Eva’s Friends

[Callender Girl]

Have you heard back yet from the psychology professor? Congrats on the communications class and winding up three years of classes! Five days before you start at technical college isn't much of a break, but the nature of the classes should be so much different.

Poor Patience! While I was gone, the smaller Cochin chick got picked on and now has a bald spot on her back. She's about a month and a half old, so I'm hoping new feathers will grow in. I had planned to coop her with the larger Cochin chick but, according to the pet sitter, that's who caused the problem. I've been planning to split the seven chicks into two coops anyway, so maybe I will have to separate the Cochins.

Hope all your critters play nicely for the rest of the week and that Eva is seizure-free!

 

[Evadig]

I'm tired...
I interviewed for an organist position that was not what they said it was and wasted half my afternoon .

Minna has finally found her niche. It is at least one thing off my plate. She decided one night to sleep with Stan and Lily and Lucy, and never looked back. Four birds couldn't fit in the Sentinel, though, so they all moved into the Muddy Run and get along famously. Minna has had a hard life. She was bullied her first year, then bullied other hens. But there hasn't been a squabble since she took up residence with Stan and his girls.

Patience, poor girl, is now in Minna's spot. No one likes her, though I am going to force Dolores to get along with her, because Dolores has been rather picked on too. But she might have to wear glasses till she gets used to Patience.

Honor is a mighty rooster now (so he thinks) and actually mated Faith yesterday. She wasn't happy about it. He is fourteen weeks, I think? Liberty, on the other hand, is still a mama's boy. There is no other word for him. He hasn't crowed but once, follows in her shadow nearly all day long, and tries to sleep under her wing at night. She tolerates it.

Stan finally realized both his progeny are roosters, and therefore potential rivals. He promptly chased Honor out of the chicken yard, but pretty much ignores Liberty, probably because Liberty stays by Jenny, and Stan wants to be on Jen's good side. She doesn't take nonsense from him!

Did I mention Hilda is broody again? She's sitting on eleven duck eggs. I candled four of them and they were kicking happily. I think they have about two weeks more to go. At least I don't think the hatch will be as staggered as it would have been last time. I am thinking about doing a hatch-a-long, but I don't seem to have the greatest luck with my eggs.

Prudence is not doing well and has been moved to hospital. Her comb was swollen and slightly purplish and she has a limp. She cannot roost. I wonder if she hurt herself jumping down from the perch, though there are branches that she can use to get down safely. But that wouldn't explain her comb. Her feathers are really raggedy. I dewormed her yesterday. She has a good appetite, but has not laid any eggs for a week or two at least.

I really want to take some photos for the Fair but no one will co-operate! I can't get anyone to stand still, let alone with a decent background .

Annabee

Stan, Jen, and Liberty

Hilda taking a bath and a break from brooding

Claire

Basil the Great (we call all Great Blue Herons Basil the Great, I don't know why...)

 

[Evadig]

Have you heard back yet from the psychology professor?

Yes, I have a final grade of B+. Final GPA of 3.6.

Five days before you start at technical college isn't much of a break, but the nature of the classes should be so much different.

I actually dropped out. I can't afford it right now because we need a new car. I don't know what to do with myself now .

BIG congratulations on finishing your classes!

Congrats on the communications class and winding up three years of classes!

Thank you!

 

[Callender Girl]

Hurray on the psych score!

Sorry the car situation caused you to miss out on school this term. But, maybe it's not all bad that you are taking a break from classes. Still, it's a giant inconvenience -- at the very least --to be without reliable transportation.

Sounds like all kinds of drama with critters. I like that you allowed Minna to find her own flock. I did that with my Buff Orp, Honey, after she was the only survivor of a mink attack in her coop. It took a while, but she showed me that she wanted to live with the two goofy and docile Salmon Faverolles. She spent the rest of her life with Camille and Celeste.

I have a new flock "bully" and she's only 7 weeks old. I moved the chicks out of the indoor brooder and can see their coop and run from my living room window. Clearly, Theodora, an Ameraucana named for a Byzantine empress, is in charge of the littles. She flies at them for no reason, pushes them away from their feed but doesn't really harm anyone. So far.

Prudence is having a rough time, isn't she? I hope she takes a turn for the better.

Good luck with getting at least a few suitable photos for the fair!

 

[N F C]

@Evadig your GPA is outstanding, congratulations!

