Pre-Easter Festivities

Its been an eventful day on and off the homestead. Brayden mostly recovered from "the plague" (see last post)  but now Justin has caught some type of nasty bug and pollen is out in full force, which has reached havoc on me. If you have never been to or lived in Virginia you will never understand the horror that is spring time pollen when you suffer from seasonal allergies. (Spring pollen is also the reason I will never own a black vehicle). It's barely spring and I have a dusty coat of yellow on my porch, car and basically every out door surface.

Egg Hunt.

On a brighter note, tomorrow it Easter Sunday! Today my Mom and I took Brayden to an Easter Egg hunt at my grandma's church. They had a lot of really great activities for the kids and I would like to give the volunteers at Second Branch Baptist Church a big round of applause for putting it all together. We started things off with a picture with the Easter Bunny. Brayden loved it! He didn't exactly smile for the picture but he was one of the few kids that didn't cry and in my book that is a win! They had a cute face "mask" craft for the toddlers which actually ended up being the mom's and dad's crafting at the toddler table while the kids played with the nursery toys. Then they had a story time and each child received an easter egg with a cross necklace, Brayden was more interested in the blocks than the story or necklace. We visited the clowns who made balloon animals, painted on sparkly temporary tattoos and did face painting for the kids. Brayden was not a fan of the clowns, nor did he want a tattoo but he volunteered my arm for a sparkly easter bunny. Finally the Grand Finale, the Easter Egg Hunt! Brayden grabbed a few eggs then wiped out squashing his easter basket within 10 seconds.... he took it like a champ and I pieced together the basket as best I could. We kept on moving and still managed to snag a half full basket of eggs. By the end, he was more interested in what was in the eggs than actually collecting them. Mom and I were tired from corralling him toward the eggs, so we sat down and had some lunch which the church provided. We had pizza, deviled eggs and an array of fruits and veggies. I had hoped that B would pass out on the way home but instead he had other plans, which included the eggs filled with candies. On the way home he snatched up an egg out of the basket which contained a mini chocolate bar and devoured most of it (the remainder was melted on his hands and face). Oh well, Easter is only once a year... I think overall he had a fun day.

Time to Run.

The girls got to play in the run today! It has been one week since we started coop training and we finally got to let them play in the fresh air. The excitment was palpable. I can't wait until we get run up to par, I have a few ideas I've seen on Pinterest or in magazines. We still need to finish the walk up to the run, we need to add some strips of wood to help them grip, right now its more like a slide then a run. Right now, I have to take them out of the coop one by one and put them away the same way, which is rather difficult since all but two are afraid of me. I think it will help cure the boredom from minimal grass in the coop. We are still debating on straw in the run vs. construction grade sand. Ive read pluses and minuses for both and I'm not sure what we should do quite yet. For now they get to scratch for bugs in the packed dirt and peck at the patchy grass. We also need to make a dust bath. I have been researching mixtures for the dust bath and Im leaning toward garden soil and Diatomaceous Earth (DE). DE is recommended to help keep chickens free of parsites and if they eat it, it can help with the GI tract. I would eventually like to add in some charcoal (for the dust bath and to hang a chunk in the coop) I have read that charcoal has a lot of benefits for your chickens. Charcoal is a natural filter and helps control the smell in a chickens poop. I will continue to research and will start making the coop a little homier for the girls. That's all for now!

The Plague, the Coop and Moving Day.

What a week. 

So it has been an eventful week and a half in the Wright household. Between finishing up the chicken coop, tilling up our gardening plot, moving our beloved chicks into their new home and catching the black plague (also known as Hand, Foot and Mouth) we have been a bit busy, leaving me little time to update here.

My poor son started out with a fever on Sunday afternoon and by the next day was covered head to toe in itchy red spots. If you're not familiar with HFMD you should click the link above. It is a joy to behold... So hubby and I have been taking turns staying home with our bub while he gets better.

Done... Almost.

On a happier note we have completed the chicken coop! Well...we still need to add the corrugated roofing over the coop/run and I have a few painting projects in mind, but for the most part we are D-O-N-E!! Our chickadees have moved out of the utility room and have resided inside the coop for 3 whole days. They love having the space, exploring all the nooks/crannies and have been taking advantage of the new roosting rails. Im a little sad that I can't peek in on them as often as I did inside, but boy are they dusty! I had an inch of dust on ever surface in the utility room from their short 4 week stay. We still have the heat lamp in the coop due to still having some chilly nights but they are almost fully feathered and seem to be comfortable.

