Omlet Eglu Cube Review

What Is the Omlet Eglu Cube?

The Eglu Cube is Omlet's flagship backyard chicken coop — a twin-wall insulated plastic design that houses four to six standard hens. The manufacturer claims capacity for up to ten birds, but real-world keepers consistently report that six is the comfortable maximum for standard breeds and four is ideal.

The Cube sits on a steel-frame run that comes in two-, three-, or four-meter lengths. The entire system lifts and relocates, making it function as a premium chicken tractor for rotational grazing. The coop section features a slide-out droppings tray, twin nesting boxes accessible from the rear, integrated roosting bars, and a ventilation system built into the twin-wall plastic shell.

Omlet is a UK-based company that ships directly in the US, and the Eglu Cube has been on the market for over a decade with iterative design improvements. The current generation includes an optional Autodoor — an automatic door with a light sensor or timer that opens and closes the pop hole without keeper intervention.

Omlet has been manufacturing the Eglu range since 2004, continuously refining the design based on field feedback from thousands of keepers worldwide. The current-generation Cube incorporates improvements to the ventilation system, roosting bar grip, and run attachment mechanism that address common complaints from earlier versions.

The complete system — coop plus run — ships as a flat-pack kit that two people can assemble in about two hours with no tools beyond those included. The instruction manual is clear and well-illustrated, which is unusual for flat-pack products. Omlet also provides video assembly guides on their website.

The price point places the Eglu Cube firmly in the premium tier. When configured with a three-meter run and the Autodoor, the total investment is comparable to a well-built custom wooden coop. The difference is that the Eglu Cube requires virtually zero maintenance over its lifespan, whereas wooden coops need annual treatment and periodic repairs.

Build Quality and Materials

The Eglu Cube is injection-molded from UV-stabilized, BPA-free polyethylene — the same type of food-grade plastic used in water tanks and playground equipment. The twin-wall construction creates an air gap that provides insulation comparable to a double-pane window, keeping the interior warmer in winter and cooler in summer than single-wall wooden coops.

The plastic construction eliminates the two biggest maintenance headaches of traditional coops: rot and red mite infestation. Red poultry mites burrow into wood grain and are nearly impossible to eradicate from wooden coops. The smooth, non-porous plastic surfaces of the Eglu Cube deny mites any hiding spots, and a pressure-wash cleans the entire coop in about fifteen minutes.

The steel run frame is powder-coated and uses weld-mesh panels rather than woven wire. The predator-resistance of the run depends on the optional anti-tunnel skirt — a horizontal steel mesh apron that lies flat on the ground around the perimeter, preventing digging predators from tunneling under. Without the skirt, the standard run is adequate for daytime protection but not fully predator-proof overnight.

The roosting bars inside the Cube are textured for grip — chickens with smooth, round roost bars tend to slip, especially larger breeds. The Eglu bars are rectangular with a slightly textured surface that gives birds a secure footing. They are removable for cleaning.

The nesting area is divided into two compartments, each accessible from a hinged rear panel. The interior dividers are removable if your hens prefer a single larger nesting space. The design encourages laying in the nesting boxes rather than on the coop floor, which keeps eggs cleaner.

One underappreciated advantage of the twin-wall plastic is sound insulation. The air gap between the walls dampens noise in both directions — the coop is quieter inside for sleeping birds, and the egg song is less audible to neighbors outside. For urban keepers with close property lines, this acoustic benefit is meaningful.

Pros and Cons

The strongest arguments for the Eglu Cube are hygiene, durability, and low maintenance. The slide-out droppings tray and smooth plastic surfaces make cleaning genuinely fast — a task that takes thirty minutes in a wooden coop takes ten in the Cube. The twin-wall insulation provides excellent climate control without supplemental heating in most climates. And the rot-proof, mite-proof construction means the coop should last fifteen to twenty years with zero structural maintenance.

The weaknesses are price and capacity. The Eglu Cube with a standard-length run costs significantly more than comparable wooden coops — placing it firmly in the premium tier. The interior is smaller than it looks from outside, and honest capacity is four to six birds, not the ten Omlet advertises. Tall or heavy breeds like Orpingtons or Jersey Giants find it cramped at the high end of that range.

Customization is also limited. You cannot modify the internal layout, add extra roosting bars, or attach custom nesting boxes. What you get is well-designed but fixed.

The modular run system deserves specific mention. Omlet sells two-meter run extensions that bolt onto the base run, allowing you to increase outdoor space as needed. The connections are secure and weather-sealed. You can extend the run in a straight line or add corner sections to wrap around landscape features. This modularity is a significant advantage over wooden coops with fixed-dimension attached runs.

Some keepers report that the Cube's ventilation — while adequate in moderate climates — can feel insufficient in very hot, humid summers. The ventilation channels are engineered into the roof structure and cannot be easily modified. In extreme heat, additional cooling measures (shade cloth over the run, frozen water bottles inside) may be needed to supplement the built-in airflow.

The Eglu Cube also has the highest resale value of any production chicken coop. Because it does not deteriorate — no rot, no mite damage, no structural degradation — a used Eglu Cube retains fifty to seventy percent of its retail value. If you decide to exit chicken keeping, you can recover a meaningful portion of your investment.

Is It Worth the Price?

The Eglu Cube makes financial sense if you value time over money and plan to keep chickens for many years. The upfront cost is high, but the total cost of ownership over a decade is competitive with wooden coops that need annual maintenance, periodic replacement parts, and red mite treatments.

For new keepers who are uncertain about their commitment to the hobby, the price is hard to justify. A budget wooden coop or a DIY build lets you test the waters at a fraction of the cost. But for keepers who have already decided this is a long-term pursuit, the Cube eliminates most of the maintenance frustrations that cause people to quit.

The Omlet Autodoor accessory is worth adding at purchase — retrofitting later costs the same but requires redrilling. The light-sensor mode works reliably across seasons, and the convenience of automatic dawn-and-dusk operation is substantial.

For keepers deciding between the Eglu Cube and a high-quality wooden coop, the decision often comes down to maintenance tolerance. If you enjoy woodworking and do not mind annual staining, hardware replacement, and mite treatments, a wooden coop can be more aesthetically satisfying and costs less upfront. If you want a set-and-forget coop that will look and function the same in year ten as in year one, the Eglu Cube is the obvious choice.

The Autodoor uses a light sensor to detect dawn and dusk and operates the pop door automatically. The motor is quiet, the mechanism is reliable, and the door itself is insulated. Some keepers program the timer mode during mid-summer when dawn comes very early — the light sensor opens the door at first light, which may be before you are awake to check on the birds. Timer mode lets you set a later opening time for a few extra minutes of sleep and predator protection.

Warranty and customer support are strong points for Omlet. The company offers a two-year warranty on the Eglu Cube and responsive customer service. Replacement parts — latches, doors, roosting bars, run panels — are available individually, so a single broken component does not require replacing the entire coop.