Thoughts on Eglus

[bluemoon]

I love the idea of eglus, and I'd assume that being plastic they'd last much longer than a conventional ark. My problem is that they're just not big enough for what I have planned. I know the company now make a cube that takes more hens, but the cost of this is astronomical so I'm afraid it will be something more conventional for me - shame really, I love the sunny yellow ones.

[lozza_9]

I have an eglu, and its fab. Yes they are expensive but in my view worth it. Easy to clean and my chickens love it.

[snake the squadie]

i would love one as living on a council estate it would fit in better then a traditional design but i think they are two expensive at the mo for me

[lainey lou]

Feeling the love a bit more now!
I've started a chicken fund, Don't want to do anything before my hols in may anyway so I have a while to give it a bit more thought. OH is on side now! Hurrah!
Sunflower, I'm so excited for you can't wait to hear all about your new chookies!

[witch-1]

I can't help it, but I'm abit green-eyed with regards to Eglu owners... wish I could get OH to see how nice they are! (He's not in love with my chooks like I am... feels they are a nuisance around the garden - I say no more than the dog, or cats!!)

Chicken fund... thats what I need to do!

Jan
x

[Clarea1]

Hi there,

as a former eglu owner (I sold mine on when I got more hens) I think they are wonderful. I read horror stories about red mite infestaion etc & i know that with an eglu you don't dont have to worry, they are also so easy to keep clean. My hens are now in a large shed and it isn't have as good, i spend hour devising new mays to keep it clean, spruce it up etc!
When I'm rich my 10 ex batts will have an eglu cube, a purple one!!!

Clare

[Worldor]

Go for the Eglu if you intend on three hens. I have one and it is great but as I got the chicken bug I also have girls in my summer house. Plastic is far better than wood for both us and the chickens in my opinion. I had my Eglu in 2004 and it is still like new apart from the green shade cover. I have varnished the summerhouse every year and it desparately needs doing again. I wipe over the Eglu with a wet cloth...brilliant. I have three rescue girls in mine now only because I have mostly bantams and the rescues are massive in comparison. If you intend to have pekins or something of that size the new eglu will hold up to five easily.

[Eyren]

Another happy eglu owner here. Got mine on ebay, though that wasn't a huge saving since, as others have said, they hold their value well. The makers say they should last ten years, though, so although they are expensive, it probably works out cheaper in the long run.

It's true that the basic eglu run isn't very big, but if you have the space there's no reason why you can't have a traditional walk-in run and put the eglu inside (or attach it to the outside, so you can collect eggs without opening the run). Lots of folk on the Omlet forum have that setup - I would too, if my garden wasn't so tiny

To my mind the main space limit with an eglu is it having only one nestbox. I'm sure I could easily fit ten pekins roosting in the eglu if I had a big run for them, but given their propensity to go broody, I'd need two or three extra nestboxes to cope!

[JanieB]

I'm no good at making stuff so it'll have to be something bought.
I'm looking to get 3 chooks.
Locally the housing available seems to be really expensive and poorly constructed and at one place one of the sales assistants told me their chicken arks were rubish and fall apart!
Been looking at the omlet site and just love the idea of getting an eglu, they seem expensive bit look very durable compared to the wooden jobbies I've seen, easy to keep clean etc. Thinking of going for their package but it's gonna take me a while to save up! In the mean time does anyone have any thoughts?

I've been trying to get an Eglu through Ebay for months. The nearest I've got was thwarted by my having to go to an important meeting one evening. I can't afford a new one. I've also found the wooden ones a bit steep too. However, our local junkyard*(Haynes of Challow) has wooden ones at £85 for a 4 hen ark and £1?? for more.

*Used to be a junkyard but 'Elf 'n Safety got on their case. Still an interesting place to go.

The price is worth a trip from Melksham!!

[Morff]

We've had our eglu for just under a year. I love it so much that even though we are going to upgrade to a cube so we can take some ex-batts i don't want to part with it. I think it looks good and is the most practical thing in the world. It takes ten minutes to clean it out throughly, is warm for the girls in winter, cool in summer (we have a thermometer in there so we can check the temperature). val sleeps in the nest box, but you can wash eggs so i don't see that as much of an issue. We know we have a local fox but have so far had no issues. Don't forget that for the price you also get it delivered by a man who will show you how to handle chooks, clip their wings and answer any questions. I think it was an absolute bargain and have no hesitation in recommending them.

my husband asked omlet how long they last given uv light breaks down plastic and was told 20+years. fabuslous things.