Sorry the job hunting is being uncooperative but something that's just right for you will turn up.

That is a nice photo of Annabee, black animals are hard to get a good picture of (for me anyway). One of my cats is black and her pictures usually look like blobs with shiny eyes.

How is Eva doing?

 

[Evadig]

I'm tired, sick, and tired . But I got a job - I am now an associate organist for one of our local churches. It's not much, but it's something!

Three of the eleven duck eggs died, so we have eight. Two appear to be fairly close to hatching, whereas the others have at least two weeks to go. Ugh. I did not want a staggered hatch!

Dolores and Patience are actually getting along.

Liberty is still following Jen around and snuggling under her at night. He's about as tall as her now, when they both stand to their full height.

I found a home for Matilda but now no one wants to give her up...

Today the ducks got to come out into the big pen. There is a fence between the little ones and the big ones. Every time the Stinkers would jump in the pool, Henry would charge at the fence, beside himself with rage that they had a better pool than him (so he thought - his pool was freshly filled too!).

Prudence is still in hospital, but her limp looks like it's getting better, and she even laid an egg!

We have two big kiddie pools that have been mostly unused since the geese departed for greener pastures, though we keep them full of water for Annabee to play in. Apparently the two frogs that live in our pool (you saw them floating on our rafts a while back) must have mated, 'cause there is at least a hundred tadpoles in each pool. It's incredible!

Eva is doing well; she hasn't had any seizures and she's been excited to go for walk and see deer, squirrel, and turtle. She can find a turtle from sixteen feet away (the length of her leash)!

@Callender Girl I like the names of your hens, especially Theodora!
@N F C thank you, and black animals are hard to take a picture of for me too.

Hopefully there are not too many pictures...

Stan and Girls in bed

Some of the tadpoles...

Hilda had had it with brooding. She flew out of the pen, stopping to perch on this board. I didn't know ducks could perch! She did return to her eggs shortly after.

Liberty

Dolores

Proof that Dolores and Patience are getting along - before this, Patience was hiding in the nesting box!

Hilda again...broody ducks are way more vicious than chickens!

Stan with Lil 'n' Lu in the back - he likes to guard them while they lay eggs

Henry and a wall of water

Annabee

And last but not least, Evadig!

 

[Callender Girl]

Congratulations on becoming an assistant organist! I don't remember knowing you had musical skills but, clearly, you do!

Glad to hear Prudence is improving and that Eva hasn't had more seizures. She's such a cutie!

Hilda's face in the first photo is great! She's obviously not in the mood for hanging out with her eggs, and in the later photo, Hilda is once again showing plenty of attitude.

Drakes are such odd creatures. My two runner drakes lived together successfully for years. Suddenly, this year Sheldon -- the last of my original runners -- decided he despised or was jealous of Layne. I have to keep them separated now because the last attack was so vicious that Layne ended up with an infection in the bone of his wing. But the two of them still charge the fence and posture at each other.

I liked your tadpole photo. Isn't it amazing that they undergo such a metamorphosis?

Thanks for appreciating my hens' names. It's getting harder to come up with names as the years go by and I keep adding new critters. But, everyone deserves their own, in my opinion. I used to have a neighbor who liked West Highland White Terriers. When the original Higgins died, he called his next Westie Higgins II. I think he could have put more thought into it.

Hope you're feeling better and more energetic soon!

 

[N F C]

Big congrats on the job at the church @Evadig hope you enjoy it!

I enjoyed the Hilda pictures, you can almost hear her fussing

 

[Evadig]

I forgot to write last night, but I finally got a car! I will pm you if you want to see it .

The funny things was, after all the searching we did (three weeks!), this car wasn't even on the list. We went to a dealership to look at another vehicle, and we saw this, and my dad said, you can get that one if you want (he's very mechanical and had a list of all the makes and models that were safe and reliable).

Well, we went home and thought about it, because the model has fairly bad gas mileage, and then went out to find some other cars on the list, but none of them worked out. So we came back to the dealership and bought it. I still mean to get a Crown Vic or a Packard some day...

The eggs are coming along nicely. At least four died, but I still have eight kickers. I think they have about a week left to go. I'm glad that only Hilda is broody. It will make life easier, I think, because I can separate Winnie and Henry from her and let her raise the brood in peace if she will.

Honor has been fighting everyone; his brother, the hens (because they don't respect him) and the ducks. He has not fought his father yet. He may become the first resident of the rooster rescue I have dreamed up in my head.

