Keeping chickens: an Omlet Eglu Chicken Coop Review
This post is a collaboration with Omlet.
If there is one thing that’s unexpectedly brightened up my 2020, it’s chickens. Adopting chickens back in February was (probably) the best decision I made this year. These adorable, quirky little birds are just bursting with personality, and I really can’t imagine being without them.
And now I’m ready to improve my set-up and expand my flock.
Chickens like to be with other chickens… except when those chickens are new, or sick. In which case, chickens like to decide to demonstrate who is boss by mercilessly attacking the other chickens. (Eventually, a new status quo is established, but it’s pretty brutal in the moment.)
Back in February I started out with 4 chickens, but Billina sadly died of old age in September. She was sick off and on for the last few months, which involved quarantining (in a converted cardboard box in my office) and then reintroducing her to the flock a number of times – and in the space of just a week she’d go from accepted member of the family to UNPRECEDENTED THREAT.
Which was all a big drama for everyone.
And she wasn’t the biggest fan of the cardboard box (as soon as she started feeling better, she let me know).
The good news is, she lived out her very last days as a happy chicken hanging out with her friends, but it got me thinking about having a better future setup for new, sick, injured or possibly even broody chickens.
(Aside from the chickens-fighting-with-other-chickens factor, it is good practice to quarantine new chickens from existing chickens to reduce the chances of passing on diseases to one another).
Long story short… I decided a chicken tractor would be a useful addition to my setup.
A chicken tractor isn’t an actual tractor, it’s a moveable chicken coop lacking a floor. They are called tractors because the chickens dig up the top layer of soil – and then they can be moved to another area with fresh grass and bugs to eat.
Chicken tractors are often a rectangular or A frame design, with a shelter/house section. They are are great for:
- Quarantining sick, injured or new chickens;
- For mumma chickens to raise their baby chicks;
- To allow chickens to graze a particular patch of garden whilst stopping them get access to those bits they are not supposed to be grazing (like the veg patch).
They can be used as temporary or permanent accommodation for chickens, depending on how often the tractor is moved, or whether the chickens are also allowed some free-ranging time and space.
Traditionally they are made of wood and wire, I’ve also seen some made entirely out of metal – and then there’s the Omlet options, with the houses made out of plastic and the runs made out of metal mesh.
Why I opted for an Omlet Eglu chicken tractor
There are a few reasons why I prefer the Omlet option over the other options.
- Omlet make modular products, which gives them flexibility. My chicken tractor is an Eglu Go UP, which means the house is raised off of the ground – but it can be removed from the frame for ground dwelling. This makes it suitable for chicks (who are too small to climb up stairs), and also quail… and even rabbits. Being modular, it can also be dismantled for storage.
- You can add components or remove them according to your needs, such as extending the run, or removing the wheels, or adding handles. They also sell spare parts – something I always check for.
- The plastic house part is insulated, which makes it more suitable for the Perth climate than a metal house, which could bake the poor chickens.
- It also packs down reasonably easily. Whilst I wouldn’t say it flatpacks, it is easy to disassemble for storage if required as opposed to a rigid structure that’s moveable – yet also permanent.
- You only need a hand-held screwdriver to assemble – hurrah! I have zero DIY skills to build a wooden A frame chicken tractor. (I do feel a bit of shame about this, as I’d love to be some kind of handy upcycler, but it is not me. I would have no idea how to start putting one together from scratch.)
- Being plastic, the Omlet is super easy to clean and completely weatherproof. Wooden chicken coops get covered in poop, and wood is not easy to clean. If I’m using it to quarantine sick birds, this is not ideal. Wood also needs to be treated every year to stop it deteriorating. And wood can harbour red mite – a chicken pest.
Omlet Eglu Go UP – a review
Omlet sent me one of their Eglu Go UP chicken coops to review, and also provided me with a 10% discount code to share with you (the code is TREADING10) – which will work on their Australian, UK, Irish and USA sites.
