Portland in general, and everyone wants to blame people who keep chickens in the backyard. I'm not buying it.

Did you sort out the wind/rain issue?

I'm definitely happy we got plastic for that reason! It's holding up well in the rain. And it's really easy to clean.

I put up plastic sheets in layers to get airflow but still have cover from the rain. They're fixed down with zip ties.
Just when it gets windy, it makes a lot of flapping noise.

I'm still not sure how much I like the Eglu Cube overall. It was spendy. And you can't really change things around.
The coop is ok for my 3 hens & maybe 1 more. It's probably ok for 6 bantams.
Maybe you could find a used one.

I also got a plastic playhouse off Craigslist that I'm planning to convert to a bigger coop when the weather warms up. Right now it's on the ground as a shelter that the girls scratch around in or duck into for cover from hard rain or hawks when they're free ranging.

Our neighbors had rats before we had chickens, so no one around here blames us.
I'm in Aloha/Beaverton. You're welcome to drop by & see.

 

[Peach3000]

I bought an Eglu and it arrived in the mail. I was excited to put it together but it was a pain. I’m still not done because the rear top panel of the run won’t fit in the gap in the coop. It is too big. Has anyone else had this problem?

 

[Stiletto]

I bought an Eglu and it arrived in the mail. I was excited to put it together but it was a pain. I’m still not done because the rear top panel of the run won’t fit in the gap in the coop. It is too big. Has anyone else had this problem?

Which model do you have?

 

[Peach3000]

Which model do you have?

The Eglu Go in green

 

[Stiletto]

The Eglu Go in green

Ah, sorry, I have the Cube.

I'm considering getting a Go Up, so I'm curious as to how you find the quality. Another poster in another thread was saying they were very disappointed with the quality of the Go / Go UP compared to their old Cube.

For your problem, if you don't get any helpful replies here, I'd suggest posting on the Omlet site, on their forum. Perhaps some of the users there, with the same model, can help you.

 

[Quail Newbie 3]

I know this post is a couple of years old but I wanted to add my two cents worth in case some one searches for this in later years. I have both a new MK2 Cube and a used Go Up. I love them both! They are very easy to clean and maintain. Omlet, in 2017 at least, was very clear about the # and sizes of birds for these coops. I have 3 regular sized in the Go Up and 5 regular sized in the Cube. I also just purchased a 3 meter x 3 meter x 2 meter walk in run, both coops will attach to the run. We have hawks and owls and I wanted protection this fall and not just let out in the fenced area (which is also from Omlet, BTW). The amount of time they say it will take to put together or build these items was laughable! What ever they say quadruple it!

Omlet now has a US presence and UPS delivered everything to my door. Clare is still the US customer service rep and has always been very polite and helpful if I've had questions.

Just wanted to update this with a more positive outlook in the changes at Omlet.

Thank you for the update. I’m considering an Omlet Eglu Cube. So far the reviews I’ve read are positive and I understand nothing is perfect. I think the company has made a big improvements since 2015 to 2020.

 

[Aunt Tat]

Greetings, all!
Our neighbor's Barred Rock comes over to our garage every morning and hops up into an open cupboard right next to the door and leaves her egg. She's big and feisty, so we became smitten with the breed.

We wanted to get BR pullets and were looking at the Large Eglu Cube on a stand which we'd place inside 10x20x6.4 run from Amazon.

BIG Question:
would the cube hold 5-6 full grown BRs COMFORTABLEY????

The run will be situated N-S. We'd be covering the run with Shade cloth in the summer as necessary, and tarp in the winter to keep the run dry-er. Lots of wet stuff in the Portland are.

Since the coop is smaller, we'd probably use hemp bedding for the droppings and egg nest along with some nesting herbs.

 

[mamajos]

As I have learned on BYC, large breed chickens need 4 sq. ft. of space each in the coop, and 10 sq. ft. each in the run. Those are the minimum space requirements.