Eva’s Friends

[Callender Girl]

Congratulations to Jenny on her sweet first egg!

And, best wishes to the happy couple, Rita and Frank! I have first-hand experience with geese guarding their nests, so I'm not surprised that yours are being extremely protective. Hope we get to see photos of goslings when they hatch.

I really enjoyed your photos -- and smiled at several.

Let's hope the hawks keep their distance and move away ASAP.

 

[N F C]

Congrats on the new egg layer! Hope you don't get too much snow.

 

[Evadig]

Hope you don't get too much snow.

Most of the snow is already melted!

 

[Evadig]

Rita has started laying! I found three eggs in her nest. Here is a picture next to Jenny’s for size comparison:

My family was grossed out when they saw Rita’s eggs and vowed never to eat them. I guess that provides me with an excuse for letting her go broody if she wants!
Also Lily and Lucy have begun laying. The lady I got them from said they had either just started laying or would be laying very shortly.
I don’t have a picture but will get one tomorrow.
Vivienne is squatting for me so she will begin laying too soon.

A random picture from my photo library…

 

[Callender Girl]

Rita's egg is stunning I don't understand your family's reaction, but I also don't understand why some people are grossed out about eating duck eggs. On the other hand, no one has ever turned down one of my geese's eggs. People!!!

Congrats also on the rest of the girls who will be producing soon. BTW, it's a nice bovine photo, too.

 

[Evadig]

don't understand your family's reaction, but I also don't understand why some people are grossed out about eating duck eggs.

They won’t eat duck eggs either. Unless possibly if they’ve been hard boiled.

 

[Evadig]

Today was colder out and we went to church this morning, so no one got to come out until a couple hours before dark.
Minna went missing as I was putting everyone to bed; after making a circuit of the yard many times, we had almost given her up for lost, when I suddenly caught sight of her taking a sand bath under a bush. Thank heavens!
Winston tried to attack my younger (teenage) sister but she ran up on the deck. He knows she's scared of him and runs after her every chance he gets. I would keep him locked up but he's an excellent protector for the hens and they love him (for the most part).

Winston trying to peck me through the chicken wire

I was watching everyone get ready for bed tonight; it's a good time to observe the pecking order, make sure everyone is acting normally, and just meditate about any number of things. Since Winston joined the hens, the pecking order has changed a little. Prudence is now top hen, probably because she is Winston's favorite. Rose and Lyd tie for second place, and Minna is at the bottom. I have noticed she usually sleeps next to Winston, even though she is his least favorite hen. I don't think he picks on her. On the flip side, she bullies the Biddies to the point where they are terrified. It is unfortunate because I don't like to see her feathers ragged from the constant picking of the other hens.

This was not their final positions for the night; they are still preparing for bed.

In the Biddies' subgroup, Jenny is clearly at the bottom even though she is the oldest and biggest; Dolores and Viv tie for first place. They love to sleep huddled up together like they did when they were chicks, even though they are all big and fluffy.

The turkeys are desperate to have Eva mate with them; it's frustrating yet amusing because they are so persistent. I am hoping to find them a good Tom, but that's unlikely - who's going to part with a well-behaved male turkey?

Every evening Rita runs to her nest and sits on it while Frank tries to bite me as I finish chores. Rita's eggs take up two of the chicken's eggs. I made one, and it fit nicely in a small tortilla. It was incredible to see that big egg!

It's going to be nice tomorrow so I mean to get some work done outside, and will post pictures of the completed projects!

Henry Napoleon (his new nickname is Napoleon because of his arrogant personality and small size) and Winnie

I am going to post a random picture in addition to my updates on Eva’s friends because I have a lot of them and no one to share them with :

Random picture: the Jefferson Memorial

 

[Callender Girl]

Enjoy reading about the goings-on with your birds. Thank goodness you found Minna.

I certainly understand keeping a rooster who is good with his flock but a menace to people. That's my Billy, who also happens to be a sharp-looking boy -- if only he didn't hate humans with a passion.

Henry Napoleon and Winnie are beautiful. I also like your random photos; the Jefferson Memorial looks like it's glowing.

Good luck with your projects tomorrow! I'm also planning to get some outdoor work done while it's unseasonably warm. In fact, it's so warm and so dry that most of Iowa is under a red flag warning tomorrow -- meaning any fire will likely spread quickly, so outdoor burning of any kind is strongly discouraged. Weird winter weather, indeed.

 

[Evadig]

Enjoy reading about the goings-on with your birds. Thank goodness you found Minna.

I certainly understand keeping a rooster who is good with his flock but a menace to people. That's my Billy, who also happens to be a sharp-looking boy -- if only he didn't hate humans with a passion.

