Tuesday 13 January 2009

The Eglu has landed




Looks like we've now got some work to do. So it's time to start preparing the chicken run and get to know some more chicken folk before we go and select our brood.

It's so eggciting... I know, I know. I'm not known for my jokes. But at least I'm a "good egg". Boom Boom

18 comments:

Karin said...

Hey, that is eggciting! Looking forward to finding out what sort of chickens you choose. We've got a few more weeks to wait yet.

Unknown said...

Hi,
I just wanted to thank you for posting a comment on my blog.
Your blog looks very interesting I am sure to be having a good old read through it soon.
I love the make do and mend philosophy, in fact i think i should post about it soon!
Thanks again

Anonymous said...

Great to see the project is underway. It will be fascinating to watch and learn from your experiences. I am sure the whole will family help with the chores.

Foxes are an issue. Have you considered bird safety?

Strawberry Jam Anne said...

Great fun for you - bet you're all scrambling about! A x

Anonymous said...

:D stick to the day job, Mrs A. Enjoy your chooks; love their house! I'm looking forward to hearing all about their safe arrival.

Mrs G x

Mel said...

How exciting! (I simply refuse to fall into the bad pun trap!)

We've just put in an offer on a house (with a *garden*, hooray!) so I may well be joining you on this chicken adventure soon.

M x

Christina S said...

Ha ha ha ha! Loving it!

Anonymous said...

You got an eglu? How I envy you! They're a tad expensive... We made ourselves a huge henhouse out of a children's wooden playhouse that cost around £200, and then there was the enclosed run to make which cost a little bit more. Total probably around £250, and the henhouse could theoretically accommodate 30 or more birds... But we've found 14 is quite enough (one cockerel, accidentally I might add, and a coven of hens!).

Almost Mrs Average said...

Hi Karin - it's great isn't it. Mr A's going to be busy this weekend preparing the run. And then we're going to call a local breeder. We are very lucky to have neighbours nearby who can help show us the way. Thank goodness. I've joined the Omlet forum too :-D

Hi Stacey - thanks for dropping by. It's great to see you here. It was lovely to find you on Rhoda's Biggest Kitchen Table. I'll be blogging about that soon. :-D

Hi John - Yes, the whole family are already getting involved. The first thing the boys did was crawl into the (empty) chicken run and pretend to be little chooks. At least it'll get it out of their system before we buy the birds. One of our cats was curious too. My youngest lad has already volunteered to help clean out the run...LOL...now that's the attitude I like. Foxes have been an issue that we've investigated. Our neighbours have not had any trouble so far, but the great thing about the Eglu is that its structure is an excellent defence from rodents, big and small. (Fingers crossed) :-D

LOL Anne - Scrambling indeed :-D

Hee hee Mrs G - What's wrong with my yokes. Thought they were classic :-D

Hi Mel - LOL...I don't blame you for avoiding the puns, it can be a bad habit and a bit eggdictive if you're not careful. Great news about your house. Will keep my finger crossed on the hen front. Do let me know how you get on :-D

Hi Rubes - glad it gave you a chuckle. I sent the vid to Mr A when he was still at work. I think it sent him in shock...his words were "For clucks sake there goes the weekend!" LOL...all in good humour of course. :-D

Hi Andy - great to see you over here and thanks for the info about your henhouse. That sounds amazing. I can't wait to have a garden large enough to accommodate something like that. But the Eglu will be brilliant in the meantime. It's true, they are expensive and when I first came across them last year, I thought no way. But I'm so pleased that the money I've saved from changing my shopping habits and wasteful routines has paid for it nicely, which is great for us and will be great for the hens. Of course, we'll only be getting three hens, given the size of the accommodation. I'll be coming over to have a look at your blog to find out more about your birds :-D

Anonymous said...

Hey hope you don't mind but got a few questions about the Eglu's, as we are thinking of getting chickens again and these, well are a tadd different.
First things, it looks really small wandering where they nest? etc and how many chickens you can have? also, is it warm enough for them in the winter (was wondering how they cope in winter over here, in NZ well, winter was 15 mostly). lastly, will you be letting them out in the garden to wonder? then they go in there at night?

Anonymous said...

LOLOLOL....missus, yer in chickens GREAT NEWS! You're going to love them....I miss mine so much, but am working on a bit of space at the bottom of the garden....

Sit out there with a glass of wine and just watch them....all your troubles will float away...

Love Trace x

Almost Mrs Average said...

Hi Fiona - it does look small but it is bigger than it looks. The recommendations from Omlet are that it could fit 4 medium sized hens or a few more smaller bantams. We're going to go for three hybrids as we're really happy with the neighbour's set-up and their hens seem more than comfortable, even in this weather. The Eglu is made from real thick plastic and has a door that can be closed at night to help keep the heat in. It also has a nesting box for the eggs. From the advice of our neighbours, we're going to keep them in during the morning so they get all the nutrition they need from their layers pellets and then let them out to roam around the garden during lunchtime, which is why we need to seal off the veg patch. They'll go back in their sleeping quarters at dusk, hopefully tired and ready to sleep, which I am assured they should be. LOL :-D

Hi Tracey me lovely - I just adore the picture you paint. I can imagine the scene now, with my Chardonnay in one hand and enjoying the sight....just wonderful :-D x

Almost Mrs Average said...

I also meant to say that if anyone is interested Omlet has a great forum with lots of info about chicken keeping as well as the eglu. See www.omlet.co.uk.

Sam said...

Lovely henhouse - very funky! I shall be interested to see how you get on :-)

Almost Mrs Average said...

Hi Sam - oooh it took quite a while for me to commit to that lovely henhouse because it is expensive. But being able to afford it now makes the efforts that I've made elsewhere in the Rubbish Diet, seem so worthwhile. Can't wait to get the hens :-D

Karin said...

Any progress on choosing hens, or are you waiting for the weather to warm up?

Almost Mrs Average said...

Hi Karin - have found a local breeder, which is the good news. Bad news is, we have been held back by the weather. It's been too wet to prepare the chicken run. Hopefully if it all clears by the weekend we will be fine. I'd love to get the hens by the end of half-term. It is still very exciting. :-D

Karin said...

We were told our chickens could come tomorrow, but we've had to put them off due to the weather, too. There's too much snow where they are due to go. We hope that doesn't delay them by too much.

Lets hope for some more chicken-friendly weather soon.

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