Hello all,
First time chicken owner here. I plan on purchasing chicks this spring. I am researching coops and getting ready to hit purchase for an Eglu cube. But- I am not thrilled by the $ or the fact that it’s a giant bright hulking piece of plastic. Here is what I need- is there a viable alternative out there??
1) Movable. Not chicken tractor level movable, but currently my plan is to move it about twice a year: (further out by the garden in the summer, closer to the house in the winter). We just moved into a new construction house, and so are still planning the garden out. I do not want to invest $$$ at this time to build an permanent coop since those plans are still being made. Our land is VERY steep- it will be challenge to find level land and I like the way the Eglu cube run can be separated from the coop. I have looked into PVC hoop coops as well, and think that could also be an interesting option. Crazy?
2) Easy-ish to build. We don’t have many tools. I’m just a lady who thinks she can do anything by watching some YouTube videos. If a viable option were to present itself but is too complicated for me to build, I could look into hiring someone but would prefer not to go that route.
3) My husband is less than thrilled with my chicken dreams, so I would like to not involve him. Ie, I don’t want to ask him to build it for me, I don’t want to ask him to clean it, and I don’t even want to ask him to move it for me. So- Eglu cube looks manageable for me.
4) Needs to house 4-6 birds.
5) We are in Vermont so needs to be ready for rough winters.
6) Predators: we have them. I saw a bear in our driveway last fall. We see fox prints regularly in the snow. I see hawks perching on tree branches. Is this a chicken death trap? (For the record, the reason my husband doesn’t want to get chickens is because he think they will all just die)
What do you think? Should I just buy the Eglu cube and call it a day? Should I just let my Little House on the Prairie dreams go and buy eggs from the farm down the road?
Thanks!
First time chicken owner here. I plan on purchasing chicks this spring. I am researching coops and getting ready to hit purchase for an Eglu cube. But- I am not thrilled by the $ or the fact that it’s a giant bright hulking piece of plastic. Here is what I need- is there a viable alternative out there??
1) Movable. Not chicken tractor level movable, but currently my plan is to move it about twice a year: (further out by the garden in the summer, closer to the house in the winter). We just moved into a new construction house, and so are still planning the garden out. I do not want to invest $$$ at this time to build an permanent coop since those plans are still being made. Our land is VERY steep- it will be challenge to find level land and I like the way the Eglu cube run can be separated from the coop. I have looked into PVC hoop coops as well, and think that could also be an interesting option. Crazy?
2) Easy-ish to build. We don’t have many tools. I’m just a lady who thinks she can do anything by watching some YouTube videos. If a viable option were to present itself but is too complicated for me to build, I could look into hiring someone but would prefer not to go that route.
3) My husband is less than thrilled with my chicken dreams, so I would like to not involve him. Ie, I don’t want to ask him to build it for me, I don’t want to ask him to clean it, and I don’t even want to ask him to move it for me. So- Eglu cube looks manageable for me.
4) Needs to house 4-6 birds.
5) We are in Vermont so needs to be ready for rough winters.
6) Predators: we have them. I saw a bear in our driveway last fall. We see fox prints regularly in the snow. I see hawks perching on tree branches. Is this a chicken death trap? (For the record, the reason my husband doesn’t want to get chickens is because he think they will all just die)
What do you think? Should I just buy the Eglu cube and call it a day? Should I just let my Little House on the Prairie dreams go and buy eggs from the farm down the road?
Thanks!