The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: nutterly_uts on August 17, 2015, 08:25:06 pm
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I love omlet houses, even though they are ££
Am I missing out on any other good houses I should consider?
Wanting low maintenance as poss and ideally with a run. Is wood such a bad idea as I keep reading about for cleaning out and red mite?
Thinking up to 10 chickens.
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We've always liked Smiths Sectional Buildings houses. OK so long as you creosote regularly and very sturdy. Watch out for the recycled plastic ones - so heavy and plastic is compressed so has a honeycomb texture which is great for red mite.
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Not come across Smiths. Off to google
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I like the green frog ones.
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I like the green frog ones.
Are they as honeycomb textured as they look?
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I had a plain garden shed, never had any problems
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We bought an Eglu cube last week on Ebay, got a really good deal on it, it's in great condition, just the colour is really faded and some of the screws and clips needed replacing.
We have seven new chickens just moved in. I did look at all sorts of options and was loathe to pay too much but Eglus last for such a long time, and are so good in hot weather, and cold weather, and no red mite problems, so in the long run I'm sure it's the right choice!
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We bought an Eglu cube last week on Ebay, got a really good deal on it, it's in great condition, just the colour is really faded and some of the screws and clips needed replacing.
We have seven new chickens just moved in. I did look at all sorts of options and was loathe to pay too much but Eglus last for such a long time, and are so good in hot weather, and cold weather, and no red mite problems, so in the long run I'm sure it's the right choice!
Thats pretty much why I love them, just don't want to shell out (haha) that money if there are cheaper options that are just as good..
I have to say my current (loaned out) eglu is amazing. Clean out in 5mins max!
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Solway for me , the old shape clips together quickly and comes apart for pressure washing and disinfecting and straight back to use
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We have a Solway. Looks a bit crude but does the job -it's a spare to use when the wooden houses are stripped down and treated. Green Frog get good reports. Down here we daren't use the plastic house in Summer for fear of it softening.
Omlet coops have some fundamental flaws built in. Ventilation is poor and the nest box built at the same height as the perch area causes some problems. There are also reports of vermin getting in through drain holes and also foxes breaking into the runs. But they do look nice.
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Mark Francis ones are great - really easy to take apart for cleaning and very very sturdy as they are on a metal chassis.
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I like the green frog ones.
Are they as honeycomb textured as they look?
They are not completely textured, mainly the roof and the nest box lids. I do not think it looks that bad once assembled.
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We have 4 Eglu Cubes and 6 Classics - never a problem with ventilation or anything and definitely never any predators getting inside. Bought them all secondhand, mostly off Ebay. They need to be on level ground and properly fitted together as otherwise some rainwater may come in, but that's with everything really.
Good excuse to treat myself to a pressure washer once I had the first few ;)
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There are also reports of vermin getting in through drain holes and also foxes breaking into the runs. But they do look nice.
I thought Omlet only guarenteed the HOUSE was fox proof, not the actual runs?
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If foxes could get into Eglu coops or runs in any way we wouldn't have any chickens left. We caught 7 fox visits on camera in one night once, never did a fox get in. Nor did the weasel, for that matter.
The base of the original Eglu Classic, the Mark I, was different, though, and mesh was added for safety. But these Mark I coops are easy to recognise as the door is much smaller. Occasionally one turns up on Ebay and other websites but they're easily 10 years old now I think.
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We had a cube and it was OK but I didn't really like it. There on no roosting bars so the hens sit on slats and it's way too easy for them to hop into the nest box which we had to clean out every day pretty much. Ours leaked too and we never solved that. I also found moving it to be a pain. I can see why they are popular and it's a good concept but I felt there are a few design flaws.
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They all have perches and I move them by myself even with 4 metres of run attached, I find their mobility their big bonus. The main design flaw in my opinion is that the door handle is on the opposite side of the nest box, so you can't place it with one side against a wall as you need access to both sides. But then most of mine are in a field anyway.
Ours occasionally sleep in the nest box if I fill it up too high with bedding - tipping the bag with shavings out in the nest box thinking there's not much left in it but turns out to be more than I thought.
Red mite sorted very easily, though, and so easy to keep clean that I'll never have a wooden one again.
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Another vote for green frog here. I have some solway houses for the bigger animals but the green frog ones fittings are easier to dismantle and light enough to move easily when in parts, the solway plastic is heavy but maybe the chicken pen plastic is thinner?
The green frog plastic is smooth as on the inside and we've had very few mite problems in the four years we've used them.