Eva’s Friends

[Callender Girl]

Regarding your mouse -- I keep no-kill traps, made by Kness Mfg. in my hometown, in my coops. They are no-bait, metal traps with a see-through window so you can tell when they're occupied. You can remove the mouse without touching it and relocate it far away from your coop. I like the smaller sized ones. SOMETIMES, a mouse will die in the large traps, but I've never had that happen with the small size.

As always, enjoyed your update and the lovely photos of your crew and flowers. Good work, Stan, and I hope Eva is 100 percent back to normal.

 

[Evadig]

Regarding your mouse -- I keep no-kill traps, made by Kness Mfg. in my hometown, in my coops. They are no-bait, metal traps with a see-through window so you can tell when they're occupied. You can remove the mouse without touching it and relocate it far away from your coop. I like the smaller sized ones. SOMETIMES, a mouse will die in the large traps, but I've never had that happen with the small size.

As always, enjoyed your update and the lovely photos of your crew and flowers. Good work, Stan, and I hope Eva is 100 percent back to normal.

Oh, you mean the live traps? I have one, but I hadn't thought of putting it in the coop. Thanks for the suggestion!
Eva's definitely doing better .

 

[Evadig]

The chicks are five weeks old today. They are growing so fast, it seems like lightyears ago that they were just little balls of fluff. I wish I had been able to get more good pictures of that time. The upside is, they are more curious and willing to perch on my hand now. They have also recently begun associating me with treats, so I guess now is a good time to start teaching them to come.

I think Matilda has gone broody, or is going to. I don't know. For the last week she'd spent most of every day on some eggs, but at night I took her off the nest and she'd go to roost. I thought it was because she either forgot to get off the nest or didn't know how to back up (you'll see in the picture that it's in this narrow space). But every morning she would run back to the nest and sit there all day until bedtime. For the last two nights I decided to let her be, and she has stayed on her nest. She doesn't puff up or anything, and I haven't seen any feathers pulled out. So I don't know what to make of her.

I was gone to D.C. overnight, and left a full four gallon waterer in Frank and Rita's pen. Somehow they managed to spill that whole thing. They must have got scared during the night?

A personal addendum...we were in D.C. on business, but in the evening we watched the planes come in at Reagan Airport. Then at night drove down to the Capitol. It was beautiful - the white marble dome against the dark sky. Unfortunately, the drive back was not fun as there is construction on the freeway. It was a good trip, though!

Here are the pictures, both of Eva's friends and D.C. I hope there are not too many of them!

Patience

Rose looking at the chickies

A chick - I think it is Hope

A somewhat unusual shot of Amelia hopping into the sandbox; the black one is Alice

Can you spot the chickens? There are four. Bonus points if you can name them!

Here's Matilda on her nest (which is in the duck pen!). Her feathers are up because she was preening them.

Matt and George in their house

Jenny

Frank

Annie and Eva in the sunset

Sunset over the foothills of the Appalachian (App-a-latch-an) Mountains

Airliner landing at Reagan National Airport

The United States Capitol

 

[Callender Girl]

Don't be concerned about having "too many" great photos -- I don't think it's possible! Every one was a winner . Perfect timing on Amelia's hop.

Do you still think Frank and Rita got scared -- or were they just trying to teach you not to go away and leave them to their own devices?

I always enjoying seeing Eva's world!

 

[N F C]

I always enjoying seeing Eva's world!

x2!

 

[Evadig]

Good evening! It's Eva's fifth birthday today, so today's post will mostly center on her. She was born on Easter Sunday, and we got her at a pet store when she was nine weeks old (which means my birthday is in nine weeks - yikes!).
Eva started traveling cross country when she was only four months old. The experiences she received at such a young age shaped her tremendously. She loves riding in the car. "Go in the car" is her favorite phrase, even above "treat".
When not traveling, Eva loves to dig, sniff in the woods, and go for walks. She also likes sitting on my desk and looking out the window. It is funny to see her jump up when she sees the C-17 that flies over sometimes or hears a siren (apparently dogs are copycats as much as toddlers...).
Eva is my best friend and has helped me keep my sanity over many difficult periods of the last five years. Happy Birthday!

A short update on Eva's friends:

The chickies moved out into the Muddy Run a couple days ago. Despite the low temperatures (I think last night was 35 F), they are doing well. They are staying in the hospital until I can make some adjustments to the Muddy Run.

Matilda stopped sitting on the duck eggs the day after I last posted. I candled a few and one of them was actually developing. Unfortunately, I had put it back on the nest hoping Matilda would come back and sit, but Rita decided to lay her egg there and crushed it. Why that one? At least I don't have to buy an incubator.

I think that's it. See y'all sometime around Wednesday!

3.5 months

Caption says it all...

Relaxing in a hotel after a long day

See deer? Squirrel? Or maybe just a Woodpecker?

One of my favorite pictures of her

Lily has chosen this as her favorite spot to sit during the day

Stan was having a hard time staying upright in the wind

Chickies in their temporary house

Did I mention Eva is part goat?

This plant has incredible resilience

Another of my favorites - she loves history as much as I do!

 

[Callender Girl]

Happy birthday, Eva!! She was an adorable puppy, a pretty cute "goat" and it sounds like she is a wonderful friend!

That's too bad about Rita and the duck egg.

But Stan's photo made me laugh out loud. I hope his dignity wasn't damaged too much.

 

[N F C]

Happy birthday Eva!

Such cute pictures of her, thanks for sharing them @Evadig!

 

[wrathsfarm]

Happy Birthday, Eva !! Hope you had a wonderful day.

 

[CCsGarden]

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.
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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)
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Minna the day of the eclipse
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Lyd agreed to pose for me
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Stan has started escorting his special girls, Lily and Lucy, to the nesting box and then standing guard while they lay.
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Matt standing proud (he thinks I'm his girlfriend!)
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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.
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Winston enjoying an evening with his girls
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Viv likes the camera
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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.
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Eva sniffing an old tree stump
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Random picture of the week: a beautiful tulip
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Lovely pictures!
I just got over a cold too.

Happy birthday Eva!!