Help - Omlet Eglu owners - how to ventilate the roost?

[Raubkatze]

Right there with you. I was under the impression for some reason that they would actually open and close and adjust up and down, almost like blinds. But no. For the investment, I'm pretty disappointed and frustrated. I expected much improvement over the cube but it's just not there.

It was 84 at 11:00 PM last night. I'm already disgusted with this heat. We are ten degrees above normal, whatever that is anymore.
I like the idea of moving to Montana and living in the mountains, but my husband isn't having it. DANG!

Our girls are struggling bad today, we have two fans running on high, one on the back end under the coop and one on the front end up high in the run. Cold water replacement happens frequently in this heat and I'm afraid they will get watermelon toxicity - is that even possible? They get two helpings of watermelon daily in this heat. It really helps to cool them down. And what's happened to the price of watermelon?!!
We can't even spray water on the run from the hose as it never cools down. Imagine turning on your faucet in your kitchen in the cold position and the water is warm.
Sorry for the rant. We'll all get through this somehow.

I'm worried about this too. We aren't even in the height of summer yet. I have solar powered fans on order that I plan to add to the vents to pull the hot air out. At 10 pm it's still 80 degrees out. My coop is in an enclosed run, so short term I am leaving the access door off of the nesting box for extra air flow.

 

[thecatumbrella]

We had 5 very overheated chickens in our large Nestera. It's inside a run (and is fully shaded all day so I was shocked and dismayed that they were so uncomfortable in there)

My Eglu Pro read 6 degrees over the ambient temp in full shade (same as yours). It's so frustrating!

Right there with you. I was under the impression for some reason that they would actually open and close and adjust up and down, almost like blinds. But no. For the investment, I'm pretty disappointed and frustrated. I expected much improvement over the cube but it's just not there.

It was 84 at 11:00 PM last night. I'm already disgusted with this heat. We are ten degrees above normal, whatever that is anymore.
I like the idea of moving to Montana and living in the mountains, but my husband isn't having it. DANG!

Our girls are struggling bad today, we have two fans running on high, one on the back end under the coop and one on the front end up high in the run. Cold water replacement happens frequently in this heat and I'm afraid they will get watermelon toxicity - is that even possible? They get two helpings of watermelon daily in this heat. It really helps to cool them down. And what's happened to the price of watermelon?!!
We can't even spray water on the run from the hose as it never cools down. Imagine turning on your faucet in your kitchen in the cold position and the water is warm.
Sorry for the rant. We'll all get through this somehow.

We were about 78 up here at bedtime, and the poor girls were panting in there. Doesn't help that they're 90% feathers and pool together in one corner. Have you tried giving yours a splash pad? We've used a terra cotta plant saucer. They have to be taught to stand in it, but it 100% works to cool them down. Of course, watermelon is a lot more fun! Spraying down the run roof has to be my least favorite task (my arms hurt just thinking about it), and I'm not sure how much benefit they actually get. I'll still do it.

At 10 pm it's still 80 degrees out. My coop is in an enclosed run, so short term I am leaving the access door off of the nesting box for extra air flow.

I think this is a great idea. I'm a little nervous because we have bears, but I like that the nest box doors are slatted to let in more air.

 

[Raubkatze]

My Eglu Pro read 6 degrees over the ambient temp in full shade (same as yours). It's so frustrating!

We were about 78 up here at bedtime, and the poor girls were panting in there. Doesn't help that they're 90% feathers and pool together in one corner. Have you tried giving yours a splash pad? We've used a terra cotta plant saucer. They have to be taught to stand in it, but it 100% works to cool them down. Of course, watermelon is a lot more fun! Spraying down the run roof has to be my least favorite task (my arms hurt just thinking about it), and I'm not sure how much benefit they actually get. I'll still do it.

I think this is a great idea. I'm a little nervous because we have bears, but I like that the nest box doors are slatted to let in more air.

We don't have bears, our main concern lately has been racoons. I've noticed prints around the run, but so far no evidence of them attempting to break in.

 

[Grateful Dad]

Hi all, we are newbies at this - 3 months now. We live in the south and it's been in the 90s for weeks now and only in the low 80s at night. This coop is supposed to stay cool at night but when the door opens at dawn our girls are panting. The ambient air is much cooler than in the coop. We keep it impeccably clean every day and use triple heated pine shavings in the layer to cut down on dust - which by the way they no longer use since they quit laying two weeks ago with the heat stress. We are concerned with the high humidity and how to keep them cooler by adding a small fan inside the roost area. We contacted Omlet and they suggested not to leave the auto door open and to add a small fan. They offered no suggestions on products and said to reach out to others. They don't offer any such product. The roost area is obviously small (can only house 4 birds, we have 2). We've searched google endlessly and cannot find a SMALL fan to install somehow and placing a fan on the ground outside the run with an extension cord running to the house (ugh) freaks them out and is noisy. Does anyone have this problem or suggestions on what we can do to keep air movement in the roost at night? It is effective at keeping them dry, no humidity or moisture builds up in the roost which is probably why they said to leave the doors closed, but dang, I don't know how we're going to make it through the summer, targeted to be hotter and dryer than normal. As first time chicken momma, I could be overly worried but our EEs shouldn't be stressed or panting first thing in the morning. They are pullets, approx. 6 months old. We're still working on the picture thing - new to this site too. Thanks for your help.