Omlet have three different chicken coops:
- the Eglu Go: the original Omlet chicken coop which sits on the ground and is attached to a fox resistant run. Can house between 2 and 4 chickens, depending on the size of the breed.
- the Eglu Go UP [this is the one I chose]: the same Eglu Go house, but raised on a frame (it’s accessed by a ladder) which allow the chickens to go underneath.
- the Eglu Cube: a bigger and squarer chicken coop, also raised on a frame – big enough for 10 small chickens, but too big for me and my needs.
I chose the Eglu Go UP because Perth is a hot climate, and the space under the raised house provides a nice shady spot to dust bath. Also, by raising the house off the ground, and allowing the chickens to roam underneath, the same roaming space has a smaller footprint, making better use of the space and takes up less garden.
What I love about the Omlet design though, is that if I changed my mind later on, I could simply take the house off of the frame, and place it on the ground. (I’d need to modify the run to make it compatible with the house – and close the gaps, but that’s not too hard.) I’ve thought about getting quail in the future, and the Omlet Eglu Go is ideal for quail when placed on the ground (they don’t do ladders) and with the perch tray removed.
Setting up the Omlet Eglu Go Coop
Predicted setup time (according to Omlet): 30 mins; actual setup time (according to me): 50 mins.
Tools required: a handheld screwdriver.
The house comes flatpacked as a series of panels, with some metal screws included to hold it all together. No polystyrene in the box, hurrah!
(The run comes in a separate box.)
The instructions were great, really detailed and easy to follow – although I did have to check everything fifteen times, which is why it took me longer to set up than expected.
The house comes as two sides, a base, a roof, a back and a front – and some green external cladding (they also have a pink option) that insulates the coop.
Screwing it together was relatively straightforward.
Once the house is screwed together (but before the outer green cladding goes on) the stand needs assembling – the frame that the house sits on.
There is also the option to add wheels to this frame, to make the coop easier to move around the garden. You hold the opposite end and maneuver the coop into the position you want. If you’re intending to keep the coop in the same place, you probably don’t need the wheels. You can also lift the coop with two people as an alternative.
Once the frame is assembled and the wheels attached, the house sits on top and is held in place by two sturdy metal holding plates. The green cladding clips in place, and the house is done.
Wondering how the chickens get into their house? With a ladder, of course!
Next, assembling the run.
Setting up the Omlet Eglu Go Coop Run
Predicted set-up time 2 hours, actual set-up time 2 hours.
No tools at all required for this bit.
The run is made up of a series of welded mesh steel panels that securely attached to the coop. There’s also a mesh ‘skirt’ that can go around the edge to help deter predators (I haven’t used the skirt as I’m fortunate enough to live in an area without foxes).
The mesh panels clip together with plastic clips. That might not sound super secure and it’s a little wobbly whilst it’s being put together, but once it’s all in place it’s pretty sturdy.
The clips can be opened and closed to allow for the run to be dismantled. Being plastic, I am sure the bending of the joint will slowly weaken over time, and also degrade in (Australian) sunlight. A follower on Instagram told me that after 4 years in the Queensland sun her Omlet coop clips have started to break. Replacement clips are available, or you could use wire, string, or something else to secure it all in place.
It’s helpful to have two people to assemble this – one to hold the pieces in place whilst the other clips them together.
The coop can be purchased by itself, or with a 2m run, and any number of 1m extensions can be added. I added a single extension to make my run 3m. The longer it is, the more awkward it would be to manuevre the coop/run around the garden, but 3m is fine.
A quick tour of the Omlet Eglu Go UP chicken coop
The door to the chicken coop can be swung open and shut with a liftable and turnable knob placed in the roof.
The side panels have vents, so closing the door does not affect air flow, but it helps keep the chickens secure – a great feature if predators such as foxes or snakes are a concern.
At the back of the chicken house there is a removable panel which can be taken off by turning the big knob at the back, and this gives access to the coop.
