Eva’s Friends

N F C · Jun 17, 2024

It sounds like the critters are keeping things hopping with their little dramas :lol:

Love the B&W photo of Kitty, she looks comfy and at ease. Honor and Liberty are growing! Hope you can get a couple more ducklings to keep your one company.

Nice update!

Evadig · Jun 20, 2024

Good afternoon!

I waited to write because I wanted to show you the little stinkers that arrived today...Somehow either Metzer or the Post Office messed up and they went to the wrong post office. But they're both happy and healthy. One is a Duclair and the other a Magpie.

I put them in with Hilda and her duckling, but Hilda wouldn't accept them, so I ended up taking all three away and putting them in a brooder. I did want them to be raised by a duck... but they're going to be a separate flock anyway so I guess it doesn't matter.

She is still brooding, even though she is down to one egg, which is still kicking (literally - I saw it!). There were two others that both had gotten cracked somehow and died. One I tried to save but it died in my hands. I buried it next to Josie and Helen. They only had a few days more to go. Out of twenty eggs, only two hatched. Ugh!

You remember that Hilda, Winnie, and Matilda were sharing a nest? Well, when the duckling hatched, she adopted Matilda as her mum. But then I found that Hilda and Winnie were fighting, so I removed Winnie. She never liked the duckling anyway. I also took Matilda out and put her in the basement to break her broodiness. She has lost several pounds. I think she misses Helen, and whenever we let her out of the basement she tried to get back into the Muddy Run. I don't know if she wants to sit or she wants the duckling, but she's not allowed back in there.

Eva is delighted she can say hi to the new ducklings without a protective mother keeping her at bay. She didn't hardly get to interact with the chicks because Jen pecked when she got too close.

Stanislaus and Frank had a confrontation yesterday. Stanislaus tried to spur Frank (though he doesn't have any spurs) and then pecked him, but Frank just lifted up his wings and stretched out his neck. That's all he did.

Stanislaus also met his children. Jenny was taking them for a tour of the yard, and Stan came up to Jen and did his leg kick to try to get her to move but she just walked off on him. Then he tried to mate her but she stared him right in the face for a few seconds and he gave up. He did not appear to be aggressive to the chicks.

The Chickies also got to free range, and it was funny how calm about it they were. They just walked off and started exploring, unlike the Hens and the Biddies, who, when they were young, would come cautiously out of the coop, get about ten feet away, and then fly back in a paroxysm of terror.

As Jenny starts to free range the chicks more, she has had to defend them numerous times. Prudence lived up to her name and decided to avoid confrontation, but Viv was unceremoniously ridden out of the coop with an angry Jen holding on to her neck feathers. And Henry the Mighty Drake decided to bully the little chicks and got soundly pecked for his pains - he took off running!

Jenny is so motherly she actually took in the duckling for a short period of time, even though it's a week old and her chicks are almost four weeks old.

George was limping and had a swollen foot, but I gave him a strong dose of niacin and it appears to be better. He is penned up though to give it a chance to rest. He and Frank were fighting last night in the coop. They can't go together anymore - I need to sell them.

Kitty has been named Constance.

Man, this is a way longer post than I had intended. If you made it this far, thank you, and enjoy the pictures of the new quackers!

Lil' Stinkers!

Ms. Prud don't look too happy.

Henry enjoying a cool swim in 95F and very humid weather

I thought this cloud was kind of neat...

Eva meeting the quackers

New quackers with their mixed breed friend (it did cry for Hilda a little bit but soon settled down contentedly).

N F C · Jun 20, 2024

Congrats on the new ducklings, they're super cute :love

Evadig · Jun 24, 2024

Good morning! I've been having bad internet again so wasn't able to post yesterday. It's been really hot this last week (the pool water was actually warm!) but today is breezy and cooler and making me think fall is here already, even though it's only the second day of summer.

The ducklings are doing well and growing like weeds! I haven't named them yet. I can't believe that the mixed breed is just over a week old...

...which means I have had Constance for just over a week - it seems like she's been here forever! This morning at four am I woke up to hear her playing with her robotic mouse. At five - thirty she started meowing - she wanted to be petted.

The ducklings are in a brooder that stays in the laundry room. This is the first time I have ever raised babies without a heat lamp (with the exception of the Buggers, of course) from a day old. It's funny how we become less protective the more experienced we get.

Matilda is out of the basement, and kind of still wants to brood but not too badly anymore. Hilda abandoned the last egg, which was still kicking (literally) when I last candled it. I need to get it.

As I write I can hear the ducklings dabbling in their water, no doubt soaking their bedding for the third time this morning. There was a reason I wanted them raised by a duck...but they're the cutest little quackers!

Eva has been doing well, no seizures that I know of.

That's all for now. I see I've been seriously slacking on both quality and quantity of pictures. But homework comes first...only eight more weeks!

The ducklings in the laundry basket while I clean their brooder

One of the frogs that live in our pool hopped aboard my innertube for a ride

Another resident frog

Constance stopped sleeping in a crate, finally, and now enjoys her pillow

Sunset

N F C · Jun 24, 2024

The ducklings are adorable! Glad to hear Eva hasn't had a problem lately.

Evadig · Jul 1, 2024

I'm back! The internet is working again, maybe because the provider thought they'd better fix our service if they want to retain our patronage...unfortunately (for them!) we have already determined on a new company.

Today is the first day of classes for the second summer session. Only seven more weeks, and I'll be done!

There is really no news going on. The Buggers are five weeks old. They are growing really independent. Jenny is not driving them away or anything, but they have been putting themselves to bed. Then she comes up and joins them. I'll have to go out tonight and see if they still sleep under her.