Over the weekend, we invested in a larger galvanized metal feeder and waterer. Eventually we would like to build a better feed/water system. We have been leaning towards a PVC pipe system that will help their food and water stay cleaner (by keeping out the poop and pine shavings!) The feeder/waterer would also stay fuller for longer period of time. There are a lot of DIY videos on Y YouTube that show you how to build a chicken feeder, like this one: DIY Chicken Feeder.

My amazing husband also built some roosting rails for the chickadees to perch on at night. We used a large dowl rod (top) we found in the yard when we moved in, I liked this better than a brand new one because it was weathered and would be easier for the chickens to grip. He also added a 1x2 in the middle for stability but this also doubles as a second perch which the chicks are taking advantage of now. He also closed off the nesting boxes to avoid any sleeping and pooping in there and will help train them that they are for laying eggs only. I read this tip on the Chicken Chick's website. She has SOOOO much helpful information about anything and everything you need to know about chickens. 

Cooped Up.

Per the advise of the Chicken Chick, we are keeping the chicks confined to the coop for the first week for coop training (even though it kills me to see them "cooped up" when it's so pretty outside... haha chicken joke...) This will theoretically help the chickens realize that this is their home and they will return at night time to sleep and eventually lay there eggs inside instead of on the ground or in random places. We will see if it works!

Since moving the chickens to the coop they seem a smidge less frightened of me especially when Im on the other side of the window. Minnie (pictured above), Lemon, and Zoe have been the most curious when I come to peek in and check on them. Im hoping that eventually they won't run away screaming when I open the door! 

Gardening on a Quarter Acre

And it Begins. 

We may have gone a bit over board this year when planting seeds... We have a total of 4 seedling trays, with 72 seed pods in 3 trays and 40 seed pods in the tomato tray. This comes to a grand total of 256 seedlings.... We have planted a wide variety of flora including: 4 breeds of tomatoes, 2 types of carrots, brussel sprouts, parsnips, 2 varieties of lettuce, cabbage, cantaloupes, 2 types of cucumbers, sweet peppers, hot peppers, summer squash, zucchini, strawberries, lima beans, bush beans, cilantro, basil, lavender, peppermint, chamomile and rosemary. Im sure I forgot to list something, but you get the point. It can be a little overwhelming.

I blame this on the zero confidence I have in my seed growing abilities. I assume that if I plant enough, something is bound to grow. This year we have seedlings for days. 

In all honesty, I do have experience with gardening. It is practically in my blood. From the time I could walk I was helping my Papa in his backyard garden. I helped plant over 200 tomato plants every year and tons of other plants. Justin and I have had some successes but with summers being a busy time for us the garden often gets neglected. By the end of summer we end up with one zucchini and a bunch of crispy tomato plants. 

This year I am determined that we will overcome the habits of years past and will have enough to supplement our groceries, if not, supply us with the majority of our produce with the growing year! If we are going to continue our urban homesteading dreams, gardening is an essential skill. 

The Magnolia Range (Our Chicken Coop)

A Work in Progress.

Before even buying our sweet chickadees, I spent weeks scouring the internet for information. I asked friends, relatives and bought several books on the subject. I was particularly curious about building vs. buying a chicken coop. After reading many reviews about how sub-par the prefab chicken coops were we opted for building our own. 

After looking at many chicken coop designs and suggestions, we set to work. We live on a slight slope and had to even up our foundation. This was probably the most difficult and time consuming portion throughout the project thus far. It took an entire day to level, bury and install what you see in the picture above.  What you don't see (and I forgot to take a picture of) is "the bib" which is chicken wire that's stapled and screwed to the base wood. Then a trench is dug around the perimeter of the coop. The chicken wire is then put down into the trench and reburied. This deters preditors from digging under your coops foundation and making a treat out of your beloved chickens. 

The next day while I was at work, Justin framed in the run, the chicken coop and the door to enter the run. He also added the framing for what would be the floor of the coop. This would be the progress at the end of our first week building our coop. 

The next weekend we were blessed with beautiful warm weather. Justin decided that we would build the nesting boxes, the side door and the door the chickens would use to go between the run and the coop. We had done a lot of research about the chicken coop door. I really wanted an automatic door with light sensors. This would let the chickens out in the morning then closes at night when the chickens are in to roost. Since these automatic chicken doors run about $200-300 bucks, we have to do it ourselves for the time being.