The internal tray is removable and slides out, and is made of two parts (the top one is grey, and the bottom on is green). On the top part there is a nesting box area, set slightly lower than the rungs, and then the rungs. (Chickens prefer to perch on flat or wide beams, so these work well.)
There are gaps between the rungs so their poop drops into the bottom tray. The two trays separate easily, and the whole thing can be hosed down to clean.
Honestly, cleaning this coop is a dream.
And of course, to test it out… I have two new chickens.
These two have come from friends who are travelling around Australia for a year. The orange feathered chicken – a solid Isa brown called Dorothy – was too busy eating to pose for pictures. The grey chicken, Betty, is the sister of Alison, my existing Araucana chicken.
Oh and fun fact – araucana chickens lay blue eggs!
Final thoughts on the Omlet Eglu Go UP
I’m really impressed with this mobile chicken coop. It’s well designed, sturdy and secure. The coop is completely weatherproof, and easy to clean. (I can’t stress enough how easy to clean it is.) And whilst I expect some colour fading in the sun, it’s robust and made to last (the house is UV stabilised, and the run is metal), and a zero maintenance option.
If you have zero or minimal DIY skills, it is a great no fuss option.
I love the fact that it’s adaptable (by placing on the ground and removing the perch tray, it becomes suitable for quail or rabbits) and modular, and that the company sells spare parts.
There’s also a thriving second-hand market for these items so if you no longer need it down the track, it’s easy to find a new owner. (That said, it’s less easy to find Omlet products second-hand, as they get snapped up quickly and are often priced similarly to new products.)
You’ll find more information about the Eglu Go UP (and all the other pet products that Omlet make) on their official websites (and don’t forget, if you choose to make a purchase you can save 10% with the code TREADING10)
Omlet Australia / Omlet Ireland / Omlet UK / Omlet USA
And of course, if you have any questions about the Omlet chicken coop – or if you wish to share your own experiences – I’d love to hear from you so please get in touch and leave a comment below!
It sounds really good. Do you know where it is manufactured?
China – see the picture of the box
Oh. Bother.
Yep it’s a UK company, and they manufacture in China.
Looks like a cool product! I think the name is adorable too :)
Jenna ♥
Stay in touch? Life of an Earth Muffin
The names are indeed pretty fun, Jenna!
Oh, this post definitely surprised me, my fair friend. Mainly because I see you as a strong advocate away from plastic – which is simplistic, but also, I see that there’s a level of reciprocal arrangements (you review, in exchange for a discount code for readers or more). I, personally, find it hard to always live to my ethics on plastic, I’ve had to relax some of my previous ideas.
I now tangentially look after chooks – I’m a community garden coordinator. We even have a duck or two! It’s mainly made from kerb side trash turned to treasure – we did a working bee on Sat, wow, filled a skip darn quick with more to toss. But it’s so much tidier now :)
Hi Sarah and fair comment! I actually wrote a whole bit on ‘why plastic’ but as usual my blog post was getting far too long and so I deleted it. So I am quite glad you asked, because I can talk about it now ;)
First up, just for some back story I have changed my mind about waste and plastic a number of times over the years, from being a bit militant to taking a more relaxed approach. If you missed this one earlier in the year, here’s my thoughts on it: https://treadingmyownpath.com/2020/02/28/i-changed-my-mind/ But as a quick summary, the thing I focus on now is plastic waste, non recyclable plastic, plastic packaging, and plastic that isn’t fit for purpose.
My current thinking is sometimes plastic is useful, and sometimes the best option. (Think medial emergencies or building infrastructure, for example.) In this case, I did a lot of research on the different options. I do not have the skills to build something out of wood, but I spent a lot of time on Pinterest and seeking out coop designs. Most wooden ones available to buy are terrible quality – read the reviews! They tend not to last more than a couple of years and they wouldn’t cope with being moved about. I did seriously look at the metal options, but they don’t have an enclosed house, are often crazy heavy, and once built, can’t be ‘unbuilt’. This one packs down, can be moved about – and there is a second-hand market. In fact, I tried to get a second-hand one for several months but they don’t pop up too often and when they do, they go straightaway. (Which is a good thing, as it means there is demand.) And the company has been going for 15 years, and there are still people with the original design – so it lasts.
