Eglu? How good are they?

[Camile]

Hi Leanne,

I totally agree on the fact that the house you choose for you chickens doesn't matter as long as they get the best they can ...

Choosing an Eglu, Ark, Henhouse or a pen .. and the reasons for the choice are all down to personnal choices ..

the point is just to discuss the pros and cons in order for people to be able to make up their mind ..

But I would agree with Muddypause (even though you are an example of the contrary) .. I think these Eglu looks too poch and sofisticated for hens .. wich are very rustic animals and are used to leave in Forrest ...

But again .. that's all down to a personnal choice .. and no one will blame you for that .. because indeed you are justing trying to offer the best you can to your chooks ...

But I've always felt that something home made like a choock house or anything else, is better than something you buy (especially expensive things) .. because a hen or kid doesn't know the value of money .. and I'm confident they will enjoy more something that you've put your heart in to build it .. compare to using the old credit card .. but again .. my opinion there ..

would you have proper pictures of yours ? I'm interested to see the roost in there because couldn't see any on their website. Just by curiosity.

Camile

[Shirley]

PS and another thing!! all these eglu versus hen ark arguments i read on every forum i visit miss the point! surely it doesnt matter how you choose to house your hens. so many poor hens still lived trapped miserable lives in battery farms. surely anything that encourages people to keep a few hens, whether housed in either way, is a good thing? lwe should all stand together as chicken keepers against such terrible cruelty and stop bickering about what is the best house

Hi Leane

No one is bickering about it - we're just discussing it...

I'm sure your hens are beautiful and well looked after and would LOVE to see some pics :) What kind do you keep?? We've got light and buff sussex - we don't actually have names for them all... but do have for the light sussex cockerel and his first lady - posh & Pecks... lol

Which leaves several others called chook!

[Leanne]

sorry Shirlz, bickering was the wrong choice of word!

heres my hens, and eglu. from different angles to give a better idea of size. the girls also get to free range outside of it a lot too. the last pic is taken through the egg port to show the inside, sorry not a great photo, not easy to get it all in, but it does give you an idea.

the hens are both hybrids- both RIR crosses.

[ina]

Must say, it looks durable and easily transportable, which is a good thing. Is this the smaller version?

Although I wouldn't buy one myself, I think they've done a lot towards making the keeping of hens more popular... Lots of people will have started making their own henhouse, too, after seeing this and deciding it's too expensive for them.

[Martin]

if I'm "reading" the interior picture right - are the slats "open" to the ground underneath? - if so, get some fine mesh wire netting, and cover the underneath of the slats - I've seen a small house of hens literally legless where a fox got underneath, and pulled the legs down through the slats, and ate them!

[Leanne]

this is the mark 2 model.

its all relative isnt it? some people say £360 is too much, but it needs no upkeep or maintenance (other than keeping clean of course!) no refelting, treating wood etc.it will last and last. for me personally, i dont like expensive foreign holidays or have to have the latest fashions, i dont smoke! my eglu , worked out over a year, would cost a pound per day, many peoples packet of fags a day cost three times that!!! so each to their own!!!

[Leanne]

martin- no, its not open- underneath the slats is a solid poop tray which slides out for emptying, and underneath that is a solid base. its completely safe and enclosed

[Shirley]

It does look durable doesn't it... and the girls look happy in their run.

Thanks for the pics Leanne!

[Martin]

lumme - I was thinking they were probably about £40, and pricey at that! - you could buy a car for that, or a proper timber henhouse with a good run, and a shedful of feed!
aw c'mon, you ARE kidding? - £360!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Leanne]

lol, like i said Martin, each to their own! i wouldnt spend several hundred pounds on a fancy camera-phone or the latest Ipod -i dont consider it expensive,rather an investment. !!

[Martin]

you've given me an idea for an advertising campaign -
200 watt, 24 volt wind turbine, 4 metre tower, rectifier/control unit, 300 w inverter - delivered to anywhere on the UK mainland - £350 ALL-in!
TEN QUID CHEAPER THAN A PLASTIC HENHOUSE............

[Muddypause]

I don't think anyone's judging you on how you spend your money, Leanne; that's entirely nothing to do with any of us, and quite right too. And I'd suggest that you are also correct to consider things it terms of the value you get out of them.

But I am interested in how the manufacturer's came up with that price. What makes it worth so much? Certainly not the materials or manufacturing process, unless for some reason they are made individually with a lot of hand finishing. I suppose in pure economic terms it's worth that much because some people are prepared to pay it - that's how the economy works.

But it's still two full weeks wages to someone on the national minimum, and I would imagine £50 would enable the average handyman to make the chicken equivalent of a luxury penthouse villa that would be good for ten years or more. If someone has to be employed to make it, that would only add around another £100.

Hey, maybe I've just discovered a gap in the market: Luxury chicken apartments £200 all in - 150 quid cheaper than a windmill!

[Olive]

Hmmm I think you can get alot more for you money than an Eglu. Dont get me wrong they are a great design but again and again you see these things on ebay - without the shade cover because it got torn (easily)... without the run - because people got rid of it as they thought it was too small etc etc.

I DID look at the Eglu before we got out wooden ark... adn i wouldnt look at another Eglu again.

They fade in time and look pretty tatty! At least wood you can refresh it with a new colour wood preservative.

Also Chickens are addictive and whilst 2 were enough when you started you will most likely find you want more.

[Martin]

I'd agree there - we started with three hens, and ended up with 2,500!

[Muddypause]

Surely at least one of them had to be a cockerel for that to happen.