Omlet Eglu Cube - frosty inside

[Lumikko]

Good morning all. I have an Omlet Eglu Cube that I am using for my secondary coop as I'm integrating the new girls in with the existing flock. It was fairly cold overnight last night and dropped to about 21 F with fairly high humidity (70-80%) and everything is frosty today, including a small section inside the Eglu coop. I'm not sure the best way to combat this moving forwards. The two hens sleep in the nest box section (I know...not supposed to) and that area seemed fine but the "larger" section is where the frost was. So couple of thoughts/questions...

For those with Eglu coops, have you experienced this before? If so, what do you do to combat? Do you think the frostiness is due to lack of adequate ventilation or is it due to the increased humidity in general overnight? Omlet has an extreme weather cover for their coop which I was considering purchasing but I'm not sure if that's the solution here. It's also fairly expensive for a waterproof blanket that goes over the coop.

Really the solution is to get them into the primary coop...

Thank you all!

 

[MissMonty]

Although those coops are cute I really don't think they're that great. Without adequate ventilation you're risking all the frost, and frost bite for your chickens then since its up off the ground and the thin plastic it encourages the frost just because of how cold it stays. Kinda like a bridge, always ice on the bridge before the regular road, the design of the coop is encouraging it. I don't think a cover would really resolve anything except possible retain some of the heat BUT you're still not going to fix the ventilation issue that way.

Can you put a wire dog kennel or something in your main coop?

 

[Lumikko]

Although those coops are cute I really don't think they're that great. Without adequate ventilation you're risking all the frost, and frost bite for your chickens then since its up off the ground and the thin plastic it encourages the frost just because of how cold it stays. Kinda like a bridge, always ice on the bridge before the regular road, the design of the coop is encouraging it. I don't think a cover would really resolve anything except possible retain some of the heat BUT you're still not going to fix the ventilation issue that way.

Can you put a wire dog kennel or something in your main coop?

Yeah, that's what I was worried about. The wire dog kennel in the main coop is a good idea. I can see about that. Thank you!

 

[black_cat]

You need more ventilation in that coop. Are the runs of your primary coop and the omlet connected? If so, just take the omlet out.

 

[Lumikko]

You need more ventilation in that coop. Are the runs of your primary coop and the omlet connected? If so, just take the omlet out.

No, the Omlet and it's run are in a separate part of the yard. I think I'm going to try the dog crate idea.

 

[Tre3hugger]

No, the Omlet and it's run are in a separate part of the yard. I think I'm going to try the dog crate idea.

I integrated a batch of new chicks in my main coop using the see don't touch method. Too many for a dog crate, but I made a partition in the coop, so same idea. It worked great.
I have also used an actual dog crate to integrate some guinea keets into the main flock. I left them in the crate in the coop for about 10 days. They integrated seamlessly.

Plus a dog crate is good for emergency hospital/quarantine/transport/brooder. Definitely a better investment than the extreme weather cover imo.

 

[Bigtom Turkey]

I am a hard core DIYer so maybe drill some holes?

 

[Lumikko]

I am a hard core DIYer so maybe drill some holes?

Drilling holes in the Omlet coop sounds somewhat terrifying! It's entirely plastic and double layered and such. We made our primary coop ourselves and "drill some holes" was sort of the motto!

 

[Lumikko]

I integrated a batch of new chicks in my main coop using the see don't touch method. Too many for a dog crate, but I made a partition in the coop, so same idea. It worked great.
I have also used an actual dog crate to integrate some guinea keets into the main flock. I left them in the crate in the coop for about 10 days. They integrated seamlessly.

Plus a dog crate is good for emergency hospital/quarantine/transport/brooder. Definitely a better investment than the extreme weather cover imo.

I will be outside this afternoon seeing what I can do! I think I have a dog crate big enough that will fit in one section of the coop. Thank you all for your suggestions!

 

[Tre3hugger]

I will be outside this afternoon seeing what I can do! I think I have a dog crate big enough that will fit in one section of the coop. Thank you all for your suggestions!

Happy to help. Let us know what you come up with!