Yup, An Eglu: Posted on February 27, 2009
When we looked into chickens, my husband was all for the greatest-cleanliness-with-lowest-maintenance approach. So he ordered an Eglu, THEN called me to see if it was okay. I was in major sticker shock. We aren't wealthy. He's a teacher, and I'm a secretary. In June of 2008, it cost about $900 to have one of these dropped off at the local Greyhound station. On top of that, I was worried about the space. We planned to have three regular-sized hens, and a lot of what I read from other BYC members criticized the Eglu for being too small for 3 chickens, especially in hot climates. Well, it's been about 8 months, and our chickens are pretty dang happy. Even considering that I do about 80% of the moving and cleaning of the Eglu, I'm pretty dang happy myself.
Claire in Omlet's customer service department ROCKS. My husband loves her. He is an avid information-seeker, and she has handled his questions and complaints beautifully. The Eglu is every bit as easy to clean as all the videos suggest. It is hassle-free to take apart and put back together. I'm 5'1" and under 120 lbs, so it is NOT easy for me to move around our sloped, slightly uneven yard, but it is doable. I'm willing to put up with that because a recent storm that pulled off some of the siding and shingles on the house did not budge the Eglu, and my son has not tipped or dented it even with his penchant for climbing up and sitting on it. The egg hatch has always felt a bit loose to me, but it has held up just fine so far. The bigger concerns I've had have all been addressed. We bought the new, plastic roosting bars, which are MUCH easier to keep clean than the original wooden bars. We also bought a pack of the new clips for the run, which are much sturdier than the original clips (in the photo above, you can see that 8 months of sun exposure and constant moving took a toll on the old clips). The only remaining downside to the Eglu is that our three hens all seem to want on the nesting box at the same time. Especially on weekends when I've just finished deep cleaning the coop. I never, ever imagined that THIS is what was going on in the coop when I would find eggs next to the box on the roosting bars...
The Eglu has worked well in South Carolina with temperatures ranging from about 15 - 100 degrees. We do have partial-run and full-run shades that we use to make the run more comfortable when it's really rainy or really sunny, but there is no supplemental heating or cooling for the coop. In the late fall and winter, we move the Eglu around the grassy/weedy slope next to our garden shed where it gets good, full-day sunlight for extra warmth. In the spring, summer, and early fall, it moves around this area behind the shed and next to the dog kennel. It is partly shady there year-round, with the heaviest shade in the summer because there's a gumball tree inside our yard. In the summer, the girls get a lot of running time in the yard, but over the winter when it's already dark when we get home, they are only allowed to run loose on the weekends, holidays, and sick days. It's not uncommon for them to take off like a shot out of the run gate on those days.
We are planning to get more chickens when the girls start to slow down on their egg production. My husband is fond enough of the Eglu to seriously consider getting an Eglu cube, even with the $1,500 price tag.
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When we looked into chickens, my husband was all for the greatest-cleanliness-with-lowest-maintenance approach. So he ordered an Eglu, THEN called me to see if it was okay. I was in major sticker shock. We aren't wealthy. He's a teacher, and I'm a secretary. In June of 2008, it cost about $900 to have one of these dropped off at the local Greyhound station. On top of that, I was worried about the space. We planned to have three regular-sized hens, and a lot of what I read from other BYC members criticized the Eglu for being too small for 3 chickens, especially in hot climates. Well, it's been about 8 months, and our chickens are pretty dang happy. Even considering that I do about 80% of the moving and cleaning of the Eglu, I'm pretty dang happy myself.
Claire in Omlet's customer service department ROCKS. My husband loves her. He is an avid information-seeker, and she has handled his questions and complaints beautifully. The Eglu is every bit as easy to clean as all the videos suggest. It is hassle-free to take apart and put back together. I'm 5'1" and under 120 lbs, so it is NOT easy for me to move around our sloped, slightly uneven yard, but it is doable. I'm willing to put up with that because a recent storm that pulled off some of the siding and shingles on the house did not budge the Eglu, and my son has not tipped or dented it even with his penchant for climbing up and sitting on it. The egg hatch has always felt a bit loose to me, but it has held up just fine so far. The bigger concerns I've had have all been addressed. We bought the new, plastic roosting bars, which are MUCH easier to keep clean than the original wooden bars. We also bought a pack of the new clips for the run, which are much sturdier than the original clips (in the photo above, you can see that 8 months of sun exposure and constant moving took a toll on the old clips). The only remaining downside to the Eglu is that our three hens all seem to want on the nesting box at the same time. Especially on weekends when I've just finished deep cleaning the coop. I never, ever imagined that THIS is what was going on in the coop when I would find eggs next to the box on the roosting bars...
The Eglu has worked well in South Carolina with temperatures ranging from about 15 - 100 degrees. We do have partial-run and full-run shades that we use to make the run more comfortable when it's really rainy or really sunny, but there is no supplemental heating or cooling for the coop. In the late fall and winter, we move the Eglu around the grassy/weedy slope next to our garden shed where it gets good, full-day sunlight for extra warmth. In the spring, summer, and early fall, it moves around this area behind the shed and next to the dog kennel. It is partly shady there year-round, with the heaviest shade in the summer because there's a gumball tree inside our yard. In the summer, the girls get a lot of running time in the yard, but over the winter when it's already dark when we get home, they are only allowed to run loose on the weekends, holidays, and sick days. It's not uncommon for them to take off like a shot out of the run gate on those days.
We are planning to get more chickens when the girls start to slow down on their egg production. My husband is fond enough of the Eglu to seriously consider getting an Eglu cube, even with the $1,500 price tag.
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