As always with these things, I had to unravel these moral dilemmas in my head first. But ultimately I decided this was the best option for my needs. (Having a sick chicken living in a box in the office off and on for three months was a definite factor in deciding this!) The only thing I don’t love about it is the plastic clips that hold the metal run together as I’m sure they will degrade eventually – but they can easily be substituted with something that isn’t plastic.
I hope that all makes sense! Any more questions, just let me know :)
Thanks for engaging with me Lindsay – I wasn’t trolling – you’ll know I’m a long time reader. It’s a tough balancing act, between reality and idealism, which I alluded to in my original comment!
Oh don’t worry Sarah, I know that! :) It was a valid question, and yes it is a tough balancing act. I notice that their UK website actually sells wooden tractors too, but the availability of wooden items seems very restricted here. It could be because of the tough restrictions on wood imports? Nevertheless, we try to make the best decisions that we can at the time with the information and resources available to us – and this was the best option for me.
Very impressed!!! You are such a DIYer :)
Your new additions look lovely.
Ha, I am in no way a DIYer, but thank you! ;)
I agree entirely with ‘sarahn’ and the plastic. I am doing everything I can to give up plastic but you are now advocating it! I have a wooden chicken house and a wooden moveable ark. They clean easily. I would also disagree with you that you can keep quail in this tractor. Quail need a tall aviary as they fly up high. They soon damage their heads if the roof is too low and they bump them.
Hi Mary! I’ve just replied to Sarah’s comment so you might find reading that helps explain my decision-making process. I do not think that choosing a product made of plastic means advocating all plastic, and I am still as passionate about plastic waste as I ever was – I just don’t see this as waste. I have a wooden chicken house (the main coop) which has a slide out (metal) tray that is easy to clean, but the internal walls are unreachable and so impossible to clean. Of course different designs will make this easier/harder. And because I want this for quarantining, cleanliness and the ability to clean was important for me.
That’s great that you have a wooden moveable arc. If I could have found one to buy that was the dimensions I needed I would have definitely considered this option, but they seem very hard to find in Western Australia. I wonder if it’s to do with the restrictions on imports of wood products?
Oh and just a quick note about the quail – I didn’t mean that I would keep quail in this as is. If I decide to keep quail in the future, I would use the house part, but not the run, and add the house to a different run setup. The house comes off the stand, so it would sit on the floor. It’s more of a five-year plan than anything that I’m going to do any time soon!
Wow I love this idea. We currently have a chicken coop that used to be a cubby our kids played in when they were young, it’s on stilts and it used to have a slide attached. Once the kids had outgrown the cubby my hubby was going to pull it down. I convinced him to turn it into a chicken coop. We removed the slide, put fencing mesh to enclose the section under the cubby with a gate/door (remember it’s on stilts) and cut a hole in the floor, he made a ramp so the chooks could walk up it and go into the cubby. They can come down the ramp during the day and have the run under the cubby, or we can let them out from the gate under the cubby to scratch around the backyard. To access the eggs and clean out the coop we go up the external steps the kids used, to go inside the cubby. It’s wooden and 20 yrs old now and some repairs have been made over the years as the wood has deteriorated and it’s not portable. My hubby has discussed pulling it down in the future but we would still like to keep chooks. I like the look of the one you have reviewed particularly it’s portability and ease of cleaning. Thanks for sharing. Have a wonderful day. Cheers Donna Z :)
This chicken tractor is rubbish let’s birds in total waste of money
so don’t buy one. Easy solution
Thank you for sharing this information about omlet eglu review It was useful and interesting. You indeed have written it in a layman way so that anyone can understand and work accordingly. You have done a great job… Great post!!
