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.
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.
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!
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