Eva’s Friends

[Callender Girl]

I, for one, enjoyed your "rambling."

Loved your birds' names; some of them are on my list of favorites for future birds (and there are always more, no matter what I tell myself every year!).

Clay soil to dig through AND a knee injury -- those ducks don't know how lucky they are to be cared for by someone so devoted to them.
Hope you are on the road to recovery, although clearing woods may not be that helpful!

Thanks for the remarkable photos and the update!

 

[Evadig]

Happy Easter!

Today was warm(er) - it got up to sixty degrees. The chicks had their first outing today. They are 2.5 weeks old so I am hoping I can put them out in the coop by next week. This morning when I came home from church I found Hope had flown out of the brooder. She had made quite the mess on my bathroom floor.

There isn't much of an update to give but I took lots of pictures. I hope you enjoy them!

Jenny (left) and Prudence sharing a nest box​

Yogurt with chicken granola (mealworms!)​

The beauty of a mixed flock (enjoying the yogurt)​

Winnie's beautiful feathers​

Rose​

George preparing to attack​

Winston Churchill​

Brianna​

Front to back: Frank, George, Matt, Rita​

Annie Beth (she's almost sixteen weeks!)​

Annie Beth and Eva​

Eva got a haircut for Easter​

Lyd is brave enough to try stealing food from under Eva's nose​

Matilda​

Left to right: Charity, Patience, Faith, Hope​

Eva loves her friends.​

 

[N F C]

Happy Easter!

Today was warm(er) - it got up to sixty degrees. The chicks had their first outing today. They are 2.5 weeks old so I am hoping I can put them out in the coop by next week. This morning when I came home from church I found Hope had flown out of the brooder. She had made quite the mess on my bathroom floor.

There isn't much of an update to give but I took lots of pictures. I hope you enjoy them!

Jenny (left) and Prudence sharing a nest box​

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Yogurt with chicken granola (mealworms!)​

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The beauty of a mixed flock (enjoying the yogurt)​

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Winnie's beautiful feathers​

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Rose​

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George preparing to attack​

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Winston Churchill​

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Brianna​

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Front to back: Frank, George, Matt, Rita​

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Annie Beth (she's almost sixteen weeks!)​

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Annie Beth and Eva​

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Eva got a haircut for Easter​

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Lyd is brave enough to try stealing food from under Eva's nose​

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Matilda​

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Left to right: Charity, Patience, Faith, Hope​

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Eva loves her friends.​

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Looks like a nice Easter for them all

 

[Callender Girl]

Fantastic photos, so many great critters! Thanks for sharing!

Looks like Brianna is inside a run. Yesterday, a feral cat here made the mistake of getting inside an empty coop. All of its ladies immediately ran up and told kitty to take a hike!

 

[Evadig]

I guess it’s time for another update. The chicks are 3.5 weeks old already. It’s incredible how fast and slow that seems at the same time.

They had to move into another brooder - a pop-up rabbit pen. They’d outgrown the plastic bin in two weeks. If I did this over again, I’d put them directly into the rabbit pen.

While they were still in the plastic bin I took away the heat lamp around two weeks, but since they’ve moved out into my bedroom I gave it back to them since they seemed cold. They sleep under it and enjoy running around the rest of their brooder.

They seem to be a lot smarter than my big hens, who were raised in a hotel - they can already roost, though they don’t do it all night, and they don’t cry when I shut the lights off. Good chickies!

(All the chick pictures were taken at night ‘cause I couldn’t sleep).

The new brooder (pop-out rabbit pen)

Checking out the new roost

Hope was the first to try it out…

The pond after the rainstorm. I wish I had a picture of the ducks enjoying it but they just wouldn’t stay still.

Eva has Lyme disease and anaplasmosis (another disease from ticks).

Random picture of the week: New Hampshire State Capitol

 

[Callender Girl]

Oh, no! How is poor Eva doing?

 

[Evadig]

Oh, no! How is poor Eva doing?

Pretty good, the vet just put her on doxycycline but hopefully she doesn’t have any kidney damage. Some days she feels sick and doesn’t even want to go for a walk but most of the time she’s okay.

Wants some muffin!

 

[N F C]

Best wishes to little Eva

 

[Evadig]

It's been almost a week since I last wrote, but it feels like only a few days. I have been dealing with one of those colds that last forever since like two weeks ago. I'm into the coughing stage, which is the last, longest, and worst.

The chicks are four weeks old. They are about half to three-quarters feathered. I built them a better roost, which they seemed to enjoy.

Helen has taken to laying her eggs up in the woods under a partially fallen tree surrounded by thorn bushes. So we're back to the "stay in the coop till you've laid the egg" schedule.

The ducks got into the pond yesterday, but they actually came when I called them (yelled "come quack, here quack," etc. for ten minutes). My voice didn't appreciate it but I was glad they were hungry enough to listen to me.

I found a mouse in one of the feeders today! It was cute but... I don't know what I'm going to do. Poison isn't an option with all the animals, and I can't take the feed out of the coop - where else would they eat?

I've been keeping a log of how much feed I've been going through. I've wanted to do this for awhile but never got around to it.

50 lbs. feed ($21)
Opened April 5th
Measurements are in cups

April	3Ducks	2Geese	2Turkeys	4Hens	4Biddies	3Sentinel	2Ganders
5	5	2	5	5	5	5	1
6		2
7	5	2					1
8		2
9		1		5
10			5			5
11	5	2			5

Total cups after 1 week: 66

Prudence always gives me the stink eye when I take a picture of her in the nesting box.

The pond is finally holding water! I haven't refilled it for a week (this picture was several days ago but it's only gone down about six inches - it's three feet at the deepest part)

Minna the day of the eclipse

Lyd agreed to pose for me

Stan has started escorting his special girls, Lily and Lucy, to the nesting box and then standing guard while they lay.

Matt standing proud (he thinks I'm his girlfriend!)

I would love to post only quality pictures, but Jenny is so hard to snap a photo of, I have to take what I can get.

Winston enjoying an evening with his girls

Viv likes the camera

I took this picture through the mesh of the brooder because they're too skittish any other way. Front to back is Faith, Charity, Hope.

Eva sniffing an old tree stump

Random picture of the week: a beautiful tulip

 

[N F C]

Sorry to hear about the cold, hope it's gone soon. Beautiful pictures as always, that tulip is a gorgeous color!