Thankyou so much for the review as I’ve been looking at these for awhile. The ease of cleaning and being insulated is such a positive. I was looking at the normal wooden chicken coops but have been put off by seeing how difficult some are to clean and also the thought of red mites.
We are from Perth too and wondering how they go in our hot summers!
We will be new to owning some feathered friends and tossing up between having some bantams for our residential backyard or quails. My young daughter really wants quails lol
Do you have any tips or thought that could help us choose and therefore choose the right eglu!
Thanks so much for your time, Mim.
I have been a happy owner of a wn eglu up with a 3m run.. I removed the run as parts of it started to rust & I wanted a larger run area for my girls (4) bantam silkie and australorps. My only issue is on the eglu up unlike the larger coop is this… you cant fit an automatic door and you have to be home & get up to open and close the door which can be a issue if you are are away. I like knowing they are safely tucked up in bed… and in victoria it gets pretty nippy at night..so I have never had a lie in for 5 years..wish I had bought the larger Eglu as you can fit one now..
I just purchased the large one with the 9 ft run. I put it 95% together by myself so it took a little longer than they said it would. I love it and plan on having it for a long time.
Very helpful discussion. I am in Canada so have the opposite of many of you folks. Extreme cold! My problem with wooden coops is that the deteriorate quickly and don’t keep out rats and mice. The Eglu run has mesh walls. Sturdy mesh but is the mesh small enough to keep out rats? I have concerns about plastic too. I think you could sell the Eglu on if you decided to not keep chickens. So more reusable than a wooden coop. And I think it would stand up better to our cold weather.
Thanks for your thoughts!
Is your discount code still valid? I would love to purchase an eglu
Not on the Australian web site but there is a Facebook buy/sell page
Hi Lindsay, thank you for this helpful review. I had asked the Chicken Chick (a chicken celebrity here in the US) what she thought of the Eglu, and she was 100% against it. She says that chicken will suffer from heat stroke during the hot and humid New Jersey summer, because there are not enough openings in the coop (windows), and they have a down jacket on.
Have your three new chickens (from your friends who are traveling for a year) had any problems with heat at night? Or does it not get really hot and humid in Perth… I am quite torn about what coop to get the three chicks that we are getting soon.
I realise I am a little late to replying to this message but I thought it was a really good question, and so I wanted to reply – hoping it’s still useful/relevant! I am lucky enough to live in an area where there are no foxes, and so I can leave the front door open at night when it’s hot. I had some baby chickens that lived in there for a while, and I kept the door closed because they were tiny (8 weeks old) and I was worried a rat might try to eat them! But as they got bigger I kept it open, it also means they can head down for breakfast when they are ready without my needing to get up!
The mesh is meant to be fox proof, but of course I haven’t tried that out with actual foxes. If you were confident you’d secured the mesh so nothing could get in you could also leave the door open. Mine often like to sleep on the outdoor perch in summer rather than in the house.
I have never heard of a chicken dying of heat stress in an Eglu in the various chicken groups I am in. Because you can take the back off, you can cool it down quickly at night before they go to bed. Of course in Perth we don’t have humidity, which helps.
A chicken’s body temperature is slightly higher than ours – 41 or 42oC, and they start to get heat stress above 32oC. My chickens managed in the garden on that 44oC day in the shade with no health issues, so it’s a sliding scale. We don’t get a lot of nights above 32oC, but I’ve seen people with other setups move their chickens indoors on those nights (I’ve never done this).
The more chickens you have, the warmer it gets inside, so you can also opt for the bigger Cube to give them more space.
So to summarise, if you’re keeping the door open (and if the house is in a secure area/run that will be fine) then you won’t have a problem. If you definitely need to close the door, I’d be choosing the bigger house and not packing it full of chickens – I would think three in a Cube would be fine.
Hope that helps!
Just bought the up model, can’t wait to set it up…I’m a total novice as you can see from my question…do they sleep in one area and then lay eggs in the other?is there a division between the two areas?thanks…