Omlet Eglu Cube w/Run - Number of Hens?

Yeah, that bear just wasn't hungry enough. :gig
The mention of hot wire in that post is apt.
Agreed.....I have mine Eglu Cube in a VERY spacious enclosed run, but animals COULD get to the coop through the bird netting above most certainly, and I DO wonder if a raccoom might actually succeed in twisting the back of the coop off....not sure if residents in England have to deal with raccoons like we do.....
 
Ive had at least one raccoon try to get into my enclosure (eglu cube with 13ft run) and it didn't get in. The latches on the back and side are pretty secure. I don't think a raccoon could figure it out. Ive had my 6 girls in this setup for about a month now and I'm very pleased with it. Cleaning is a breeze, there is plenty of room for them at night, and find they even go in during the day for nap time! I will let them out of the run for an hour or so when I can be out there to supervise, but they are happy enough enclosed. I LOVE that I can move the whole thing every few days. We've had a TON of rain, so being able to move it to a fresh patch of grass had been awesome. Gives the girls new ground to explore and allows the previous patch to recuperate. Otherwise they would just be in a poopy mud hole at this point. I wouldn't go past 6 girls personally though. Maybe if I had an additional place for them to roam, but them I couldn't move it around. (Note: I only leave the tarp on when I know we're getting a full day of rain. )
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Ive had at least one raccoon try to get into my enclosure (eglu cube with 13ft run) and it didn't get in. The latches on the back and side are pretty secure. I don't think a raccoon could figure it out. Ive had my 6 girls in this setup for about a month now and I'm very pleased with it. Cleaning is a breeze, there is plenty of room for them at night, and find they even go in during the day for nap time! I will let them out of the run for an hour or so when I can be out there to supervise, but they are happy enough enclosed. I LOVE that I can move the whole thing every few days. We've had a TON of rain, so being able to move it to a fresh patch of grass had been awesome. Gives the girls new ground to explore and allows the previous patch to recuperate. Otherwise they would just be in a poopy mud hole at this point. I wouldn't go past 6 girls personally though. Maybe if I had an additional place for them to roam, but them I couldn't move it around. (Note: I only leave the tarp on when I know we're getting a full day of rain. )View attachment 2146935View attachment 2146939
Just want to thank you for the update! I always wonder how things turn out, and that's awesome that the eglu is working well for you. I just finished setting up my cube with a 9 ft run, and I'm springing for a larger walk-in enclosure - we live in a downtown neighborhood with a lot of hawks... My chicks are only a few days old, but I'm looking forward to getting them all situated in a few weeks.
 
Just want to thank you for the update! I always wonder how things turn out, and that's awesome that the eglu is working well for you. I just finished setting up my cube with a 9 ft run, and I'm springing for a larger walk-in enclosure - we live in a downtown neighborhood with a lot of hawks... My chicks are only a few days old, but I'm looking forward to getting them all situated in a few weeks.
I totally love the coop and run! Im glad to see others going for it as well!
 
Ive had at least one raccoon try to get into my enclosure (eglu cube with 13ft run) and it didn't get in. The latches on the back and side are pretty secure. I don't think a raccoon could figure it out. Ive had my 6 girls in this setup for about a month now and I'm very pleased with it. Cleaning is a breeze, there is plenty of room for them at night, and find they even go in during the day for nap time! I will let them out of the run for an hour or so when I can be out there to supervise, but they are happy enough enclosed. I LOVE that I can move the whole thing every few days. We've had a TON of rain, so being able to move it to a fresh patch of grass had been awesome. Gives the girls new ground to explore and allows the previous patch to recuperate. Otherwise they would just be in a poopy mud hole at this point. I wouldn't go past 6 girls personally though. Maybe if I had an additional place for them to roam, but them I couldn't move it around. (Note: I only leave the tarp on when I know we're getting a full day of rain. )View attachment 2146935View attachment 2146939
This thread came up when I was searching for Eglu and raccoon - are you sure about the raccoons not being able to turn the handles? I’m in Toronto, Canada and our raccoons are smart and strong. I have my handles covered in heavy tape for now but I’m worried they’re going to get in anyway. I already lost 3 birds in my last coop, want to make sure they’re secure now.
 
This thread came up when I was searching for Eglu and raccoon - are you sure about the raccoons not being able to turn the handles? I’m in Toronto, Canada and our raccoons are smart and strong. I have my handles covered in heavy tape for now but I’m worried they’re going to get in anyway. I already lost 3 birds in my last coop, want to make sure they’re secure now.
We have some pretty HUGE raccoons in NW Indiana and so far nothing has gotten in the run or opened doors. And they've tried! I have an especially determined mama with 3 little babies (although those aren't that little anymore either) that are out inspecting everything EVERY NIGHT and so far so good. As long as my girls are locked up in the cube, I'm confident they will be fine. The latches take some effort to move (no big deal for a person) and have a little extra click/resistance on the back and side panels to really lock them into place. The main door would have to be lifted up a few inches and fully rotated for that to pop open. I have the autodoor on mine, which there is NO WAY they'd be able to get that open on their own. There are no manual latches/levers on the autodoor - if it faults out you have to unscrew a piece on the door to get it released from the track and slide open. The control panel is covered, plus the correct button has to be held down for 3 secs for it to open up manually that way. The seams and trays of the cube are really secure and tight. Even strong little raccoon paws can't get into those! I could see an extremely large and strong raccoon with a lot of time on its paws managing to start a little damage to the run, but I think that would end up being more likely that it found a weak spot in the wiring itself or not enough clips being used than it just plain being that strong. Like I said, I have multiple raccoons trying to get in the run every night and I haven't noticed any damage. They've even tried to dig under, but the skirt around the bottom of the run stopped that. And the cube itself I feel is legit and raccoon proof as long as your doors are closed up for the night.

I'm on an Omlet facebook group and the only thing I've heard about people losing chickens to raccoons with the eglu cube and run is if the chickens are still out in the run and a raccoon can grab them through the bars. Some people have added extra hardware cloth to prevent this, but personally I just put some around where the feed bucket is, as I was tired of them reaching in and knocking it over at night. As long as the girls are locked up tight in the cube, I don't worry about them. All in all, I am very very pleased with the coop and the run and reccommend it to everyone!
 
I wanted to add, I see often people worried about the cleaning aspect of a wooden coop. Heres my coop that holds 11 chickens. It's still fairly new, we built it in april but I made sure to put there roost away from the walls. They have never pooped on any walls. I have not scrubbed these walls yet either. The front of the coop is a plastic playhouse. Theyve been in it since we got them and the bigger ones are now 19 weeks. I've never scrubbed it down. Maybe I have snowflake chickens (most likely not) but you arent going to have to scrub the walls if you position their roosts correctly and their butts are pushed up against the wall.
 

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