Did you ever buy a prefab coop? Give a review!

[BDutch]

Previously I wrote about the pros and cons of the Eglu and I think I mentioned the lack of control over the ventilation. There are two coops in the run but all eight birds (6 bantams and 2 Shetlands) cram into one Eglu. This summer, the Shetlands were panting at night so I've had to leave the front door wide open or prop open the back door, or both.
The run should be sufficiently secure for this location but I don't like leaving the doors open.

The lack of ventilation and control of it , is an issue most prefabs seem to have. I build an extension to my old prefab that gives an abundant amount of fresh air. Think of chickens sleeping in trees in the wild. In winter I block a few openings to keep them warmer against the cold nordic and easter winds. But even then it has one side open to give plenty of fresh air.*

Is it possible to make a summer door with hardware-cloth for extra ventilation in the Eglu? Or build something extra with hwc onto it?

* I live in a mild climate, max -15C in cold winter nights.

 

[ChickyCh00k]

I have an Over EZ coop and even though it seems to be made with quality materials, I still had to add quite a bit of ventilation and modify roost bar placement. Over EZ is also guilty of fibbing on the numbers, as far as how many chickens it houses. I have the "large", which is 24 sq.ft, and they advertise it to fits up to 15 (my 8 pullets are fairly crowded in it at bedtime as it is)! Granted, as far as "prefabs" go, Over EZ is one of the better ones, but for as much as we spent ($2100), we could have bought a brand new shed, 3 times the size, and made modifications to that (I wish I had joined BYC BEFORE I ordered my coop, lol). It seems impossible to find an affordable prefab option that meets all of the "standard recommendations".

My husband is semi-handy and I'm completely useless as far as being able to build anything from scratch, which is why a pre-fab seemed like the way to go. However, thru this site and the knowledge/experience of so many others, I have learned that there are so MANY ways to offer appropriate housing for chickens (hoop coops being one of my faves)!

In the spring I'm planning to get more chicks, and thus, will be upgrading to a custom built 10x12 coop (I can't wait!), and I'll likely be building a "hoop coop" run extention. I'll be keeping the Over EZ for brooding chicks (which it should be perfect for)!

Here's my OverEZ (with modifications):

 

[akitafriendakita]

Previously I wrote about the pros and cons of the Eglu and I think I mentioned the lack of control over the ventilation. There are two coops in the run but all eight birds (6 bantams and 2 Shetlands) cram into one Eglu. This summer, the Shetlands were panting at night so I've had to leave the front door wide open or prop open the back door, or both.
The run should be sufficiently secure for this location but I don't like leaving the doors open.

I have an eglu myself (cube) and I agree the ventilation could be better. I use a "summer door" myself as the other poster described, I made a custom door to fit on the eglu that's just a screen with some material around it to fit into the eglu. What material you use is up to you, but obviously use something tougher if you're concerned about security. I strapped a plastic lid (like for a giant plastic bin from walmart) to mine and just cut it, then cut the center and attached a screen (hardware cloth.) I'm using bungee cords that just wrap around the eglu since not much can attach to it easily, but you could cut the plastic perfectly to just fit inside the door hole and that would work too.

I also just routinely air out my eglu daily by taking all the doors off/opening them when my chickens aren't in it (free ranging.) I wipe off all their dander from the walls on top of cleaning it. If it's too hot to be comfortable in there, I put a fan on them and their "summer door." Since the coop is portable, sometimes I move it into my garage too to cool it down more and not worry about security issues while they sleep.

I currently have 11 bantam chicks (8 weeks old) in my Eglu Cube and I'm using it as a brooder box basically with bedding on the bottom so ventilation is a big issue I'm thinking about with my "summer door."

 

[Jenni Hen]

The lack of ventilation and control of it , is an issue most prefabs seem to have. I build an extension to my old prefab that gives an abundant amount of fresh air. Think of chickens sleeping in trees in the wild. In winter I block a few openings to keep them warmer against the cold nordic and easter winds. But even then it has one side open to give plenty of fresh air.*

Is it possible to make a summer door with hardware-cloth for extra ventilation in the Eglu? Or build something extra with hwc onto it?

* I live in a mild climate, max -15C in cold winter nights.

For the last few nights, one of the Shetlands has preferred to roost on the old bunkbed ladder that straddles the two coops, and last night I placed the other Shetland next to her. The bantams were all huddled at one end of the Eglu so I shut the door.
My bantams are not like the tough birds I read about on this forum -they like to be warm! They won't come out of the Eglu in winter if it's -5 C and go to bed early on cold, damp days!
The Eglu is made of plastic and I wouldn't attempt to attach anything to it. I'm thinking of ways in which to combine the two coops.

