East London Garden: ok for 2 chickens in an Eglu Classic?

[MissFoodie]

Am desperate to get chickens....
Have a small London garden with 2 beds, one is shaded about 5 x 1 metres, the other is in the sun and planted up, would this be suitable for an Eglu Classic plus a run?
Would they be happy staying in the run or would they need to be let out?
Would an eglu classic plus a run be big enough for 2 chickens?
Should I get 2 or 3 chickens?
What happens if I go away for the weekend? do they need to be fed every day? and could I leave house door open if run is secure?

You'd need the standard run as a minimum, 3 metres in length including the eglu, more than this is unwieldy to clean, as you need to move the eglu, but better for the chickens, and if it is one position it would need regular cleaning, chicken's poo constantly! If you have earth underneath expect a mud bath in weeks. Ideally you would let them out for supervised runs in the garden, but beware, they'll eat everything, and don't expect to ever have a lawn. If the run is secure you could leave the eglu open overnight, however be aware foxes are v cunning.
If you are away overnight, they would probably be OK, but for a weekend you'd need someone to top up food and water. 2-3 is fine in the set up above, we started with two, moved to three, then five, it is addictive :)
Look at the eglu website, v active forum with a wealth of advice.
Good luck. :)

just checked dimensions and can't fit the eglu run as it's 155 wide and my bed is 130 wide......!!!!
just wondering if there is another rectangular run I could get that I could put the eglu classic inside?
Alternatively, what about this plastic coop and run?
www.ideas-4-pets.co.uk/eco-friendly-virgin-polymer-coop-with-2m-run-habc0008grnbec-p-5089.html

Looks narrower, so probably OK for 2 maximum. The sides of the house and run appear to slope a lot so the room inside may not be as much as it seems. What about a wooden run? It's sometimes better to go higher if it's a narrow border, as they love jumping around on things. Don't know anything about that brand though, so can't comment.

wooden ones look lovely but aren't they a pain to clean?
it has to be really easy and quick!
I have seen some other plastic models but they are so expensive......!

We had a eglu then a cube, so not experienced a wooden house. The eglu isn't as quick to clean as it sounds though, if you poo pick inside every day, and fully change the inside bedding weekly, that takes minutes, but you still need to get into the run either crawling or lift and turn the whole contraption, then poo pick/ shovel out the flooring ever week or fortnightly at least, otherwise they start smelling. This takes about 40 mins - an hour depending on weather conditions. A wooden one would be similar, although you do need to be extra vigilant of red mite and allow drying time I guess. We ended up putting slabs under our run, but within a fortnight they'd look like a mud bath.

Missfoodie if it has to be easy and quick then please don't do it. you cannot leave them on their own for a weekend even if food and water are topped up because chickens do stupid things and could hurt themselves. they are as big a commitment as any other domestic pet. if you are getting them for eggs what will you do with them when they stop laying? could be 2 or 3 years of eggs then as many again without. chickens poo - a lot and it smells. left out food attracts rats. how will your neighbours feel about this? girls are also noisy not just boys. most people have more than 2 so that if/when one dies the other isn't alone and you don't have the introduction issues. please have a look at some of the websites and books and maybe re-think this.