talk to me about your eglu cube

[mothersmilkandherchickenseggs]

i already have 6 hens and a wooden coop last summer we were plaguedwith red mite and i am resolved that i am going to buy my girls a cube but are they really as goos as they say? would be looking at getting 3mtr run aswll

Hi
I have 6 hens too & use the cube but with quite a bit of extra run as well. I like that it's easy to clean & that I can shut them in the cube's run at night without having to fully close up the cube so they can get up as early as they want and stretch their legs. That said I don't think the run is big enough on its own so I think you would definitely need extra (we were lucky enough to have an end of garden that could be fenced off for them that the eglu run opens into). Can you adapt their old run to fit in with eglu to give extra space?
Also I found mine tend to sleep in nesting box rather than the designated roosts which means a fair amount of bedding changing

we havean outside run too so thats not a problem i also find that mine like to sleep in the nesting box aswell so no change there

I adore my cube, very easy to maintain and I have customised it with extra run sections for if we're away. They have a larger outdoors run too.

Any malingerers sleeping in the nest box get turfed out in th evening when I go down to check them - no pooey eggs for us!

have to say i was doing that in the summer did let it slip since the chilly weather kicked in will have to start doing that again they are suckmessy girls

My cube is plagued with red mite. I found my old arc easier to clean out. Yes the poo trays are easy to clean out but the roosting bar squares are hard to get to. I'm too short to get at them via the roof so have to squeeze an arm in via the pop hole but struggle.

Hens all sleep in the nesting box as roosting bars aren't high enough.

Nesting box has a slit in the bottom, I guess so water can drain out when it's washed. But all the sawdust comes out as well.

I put a piece of old lino in the nesting box, so nothing falls through, it also makes it easy to lift out all the mucky stuff when I do a major clean, as the lino goes up the sides.

I got redmite in my cube the summer before last, it was a nightmare!

I have the cube attached to a walk in run and I never close the door on the cube, or the pen, which opens onto a picket fenced area of the garden.

touch wood, although very very rural, a vixen and 3 cubs next door, Mr Foxy has left us alone for 4 years!

Viva I just pop the back off the cube to get the roosting bars. There are a couple of 'locks', it's a really short job then I can brush that down too and get right in the cube to clear it out properly.

I'll have to try that, thanks. Although I have a feeling I can't get the back off as I've put the whole thing together wrong. The roof blew up and over backwards in the windy weather a couple of months ago and DH said if I'd built the thing right I'd have been able to clip the roof down at the front but I can't.

Doesn't the roof slide in on the metal rails, viva? I think there might be some video bits on Omlet you can look at for construction.

Yes but because I've managed to put the sides in upside down or inside out or something the metal rails are in the wrong place. I had no idea until DH told me that I'd built it wrong.

Oops. One sunny day you'll be able to sort it all out!

I like the lino idea.

We've had a cube for a year - we were enthusiastic about cleaning it out quite regularly last summer and never had any mites problems but it did take a lot of time. Left things be in the cold, but are starting to see quite a few creepy crawlies again. Really don't want to use anything chemical but not keen on the constant cleaning - if anyone has any ideas on a organic anti-creepy crawly method I'd be grateful!