You need to create draft, similar to how a fireplace chimney works, low intake holes and high exhaust holes. Hot air will rise and escape through the upper exhaust, drawing in cool air from the bottom. Forget the fan and ice. Its not a viable solution. You need to get a drill and drill holes or use a jig saw and make vents, yes cover them with metal mesh. I used soffit vents from Lowe's, they're like $4 each. They're metal and work well. ( Im in SC)

 

[ChicoryBlue]

I'm trying to envision this but having a hard time with it. We have been trying to figure out how to remove the trays and still provide protection and yet make it easy to clean. Our coop is attached to an extended run, not inside of it so leaving doors off is not an option for us unfortunately. I wish they would roost outside in the run on the perch bars but they don't.

Here's my Cube poop tray modification, I bought an extra one to try this, and I am going to do something similar with the Pro, I'll post that if you want. I zip-tied this through to the bottom side, but with the Pro I am going to try to do at least some of the ties just through the top layer of the tray. Also I don't think I need quite as many zip-ties to be secure. The ones here that didn't line up and nest in the grooves stuck out and made it a little tighter sliding in and out. I'll have to take a picture of the bottom to show you what I mean here.

I will also be using vinyl-coated galvanized hardware cloth with the next version. Didn't have a problem with the regular HC, just think that will last longer with any exposure to poop. When it was really hot I didn't use the porch screen.

I set up little fans clipped to the nest divider and a bracket on the other side both going out the small back vents. Then I placed a larger rechargeable fan under the coop. It clipped onto a broom handle and hung there but swiveled up. I hung it all by resting one end of the broom handle in a hook which I attached to the coop frame, and the other end of the broom handle rested on a ladder step. This way I could easily take it all in for recharging without climbing under there.

(BTW an extra Pro poop tray costs $80.25, (with my 8% tax actually $86.67). I bought two. I also bought two extra roosting racks for $45.25 each, with tax $48.87 each. Shipping for these four items - from the UK, at least for now they don't stock them stateside - is crazy, it was $83.18 with tax. So in all it cost $354.26

)

More than one person has made their own tray. Here's an image from the Omlet USA Facebook group, made out of aluminum angles & hardware cloth, this guy used a walk-in run panel as extra reinforcement/support under it too. This is secured with a lock on the frame which I like. Another guy made one out of wood and HC, very nice but he didn't secure it, it could just be pulled out.

 

[Bawkbok]

Here's my Cube poop tray modification, I bought an extra one to try this, and I am going to do something similar with the Pro, I'll post that if you want. I zip-tied this through to the bottom side, but with the Pro I am going to try to do at least some of the ties just through the top layer of the tray. Also I don't think I need quite as many zip-ties to be secure. The ones here that didn't line up and nest in the grooves stuck out and made it a little tighter sliding in and out. I'll have to take a picture of the bottom to show you what I mean here.
View attachment 4125628
View attachment 4125629
I will also be using vinyl-coated galvanized hardware cloth with the next version. Didn't have a problem with the regular HC, just think that will last longer with any exposure to poop. When it was really hot I didn't use the porch screen.

I set up little fans clipped to the nest divider and a bracket on the other side both going out the small back vents. Then I placed a larger rechargeable fan under the coop. It clipped onto a broom handle and hung there but swiveled up. I hung it all by resting one end of the broom handle in a hook which I attached to the coop frame, and the other end of the broom handle rested on a ladder step. This way I could easily take it all in for recharging without climbing under there.

(BTW an extra Pro poop tray costs $80.25, (with my 8% tax actually $86.67). I bought two. I also bought two extra roosting racks for $45.25 each, with tax $48.87 each. Shipping for these four items - from the UK, at least for now they don't stock them stateside - is crazy, it was $83.18 with tax. So in all it cost $354.26

)

More than one person has made their own tray. Here's an image from the Omlet USA Facebook group, made out of aluminum angles & hardware cloth, this guy used a walk-in run panel as extra reinforcement/support under it too. This is secured with a lock on the frame which I like. Another guy made one out of wood and HC, very nice but he didn't secure it, it could just be pulled out.
View attachment 4125616

Thank you so much for sharing your ideas and the photos. We definitely have some work to do.
I like to prop the back door open, "secured" with a forked tree branch, the door stands open about 4" to allow air flow during the day but we have a hen that refuses to go in to lay if the door is propped open - something different - so the door stays closed until she lays and we place a box fan on the outside facing the open auto door to blow air in to keep it circulating inside. She takes forever to lay, the other day she was in there 2.5 hours. I waited for her the entire time to ensure she didn't pass out from heat exhaustion.