Henry Napoleon and Winnie are beautiful. I also like your random photos; the Jefferson Memorial looks like it's glowing.

Good luck with your projects tomorrow! I'm also planning to get some outdoor work done while it's unseasonably warm. In fact, it's so warm and so dry that most of Iowa is under a red flag warning tomorrow -- meaning any fire will likely spread quickly, so outdoor burning of any kind is strongly discouraged. Weird winter weather, indeed.

Thank you for reading and I'm glad you enjoy the pictures!
I don't often respond to posts because I don't know what to say other than "thank you", but I do want to let y'all know I appreciate everyone's comments .

Also, my mom did eat a goose egg (and a duck egg) - I made cream puffs with them and she didn't know till I told her after she ate one!

 

[CCsGarden]

This is Eva: View attachment 3735412
View attachment 3735413
View attachment 3735414

And these are her friends:

George, Matt, Frank, Rita
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Jenny, Dolores, Vivienne
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Henry, Hilda, Winnifred
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Helen, Matilda
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Rose, Lydwinne, Wilhelmina, Prudence
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Winston Churchill
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Stanislaw
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Lily, Lucy
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Except for the last three, they all live in an apartment building called the Muddy Run. The two white hens and the rooster live next door to each other in the Sentinel and Pawhut coops, respectively.
View attachment 3735423
If you’re interested in the backstory on all this (which you’re probably not ), you can read here

Pets Past and Present - the Story of My Flock

Prologue When I was in my early teens, my family suddenly decided they wanted to get chickens. We had some extra lumber sitting unused in the garage so my father built a cute little chicken coop. It was the exact opposite of every article ever written about good chicken coops here on BYC -...

• Evadig
• Oct 7, 2023
• Comments: 1
• Category: Member Pages

And here
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/the-three-new-hens.1602920/
And here
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/roosters-in-the-woods.1602968/

This thread is a continuation of my article; I am going to try to update periodically as I navigate the new world of roosters, three hormonal ganders, and one stinker of a drake (he thinks he’s tough but he’s sadly mistaken!)

One of my New Year’s resolutions was to NOT get any more birds until 2025, if at all. That quickly changed when someone had two full grown hens available. My second rooster, Stan, has had to stay in a pen by himself because Winston hates him and all the hens follow Winston. So he didn’t have anyone, and when a friend told me they had two Naked Neck hens, I jumped at the chance even though I had vowed never to get such an outlandish looking bird.

That brings us up to date…now hopefully I remember to post in this thread so I don’t have to write such a long entry next time!

Eva has a new friend! It must be admitted she’s not thrilled…this puppy is energy itself and Eva’s going on five years old.
Anyway, come meet Annie Beth!
View attachment 3744775
Despite having to share her room, Eva is real happy the weather has warmed up (for a few days, anyway). She got to go for a long walk yesterday and meet some sheep! View attachment 3744761
I recently built a run on the back of the Sentinel coop with Helen’s supervision:
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I don’t have a picture of the finished product but will get one…
Stan and his girls get to free range today while Winston has to stay in the coop. They do not get along at all. Stan flew out of the open pen I’d made for him and the two boys promptly started fighting. I managed to separate them with the hose and get Stan back in the pen. I have had to spend the last few days just sitting outside so that I could catch Stan before he flew out of the pen again. He has mellowed out considerably since being allowed to move in with Lily and Lucy. While he’s still skittish of me, he no longer freaks out when I come near him. He is a good rooster.
I wish I could add more pictures but I need to delete some off my phone first!

Stan in the open air pen standing on his old house (the Pawhut coop)
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Jenny made headlines today…she laid her first egg!!!
It’s the cutest, most perfect little egg:
View attachment 3749861
For a comparison, here it is next to Minna’s egg:
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Jenny is quite proud of herself! She is approximately twenty-seven weeks old.
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Also, Rita is starting to prepare a nest (she has not laid any eggs yet though) and Frank is now her official boyfriend.
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Matt and George have had to move into the old turkey coop because they were trying to tear Frank to pieces. Frank is very protective of Rita and it is impossible to herd them in anymore - you cannot get anywhere close to them! Thankfully they both know how to come when called.

The turkeys both think that Eva and I are Toms; it’s very annoying!

We had two big Cooper’s Hawks on the prowl today. The Biddies sheltered themselves in some thorn bushes and Winston guided the Hens under a large bush. I was out there too and made sure the hawks didn’t get any dinner. It will be snowing tomorrow so everyone will be safely inside and hopefully the hawks will move on.

Here’s a few more pictures :

Babysitting Annie Beth
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Dolores
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Vivienne
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Winston and the Hens
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Sooooo lovely!!!!