 

[Jenni Hen]

I have an eglu myself (cube) and I agree the ventilation could be better. I use a "summer door" myself as the other poster described, I made a custom door to fit on the eglu that's just a screen with some material around it to fit into the eglu. What material you use is up to you, but obviously use something tougher if you're concerned about security. I strapped a plastic lid (like for a giant plastic bin from walmart) to mine and just cut it, then cut the center and attached a screen (hardware cloth.) I'm using bungee cords that just wrap around the eglu since not much can attach to it easily, but you could cut the plastic perfectly to just fit inside the door hole and that would work too.

I also just routinely air out my eglu daily by taking all the doors off/opening them when my chickens aren't in it (free ranging.) I wipe off all their dander from the walls on top of cleaning it. If it's too hot to be comfortable in there, I put a fan on them and their "summer door." Since the coop is portable, sometimes I move it into my garage too to cool it down more and not worry about security issues while they sleep.

I currently have 11 bantam chicks (8 weeks old) in my Eglu Cube and I'm using it as a brooder box basically with bedding on the bottom so ventilation is a big issue I'm thinking about with my "summer door."

Bungee cords open up many possibilities - thank you for that idea!

I like to let the coop air but usually it's enough for it to be open while I clean out the poop in the mornings. On warm days I might leave the back door off. Using cross-shredded paper seems to keep it cleaner so I don't need to wipe it over with detergent as often.

It sounds as if your summers are warmer than ours. Night-time temperatures here have been below 15 C (to my delight, as that's what the runner beans need for making beans!).

People in this area are very relaxed about security - lots of runs with just chicken wire for protection! I come from a different area where fox attacks were frequent so I would prefer my birds to be safe in a coop at night. However, as I've said in another post, I've started to allow the bigger birds to roost in the run because they seem so much happier like that.
It won't be long before we'll have to up the biosecurity because of avian flu and then the run will be covered by a polytunnel cover (with windows) which will make it slightly more secure in that that smell and sight of chickens won't be as obvious.

 

[BDutch]

For the last few nights, one of the Shetlands has preferred to roost on the old bunkbed ladder that straddles the two coops, and last night I placed the other Shetland next to her. The bantams were all huddled at one end of the Eglu so I shut the door.
My bantams are not like the tough birds I read about on this forum -they like to be warm! They won't come out of the Eglu in winter if it's -5 C and go to bed early on cold, damp days!
The Eglu is made of plastic and I wouldn't attempt to attach anything to it. I'm thinking of ways in which to combine the two coops.

Just wondering how your Shetlands look like. These are not the roosting types.

 

[Jenni Hen]

 

[Jenni Hen]

Meet (grey) Geilis and (brown) Breta. Next pic is of Geilis wondering how to get down...
(I started feeding her up there so the others couldn't keep her off the food.)

 

[RebelFord81]

I have this set up I was given when I got my 5 hens I plan to use it for my ducks tho and rehab it for them. It's pretty decent construction the first photo is a stock photo

 

[Flixflaxnoob]

I have an eglu myself (cube) and I agree the ventilation could be better. I use a "summer door" myself as the other poster described, I made a custom door to fit on the eglu that's just a screen with some material around it to fit into the eglu. What material you use is up to you, but obviously use something tougher if you're concerned about security. I strapped a plastic lid (like for a giant plastic bin from walmart) to mine and just cut it, then cut the center and attached a screen (hardware cloth.) I'm using bungee cords that just wrap around the eglu since not much can attach to it easily, but you could cut the plastic perfectly to just fit inside the door hole and that would work too.

I also just routinely air out my eglu daily by taking all the doors off/opening them when my chickens aren't in it (free ranging.) I wipe off all their dander from the walls on top of cleaning it. If it's too hot to be comfortable in there, I put a fan on them and their "summer door." Since the coop is portable, sometimes I move it into my garage too to cool it down more and not worry about security issues while they sleep.

I currently have 11 bantam chicks (8 weeks old) in my Eglu Cube and I'm using it as a brooder box basically with bedding on the bottom so ventilation is a big issue I'm thinking about with my "summer door."

Could you just take out the tray under the roosting bars for added ventilation? I just got my Eglu and joined this community. It seems ventilation is a big concern among the chicken people when it comes to the omlet coops.