We should all put our heads together and design our own prefab. The various modifications people have tried are all creative and good ones. Seems we all are dealing with the same issues.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

For those of you with Eglus, if they’re in a seriously-secure run, can you just remove the roof, period? Create some sort of HWC replacement lid if you want to confine your chickens?

This wouldn’t work well on a Nestera, whose assembly makes it a 3-D jigsaw puzzle on steroids, but it does seem more doable with the rigid Omlet products. Open below, open above.

Obviously you’d have a good roof on your run.

 

[thecatumbrella]

An Omlet Pro update...

I've removed all 3 vents and replaced with hardware cloth. We also disassembled the nest box, leaving only the wall. That also has a large piece of hardware cloth that folds over the top. I put a battery-powered Ryobi fan on the nest box side (not the clamp version, but one size larger), set to medium for the day.

The coop is actually tracking ambient temp in full shade. Normally, there's a delay in heating/cooling because of the insulated walls. The fan is what made the difference. It gets the air moving and keeps things from getting stuffy.

Now as for where they'll lay in 10 weeks...

We're working to design an Eglu replacement. Something with actual ventilation that's adjustable for the summer months, but also keeps a compact footprint (so it won't get flagged as a "building") with ample roost space. You know... something impossible.

 

[ChicoryBlue]

An Omlet Pro update...

I've removed all 3 vents and replaced with hardware cloth. We also disassembled the nest box, leaving only the wall. That also has a large piece of hardware cloth that folds over the top. I put a battery-powered Ryobi fan on the nest box side (not the clamp version, but one size larger), set to medium for the day.

The coop is actually tracking ambient temp in full shade. Normally, there's a delay in heating/cooling because of the insulated walls. The fan is what made the difference. It gets the air moving and keeps things from getting stuffy.

Now as for where they'll lay in 10 weeks...

We're working to design an Eglu replacement. Something with actual ventilation that's adjustable for the summer months, but also keeps a compact footprint (so it won't get flagged as a "building") with ample roost space. You know... something impossible.

I don’t understand about the hardware cloth over the top of the nest box area. Are you describing the roll-down nest box doors (the coop side)? Or maybe the left-side back door?

Did you look into replacing the “window” with HC for summer? I’m considering that but haven’t examined it closely to see how it might be done.

I think your hens might lay in the exposed nest box area, if you provide nest material and put a fake egg in there. I know from reading others’ experiences they will lay in those little Eglus that have no divided area.

By the way, my new poop tray project putting HC into a cut out section came out great! Wasn’t hard to do, and zip-tying the HC to just the upper part of the tray worked well, leaving the bottom untouched and sliding smoothly in and out.

Clamped a fan on to a narrow piece of (1.5”x1.5”)lumber about 3-4 feet long, and found I can rest/wedge the stick diagonally on the Pro frame under the cutout tray, pointed up. Access to put it in and take it out for charging from one of the little back doors is possible, which is nice.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

An Omlet Pro update...

I've removed all 3 vents and replaced with hardware cloth. We also disassembled the nest box, leaving only the wall. That also has a large piece of hardware cloth that folds over the top. I put a battery-powered Ryobi fan on the nest box side (not the clamp version, but one size larger), set to medium for the day.

The coop is actually tracking ambient temp in full shade. Normally, there's a delay in heating/cooling because of the insulated walls. The fan is what made the difference. It gets the air moving and keeps things from getting stuffy.

Now as for where they'll lay in 10 weeks...

We're working to design an Eglu replacement. Something with actual ventilation that's adjustable for the summer months, but also keeps a compact footprint (so it won't get flagged as a "building") with ample roost space. You know... something impossible.

That’s great that you’ve bought yourself some time!

I’ve forgotten, how many chickens (eventually full-grown) do you have?

One thing that comes to mind is creating a wooden “cage” over the Omlet, basically the same footprint or a bit bigger. The Omlet sits on the ground with its nest boxes or on pavers barely above it, shaded by the wooden cage, and the wooden structure above is an open aviary. (This is what you call it if questions are asked! Birds like to perch and look around!) Put a floor for the cage about -8” above the top of the Omlet that will hold poop trays. Install one or two roost bars within the frame, easily reached from the floor and maybe surround it with lattice panels on 2-3 sides (“for shade on hot days!”). Up to you whether you want a swing-open door.

Voila, you now have a three-season coop. If your run is predator-proof, this coop will be as well. The lower level (Omlet) is for daytime nesting use; the lower level is for nighttime (sleeping).

You’re in New Hampshire, so when winter reality hits, add clear vinyl panels inside (or outside) the lattice for draft control.

You could have four-five months of your “open-air aviary” (*cough* coop *cough*) for busybodies to get used to it and not see it as a Building.

Something like this. Maybe get you kicking around ideas.

I’m a firm believer that a “house” for chickens doesn’t need to look anything like a house for humans. It just needs to serve the same functions.