I bought an Eglu cube on eBay for £500 and I rehomed 3 chickens ... they were clipped and struggled a bit to jump up onto the ladder but are fine now... we don't get the summer heat but we did have a very cold winter and they were fine in there... its very easy to clean (I have just posted a step by step cleaning on my blog : http://chickendayz.blogspot.com/ ) and I have had no problems (as yet!) with red mite... One of the girls went broody in April and I decided to sit her on some fertile eggs and I bought an eglu Classic Rabbit hutch on eBay and with the addition of a rubber mat under the bedding matterial (the plastic was way to slippery for the chicks!) it worked really well as a nursery coop... I have since then purchased a rabbit to chicken conversion kit (£70) from Omlet and have changed it over to that now that the chicks are 10 weeks old and mum has gone back to the cube and is laying eggs again...
Eventually all the chickens will be in the cube... (6 possibly 7 if I keep the cockerel!) however the run (in my opinion!) is not big enough for more than 2 or 3 on a permanent basis, however I only have a 2 meter run on my cube ... as mine have a sixty foot garden to free range in its perfect ....
people that keep these coops, be it cube or classic, on a permanent area of slabs or bark do find it difficult to get into the run to clear it out... there is no quick way of disconnecting the run its a case of crawling through the access hole at the end... I move mine to fresh grass and let the area rest that they were on...
As I don't like small enclosed places and sheds... I could not have managed with a wooden coop... as the roof on the cube slides open and the back unbolts completely I don't find myself in an awkward position to clean it... the classic lid lifts off completely so its easy to hose out and clean...
hope this helps!
Alex x
Eventually all the chickens will be in the cube... (6 possibly 7 if I keep the cockerel!) however the run (in my opinion!) is not big enough for more than 2 or 3 on a permanent basis, however I only have a 2 meter run on my cube ... as mine have a sixty foot garden to free range in its perfect ....
people that keep these coops, be it cube or classic, on a permanent area of slabs or bark do find it difficult to get into the run to clear it out... there is no quick way of disconnecting the run its a case of crawling through the access hole at the end... I move mine to fresh grass and let the area rest that they were on...
As I don't like small enclosed places and sheds... I could not have managed with a wooden coop... as the roof on the cube slides open and the back unbolts completely I don't find myself in an awkward position to clean it... the classic lid lifts off completely so its easy to hose out and clean...
hope this helps!
Alex x
