The Coop
We have quite possibly found the most perfect coop for our yard!
Our criteria:
- premade since we’re busy and just don’t have the time to build one, or even have one built
- uber-designed to take care of all of the needs of a small flock in a small footprint
- pretty since our yard is small and the coop was going to be a big fixture
- very easy to keep clean
- built in run so the girls could be out and about and stretch their legs when we aren’t around
The Omlet Cube met all of our criteria! Yes it is plastic, which we normally stay away from, but in this case it made the most sense. The coop will last a long time without needing repairs – if we are ever done with it, it will have a lot of life for a new owner. I also feel like we will be able to get it really clean since we can hose the whole thing down…cleaner than any wood coop could get. And I like clean. It also fits perfectly into the small space we have for it! We had to do some rearranging of the flower bed right along the back, move some irrigation and move some pathway stones but all pretty minor. In all honesty, our gardener did it! He spends a few hours a month helping to keep the yard tidy and care for the plants since while we want to have them we do not have green thumbs! It will also mean some of the plants along the other side of the coop, by the fence, will be harder to reach but we’re okay with that since we can walk on the wood wall to get to them. We have a raspberry bush, 2 blueberry bushes, a dwarf fig tree and grapes growing right along side the coop and run.
The 2 downsides of the coop are that it is pretty expensive and it came form the UK (nothing against the UK but that’s a lot of resources to get it here). And the one thing I might change would be having the nesting area more visible from the outside. We are planning on putting a camera out there so friends and family can see the girls and it would be nice to see them in the nests too like I have seen on other sites. We may consider trying to add a couple nest boxes below the coop but we’re a ways off from eggs still so we have some time to figure out if we want to do anything different.
We had originally been thinking about getting the Omlet Eglu, but when we saw the Cube we knew we had to have it. It takes up almost the same footprint as the Eglu yet the Cube provides a raised coop ( chickens like to roost off the ground), more roosting space, more nest space, more vertical space in the run and the possibility of expanding the run. We wanted to provide the most usable space for our chickens in a footprint we could accommodate in our small yard, so the added expense was worth it for us. We want very happy chickens. Plus, our city limits us to 6 hens, and with the Cube we could accommodate 6 easily (though we will be starting out with 4)!
We get our chicks this week, then it will be another 6-7 weeks before they move out to the coop…I’ll post an update then on how the chickens like it!
Buying Links:
The Hawthorne Urban Farm 