[Drystonewall]

What do you keep your girls in?

I unashamedly keep mine in Eglus.  I've had a lot of sneers about them being trendy.....especially from one chap, an acquaintance whose ramshackle pile of rotting timber that he calls a "proper" chicken house deserves to get him reported to the  authorities.

They are easy to keep clean, warm, and redmite and predator resistant. 

To be honest  they gave me the solution I needed to enable me to keep chickens in an urban area with foxes.

[carl]

hi drystone,
i am also in s.yorks but more rural. ( actually less foxes). i inherited some ramshackle chicken sheds when we moved in, which have since been torched. i have made an ark from recycled timber which needs modifying as i can barely shift it, and modified a shed which was unoccupied, and also bought two small hen huts . eglus would be too small for my lot as they have formed into gangs and sleep in groups of 7 or 8. i am about to embark on a chicken shed renovation project to turn the shed into a two storey goose and chicken home for the winter. I also have some unused equestrian buildings which are very handy for rearing chicks and keeping young cockerels out of mischief, before they go in the pot. this weekend i will be moving things about so everything is more manageable when the hour goes back.

[jan]

We have a specially made chicken house that Paul has covered with (some sort of hard plastic, useless woman!!) over the roof.  The summer is bad with redmite though and we had to scrub it out every 3rd day and put in clean bedding for the girls.  Keep saying we must save up for an Eglu..have heard only good reports on them.

[Dan]

Nothing wrong with Eglus, we've recommended them to a lot of people who have asked us about very small-scale poultry keeping in their gardens.

We have two Forsham arks and two, well, "less expensive" hen houses. And if we ever need more they will definitely be Forshams - they cost a bit more, but are so easy to manage, move, clean out (not that I ever do that, before Rosemary points it out!), and look after.

The best place for one of the cheaper ones is the bonfire, it's little more than a wooden box with a lid and didn't even come with a perch!

[Townie]

We have an Eglu too, yes, they are an expensive investment, but well worth the money.

They are easy to clean, and keep the birds safe and warm

[stephen]

i dont see  anything wrong with an eglu.... the woman i sit next to at work has one for her two girls and they are happy as larry! easy to clean etc im lucky enough to have an avery (6ft x 12ft) that mine run around in for the time being! 

[pigsatlesrues]

Forgive me but what is an eglu?

We are moving in the new year and will have to build new chicken housing so looking for the best economical solutions for the comfort of our chooks!

Kate

[Rosemary]

You can see the eglu @ www.omlet.co.uk. I think it looks OK, although I've never seen one "in real life". I notice they are also doing a bigger one for 6-10 hens.

[Terri-Lynn]

I didn't know what an eglu was either, thanks for the link. They are cute. I have 6 hens so they get a portion of a garden shed. I added a window for them.

[Hilarysmum]

OH built ours, and the duck house, Hilary's ex partner demolished the duck house.  He took a dislike to the ducks wading in his wallow.  The chickens have been known to camp out with Hilary when it gets very warm.  We have loads of foxes none brave enough to face down Hilary though.  (And I concur with them on that point!)

[pigsatlesrues]

We cleaned out the chicken house yesterday and put in a ton of last years hay so they would be cosy - it is oh so cold here at the moment. We have actually moved all the fancies into the house with the others because we thought it would be warmer and my goodness I couldn't believe just how much warmer it actually was. I collected the stragglers and shut the door, and after doing my final rounds I just peeped in and for no particular reason and pushed my had through a little gap in the wall (ours live in one of the old sheds that we inherited with the farm). Anyway the point to my posting is that I couldn't believe the heat that those bodies were generating inside there after only about 20 minutes. I could actually feel the warmth on my cold hand, so it was very reasuing to know that they were so snug despite the frost and the wind.

Kate

[natasha]

Hi,When we moved in to our house we had a corrigated shed which soon was sorted out for ducks and geese.We made a pen in out garage for the chicks when they were to big for the broody pen which we kept in the laundry room[i know,we must be mad]Anyway they soon grew out of that and i wanted them to be able to feel grass under their feet!So we built a wooden 'box' thingy with a roosting post and nest boxes.This is ok but they are getting too big for it now so they have decided to 'take roost' in our unused small greenhouse.This is now going to get a make over so they can stay.We don't have foxes on the isle so don't really have to worry about locking them away in the summer when we have 24 hour daylight[well,almost]but we sometimes lose a few in the winter to otters and their babies.I think eglus are a good option for people with small gardens but for us with 22 hens and 2 cocks then its no a viable choice.

[Rosemary]

The laundry room's not so odd. Our two batches last year lived in the guest room until they were well enough feathered to go outside. It wasa  bit of a palaver and I'm not sure I've got ALL the stains off the floor yet. This year, we're going to try them in the garage (if it's not too cold!)

[chrisgod]

Mine like nothing better than the old Gité!! SOD the houses I bought and had shipped over from the UK!!! Blimey HOW female are they then!!! :lol:

[cheekychick]

  My chicken house is a granary from www.newbarntimberproducts.co.uk, its the best thing I've ever bought, it wasn't cheap but it really works well, the guys from new barn timber are really into their chickens and they have thought of everything. I'm posting this because my friend just bought a cheap hen house (from China I think) and its already falling apart, she's only had it 6 weeks, theres loads of companys on the web selling the same rubbish, if you're new to chicken keeping do your research and don't get ripped off !!!