The Cutest of all Stinkers are two and three weeks old. I named them, not very creatively, Maggie (Magpie), Claire, (Duclair) and Anton (because he hatched on St Anthony's feast - June 13th). I know I named him Lucas earlier but it was agreed that Anton suit him better; besides, if he should chance to be a girl, we can easily call her Antonia. But he acts very much like Henry, even down to Henry's famous neck twist when we pick him up, so we are sure it's a boy.

Henry nearly got killed today, and small wonder. He pestered Eva till her patience was gone, and then she pounced on him making the most fearsome growls. I don't think she would have actually killed him but she could have hurt him. Then, once I'd rescued him, he had the audacity to try to bite her through the pen. He is a stinker!

All the grand plans I had made for a coop have been ditched in favor of remodeling our shed. I just don't have the time, either in my world or the animals', to build a new coop. But I've filed away the plans, for use someday...

I spent the few days in between semesters researching our family's ancestors. It's really, really interesting, 'specially as I love history. I didn't know my grandma's family emigrated to Quebec back in the seventeenth century. One relative was a King's Daughter (the king paid for her voyage and her dowry). It was almost four hundred years before they made their way into the United States.

I hope you enjoy the pictures!

Dolores - doesn't her tail look odd for an Australorp? :confused:

Patience

Honor

Liberty

Henry

Winnie and Hilda - never mind the junk :oops:

!

Lyd, Rose, Prude, and Winston are really, really mad 'cause they don't get to free range.

The door was open, the whole yard theirs to explore - they decided to spend their afternoon crammed in this nest box! :rolleyes:

Claire, Maggie, and Anton

N F C · Jul 2, 2024

Congrats, only 7 weeks left to go until graduation, you're almost there!

I enjoyed the update, that Henry is ornery! Honor and Liberty are growing like weeds and cute as ever.

Evadig · Jul 5, 2024

Happy Belated Fourth of July! I forgot to write Wednesday and Thursday. I've been sewing a dress, from a 1940's pattern. And doing homework...but the dress has taken precedence.

My father actually agreed to renovate our shed for me. They do want to get a new shed anyway but he was nice enough to build the inside. We're almost done. I'll show you around when it's finished.

Jen took her babies even farther afield today. She's such a good mom, even for a first-timer. She came from Chicken Scratch Poultry in Illinois.

Constance and Eva actually sniffed noses the other day! Con has been her for less than a month...she's really making progress!

The Cutest of All Stinkers had their first swim a few days ago, when the weather suddenly became hot. They really enjoy splashing in the lid to the old turkey pan.

That's all for now. I'm afraid I really didn't take any pictures...

The dress in the making

Maggie, Claire, and Anton - before they graduated to the lid of the old turkey pan

Jen with Honor and Liberty

Winnie meticulously cleaning each feather

Random Picture: Mackinac Bridge at Night

N F C · Jul 5, 2024

Evadig said:
Happy Belated Fourth of July! I forgot to write Wednesday and Thursday. I've been sewing a dress, from a 1940's pattern. And doing homework...but the dress has taken precedence.

My father actually agreed to renovate our shed for me. They do want to get a new shed anyway but he was nice enough to build the inside. We're almost done. I'll show you around when it's finished.

Jen took her babies even farther afield today. She's such a good mom, even for a first-timer. She came from Chicken Scratch Poultry in Illinois.

Constance and Eva actually sniffed noses the other day! Con has been her for less than a month...she's really making progress!

The Cutest of All Stinkers had their first swim a few days ago, when the weather suddenly became hot. They really enjoy splashing in the lid to the old turkey pan.

That's all for now. I'm afraid I really didn't take any pictures...

The dress in the making
View attachment 3882691

Maggie, Claire, and Anton - before they graduated to the lid of the old turkey pan
View attachment 3882692

Jen with Honor and Liberty
View attachment 3882693

Winnie meticulously cleaning each feather
View attachment 3882694

Random Picture: Mackinac Bridge at Night
View attachment 3882695

As always, wonderful photos!

That dress looks complicated, you must have a lot of sewing experience. Pretty color!

Evadig · Jul 7, 2024

Good evening! It's all quiet at the Muddy Run, no news to report, so I'll tell you about our trip to Florida instead

.

We were living in Louisiana at the time, and one day we thought we would go on a road trip. So we packed up and started driving, though we didn't have a destination in mind. Each of us had a different idea of the perfect vacation, and we couldn't agree, so we just decided to figure it out as we went along.

The only thing we knew for certain is that we were going to go East. I don't remember if we had to spend a night somewhere in Georgia, but at any rate, we eventually decided that the beach was a better place than the mountains, so we headed in that direction.

We arrived in Charleston, South Carolina, very late and very irritable, and a very bad storm was getting up. We had never seen the trees sway so much, because we hadn't lived in LA very long and had never seen a hurricane. So it was very frightening.

As luck would have it, every hotel in town was nearly packed. I don't know why, but we had to drive way out into what seemed like the middle of nowhere with the rain beating on the windshield and the wind buffeting the car and all of us blaming the other for the predicament we found ourselves in.

We finally arrived at half past midnight to a hotel on the beach, and because it was so late they gave us a discount, which was very nice of them because we couldn't have afforded to stay there otherwise.

The next morning the sky was bright and sunny and we went down to the beach. Then I wished I had brought binoculars because you could just see Fort Sumpter off the horizon. And since I love history, I was really excited. But the ferry was too expensive so I wasn't able to visit. Maybe some day...

I wonder if this is getting too long? And maybe you don't care to hear about the trip to Florida (if you don't, I won't be offended!

) so I'll leave off here and if you want to hear more I'll resume later this week.

Despite not having any news I did take some pictures, some of which I used various filters on 'cause I thought they looked better.

Peaches growing on a tree