And the wheels, attached to a piece that acts as a lever and tilts the coop at an angle, allow chickens like me to easily ask my husband to reposition the coop at any time, which is probably good news for those with freedom. . They graze their flock on grass and regularly need fresh grass for the girls to scratch. The wheels make moving the coop easier compared to coops without wheels; I just couldn’t do it myself.
At the time we introduced the Eglu Pro to our flock, the Phoenix area was experiencing what seemed like endless heat, setting a new record of 117 degrees Fahrenheit in late September. In that kind of heat, any kind of coop is going to be warm, so we get a lot of practice making sure the girls have water to splash in and shade to curl up in.
While the Eglu Pro chicken coop features double-wall insulation, uses UV-stabilized polyethylene, and was designed to allow for cross-flow ventilation, we wanted to further mitigate heat-related discomfort. What I loved about the coop design is that it gave us the option to remove a back panel from the lounging area to allow for additional airflow to keep the girls as cool as possible.
We thought a warm breeze was better than no breeze.
In a more rural environment, with more active predators, this might be frowned upon. After all, we live in a state that is home to coyotes. But our chicken coop is located within a fenced garden area, kept safely separated from our flock of three blue heelers and a single border collie. It’s clear, however, that the Eglu Pro was designed with protection in mind.
If you’re someone who closes the coop at night, a single swinging panel acts as a door at the top of the stairs. And the nest access door has a push-and-turn application on its knob, offering extra security. A fogged-in panel lets in daylight in the morning, and an app-based smart door feature lets you control security and set a wake-up call. These smart features are an upgrade from the basic set we received.
Taking it easy
Backyard chickens, like any bird, make a mess. But we found that cleaning up that mess is incredibly easy with the design of the Eglu Pro. The sliding panels under the nest boxes and coop are very easy to remove, spray, and slide back in. It takes a few minutes.
Cleaning out our previous chicken coop, made of wood and metal, was a task no one wanted to do. And using a hose was out of the question. Plus, our current boss hen likes to hang out on the roof of the coop at night, so we love that we can easily remove any evidence of her moonlight escapades.