I have at least a half acre, maybe even more, of woods that I would like to turn into a rooster sanctuary. I would not be able to buy coops or anything. I have saplings that I could use to build shelters, like log cabins, and I can maybe buy electric wire to go around the premises and keep the roosters from escaping that area. But I don't know what I'd do about the trees. Predators can use them to enter the pen and roosters can use them to escape. They are big oaks, and we certainly are not cutting them down.

Well, anyway, it's just a dream. It probably isn't going to happen, just like the old schoolhouse down the road. I'd like to buy that too, and turn it into a charter school or something. It's beautiful, a nice brick building with two fireplaces, and a little baseball field in back. I can only imagine what the inside looks like, though!

Thanks for reading my rambling post today! Oh, I have more good news. We get another insurance claim for our leaking pipes that have been spilling water into the basement for the last few years (unbeknownst to us) and causing mold. We will get the basement redone (for free!) which is very nice. It is not pleasant down there right now. See y'all Sunday evening!

Congratulations on becoming an assistant organist! I don't remember knowing you had musical skills but, clearly, you do!

Big congrats on the job at the church @Evadig hope you enjoy it!

Thank you!

Thanks for appreciating my hens' names. It's getting harder to come up with names as the years go by and I keep adding new critters. But, everyone deserves their own, in my opinion. I used to have a neighbor who liked West Highland White Terriers. When the original Higgins died, he called his next Westie Higgins II. I think he could have put more thought into it.

I know! I am dreading the next batch of ducklings - I have used up all my favorite names! That's funny about your neighbor's Westie. My great grandpa had seven spaniels, one after the other, and each was named Terry .

A mushroom

A strange moth

Constance at night...she didn't even seem to realize the flash.

Random Picture: A display at the National Museum of the US Air Force in Dayton, Ohio

 

[N F C]

I forgot to write last night, but I finally got a car! I will pm you if you want to see it .

The funny things was, after all the searching we did (three weeks!), this car wasn't even on the list. We went to a dealership to look at another vehicle, and we saw this, and my dad said, you can get that one if you want (he's very mechanical and had a list of all the makes and models that were safe and reliable).

Well, we went home and thought about it, because the model has fairly bad gas mileage, and then went out to find some other cars on the list, but none of them worked out. So we came back to the dealership and bought it. I still mean to get a Crown Vic or a Packard some day...

The eggs are coming along nicely. At least four died, but I still have eight kickers. I think they have about a week left to go. I'm glad that only Hilda is broody. It will make life easier, I think, because I can separate Winnie and Henry from her and let her raise the brood in peace if she will.

Honor has been fighting everyone; his brother, the hens (because they don't respect him) and the ducks. He has not fought his father yet. He may become the first resident of the rooster rescue I have dreamed up in my head.

I have at least a half acre, maybe even more, of woods that I would like to turn into a rooster sanctuary. I would not be able to buy coops or anything. I have saplings that I could use to build shelters, like log cabins, and I can maybe buy electric wire to go around the premises and keep the roosters from escaping that area. But I don't know what I'd do about the trees. Predators can use them to enter the pen and roosters can use them to escape. They are big oaks, and we certainly are not cutting them down.

Well, anyway, it's just a dream. It probably isn't going to happen, just like the old schoolhouse down the road. I'd like to buy that too, and turn it into a charter school or something. It's beautiful, a nice brick building with two fireplaces, and a little baseball field in back. I can only imagine what the inside looks like, though!

Thanks for reading my rambling post today! Oh, I have more good news. We get another insurance claim for our leaking pipes that have been spilling water into the basement for the last few years (unbeknownst to us) and causing mold. We will get the basement redone (for free!) which is very nice. It is not pleasant down there right now. See y'all Sunday evening!


Thank you!

I know! I am dreading the next batch of ducklings - I have used up all my favorite names! That's funny about your neighbor's Westie. My great grandpa had seven spaniels, one after the other, and each was named Terry .

A mushroom
View attachment 3931847

A strange moth
View attachment 3931848

Constance at night...she didn't even seem to realize the flash.
View attachment 3931852

Random Picture: A display at the National Museum of the US Air Force in Dayton, Ohio
View attachment 3931849

I want to see a picture of your car, send me a PM picture please! Congrats on getting some wheels

Have you started your job yet?

Looking forward to seeing chick pictures soon!