The Coop and the Nesting Boxes.

Justin started to frame in the chicken coop and build the nesting boxes. This was another day's worth of work for my handy husband! We knew we wanted a window to add some light, and we wanted it to allow for some ventilation in the warmer months. We found a fairly cheap shed window that slides open and has a screen. We will still cover this with hardware cloth from the inside to deter predators. We also needed a door for easy access cleaning. I had originally wanted a tray that could be pull out for cleaning. After building one and seeing how heavy it would be, we decided against it. I managed to pick up a box of laminate floor tiles for a steal at $4.10 at the hardware store which would allow for easier clean up. 

After Justin framed in the coop, he built what would be our nesting boxes. Since we have 6 chickens I read that it would be best to have 2 nesting boxes. He built 2, 12"x12"x12" boxes that have a hinged roof for easy egg collection. Eventually I would like a step on the side with the coop door and the nesting boxes since I'm vertically challenged. 

Once the nesting boxes were attached he started work on the chicken door to the coop. He rigged up a pulley system attached to a sheet of plywood that slides through wooden slats. There are a few snags but this will have to work for now. Eventually we would like to upgrade to automatic/light sensitive (hopefully before winter returns, when it gets dark before I get home from work!) I have read awesome things about the chicken guard door system but for now I will just dream of a day when I can afford such luxuries! (Check it out: Chicken Guard Website!)

Next, we needed to close in the chicken coop and add the hardware mesh to close in the chicken run. Justin found an awesome deal on Jet.com for hardware mesh which is also kind of expensive but very worth it from what I hear. I have read horror stories about raccoons reaching through chicken wire and grabbing an easy chicken supper. We have tried to be very diligent when it comes to predator protection. There are a lot of feral cats in our neighborhood, in combination with a fox that snatched a few of our friend's chickens a few streets over. 

Throughout the process so far I have been trying to come up with a fun and catchy name for our beloved chicken coop. I wanted to give it a meaningful name, but something that was fun and maybe something that was related to us locally. After a few brainstorming sessions and a stroke of luck we came up with Magnolia Range. There is a local, historical plantation in Chesterfield called Magnolia Grange, we took this as inspiration, add in ranging chickens plus our love for the show "Fixer Upper" and Viola! We have our chicken coop name, the name of my blog and maybe eventually the name of our farm...? Thats all for now, check back soon!

Brand New

I've never been one to really stick with something, especially blogging, but seeing as we (meaning my husband, my son and myself) have began what I hope is a long line of life changes, I thought maybe I would give it a try (again). So here goes...

Life Changes.

A few months back Justin (my husband) and I decided that it was our life wish to live on a farm and start homesteading. We have always had a little garden, even in the front yard of our first townhouse we had a little garden patch. We now live in a 950 square foot rental rancher in the suburbs of Richmond, VA with dreams of someday living on rolling hills in a fixed-up farmhouse. For now, we are "urban homesteading" and saving money for our dream home in the country and this is our journey.

The Chickens.

As of 3 weeks ago we became the proud owners of 6 baby chicks. We have (what we think) are 2 brown leghorns, 2 black australorps and 2 yellow mystery chicks, which the girl at the feed supply store had no clue about their breed or origin. This has been an...adventure.

In order to understand the complexities of our "urban homestead" let me give you a little background on our family. I am an artist, a mama, a medical assistant, an MS warrior and among other things a chef's wife. If you do not have a professional culinarian in your family or happen to be married to one its hard to understand exactly what that means. A chef's wife or anyone tied romantically to someone in food industry is at the mercy of the dreadful work schedule which most restaurants require. This is most excellently explained on the blog *Married to a Chef. Long story short, I am often home alone on the weekends, holidays and at night. I have been slightly spoiled (if you can call it that) by my husband's current job, up until a few months ago. We will just say there were complications and his, at one time, very predictable schedule was turned upside-down and he now works a more typical schedule for a chef.

So when the chicks came along, we knew there would be work involved but boy did we under estimate our high maintenence chicks! Between changing and cleaning the feeder/waterer, cleaning off pasty butt, changing the bedding every 2 days, rescuing a stuck chick outside of the brooder and making sure the temperature is just right, it has definitely been a steep learning curve. Juggling this with a full time job and a 2 year old son, I am one tired mama. We are now 3 weeks in and have mostly completed our chicken coop and I am ready for these beauties to move outside!


*Please check out the blog: Married to a Chef @ http://www.marriedtoachef.com