So today we are going to be talking a little bit about our new venture..  Chickens in the City of Richmond!

Michael has been like a proud papa with his chickens.  He checks on them more than he checks on Niles.  I’m not exaggerating it’s totally true.

Well I mean you know that I am checking on Niles so he is taken care of. But you are very concerned about these chickens.

I’m not concerned but you know before they are fully feathered is the time you need to take the most care of them.

I have heard the words fully feathered more times than anyone has ever heard those words in the last couple of weeks.

We have wanted chickens for a long time. I think that originally I brought the idea to you.  I told Michael “what if we got chickens” I think before we even moved into this house.  So like years ago.

Chickens in the City of Richmond

So when we finally moved to Richmond and had a little bit of a backyard Michael sort of jumped on that idea.

He was like hey we can have chickens now. We researched it and in the city of Richmond you can have up to six chickens.  So as long as they are in adequate distance away from other residences and an acceptable coop. 

Animal control stopped by and checked out our coop.  It was actually hysterical the girl came by and knocked on our door.  She said hey I am just here to take a picture of the chicken coop.  I just wanted to let you know before I walked into your backyard.

I said absolutely go back there but know that it’s not all the way done. And she says uh no, I peaked in the backyard and that’s the sweetest chicken coop I’ve ever seen.

So I don’t know where chickens are living here in Richmond but Michael has built them the Cadillac of chicken coops.

Legitimately he is finishing it out and he is building on a porch.  And he wants to add a swing or rocking chairs for the chickens.

I’m not kidding this is a real thing Michael wants to do. I will be sure to Insta story it.

I am not trying to deter you from making this cute. We were originally going to put it behind our shed so you wouldn’t be able to see it but we figured that would be a good place for the chickens to play. So now it is on the side of our shed where you can see it from our backyard. So it had to be cute.

And so again Michael has really run with that idea.

And so it is. It’s cute. Many people have commented.

I have learned a lot too. Like how to build a proper shingle roof and siding.

So we looked up a bunch of different chicken coops on Pinterest but then eventually kind of just winged it ourselves.

It has three nesting boxes inside and a little roost.

They are not quite ready to go out there yet. Which is why it’s not finished.

It’s kind of like Niles’s nursery. He came home and then we finished it.  We knew he wasn’t going to use it yet.

You got to get their personalities. Now we know they wanna front porch. We can tell.

Chick’s Creek – Chickens in the City of Richmond

Speaking of their mannerisms. We did decide to, with the help of my father, name the coop Chick’s Creek, after one of our favorite shows Schitt’s Creek.

So all of the chickens are named after characters of that show. So we have Moira, Johnny Rose, Alexis, David, Twyla, and Stevie.

Their profile pictures are on our Instagram so go check it out. We may or may not have taken head shots of all of them.

There is a highlight on our Instagram. Chicks creek. #TheChicksCreek because for some reason there was already a Chick’s Creek taken.

So because they are not quite ready to be outside yet. They are not fully feathered to use that term again. They are living in our office.

So they were in a box. But we put the box was too small for them. So now we have them in an old dog crate. Which is a hot mess.

Well yeah. It’s just one of those dog crates that is just grates with a piece of plastic at the bottom. So chickens like to kick up the ground.  So they kick up all the shavings.

There’s a ton of bedding at the bottom.  They play with it. Chickens play.

It is seriously just a mess. I think I vacuum like five times a day now.  I dust a lot and sweet. It’s crazy.

So if you were about to get chicks. Just know they are messy.

And very dirty. You have to change their water like 1000 times a day.

DIY solutions – Chickens in the City of Richmond

Well again we didn’t buy anything. We use a lot of old wood and things around our house.  We are DIY people y’all.

The only thing we actually bought for the shed was the siding. Everything else was scrap wood.

So we did the same thing for their feet are in their water thing.

It’s a Dunkin’ Donuts coffee thing for their feeder and a jar and a Chinese takeout container for their water.

We sound so official. But they are happy little chicks.

We put a post between some of the bars of the crates so they have a little roost. 

Which they actually love. All six of them were on it today. I posted it on Instagram.

And then we stopped cardboard onto the sides to try to create some sort of barrier for all the shavings and stuff they kick out but it doesn’t do much.

And we also have a camera so we can watch them. 

But it’s true. Michael wants to monitor them constantly.

Getting outside – Chickens in the City of Richmond

We have been putting them outside a little bit more.  Probably mostly because I get sick of them being in the office.

A nicer days we’ve been putting them outside and then giving them a bit of a run with chicken wire.  Which they occasionally try to get out of but I think that they like it.

As soon as you open the cage they’re like flapping their wings and they get excited.

They don’t love us holding them so we’re trying to pick them up more so they get used to us.

If you have any questions about getting checks we are certainly not experts, but we are happy to answer any questions that you have.

And they are all still alive.  I feel like a lot of people are like be careful they peck at each other, or your dog will get to them.

Niles trying to grab one of them has probably been the worst thing.

So they are going to be able to be outside soon. They are a little over four weeks now and can go outside at six weeks.  So they are close to living in their coop.

If you have questions let us know or if you’d like to follow along #TheChicksCreek.  And also we have that highlight on our Insta story @MichaelandLauraPhotography.

If you have questions you can DM us there or messages here.

The Barred Rocks

David + Alexis

The Rhode Island Reds

Moira + Johnny Rose

The Ameraucanas

Twyla + Stevie