Meet Ginger! She is a 2.5 year old Easter Egger, and lives with a flock of 29 birds (28 hens, 1 roo). Ginger was one of 40+ day old chicks that arrived at our house on Feb 28, 2010. She was always a very skittish bird, and has always been one of the lowest in the pecking order. When she was about 4 or 5 months old, she decided that she 'loved' my husband and I, and became very easy for us to handle. She always wants to be picked up and carried around, always wants to come in the house (which we allow, of course - I can't say no to a chicken!!!). In the last few months, she has become needy, for lack of a better word. She constantly follows us around, is always getting under foot, avoids the other chickens like a plague. When we are at work, the chickens are locked in a run, but they free range once we get home from work, and on weekends. The chickens are pretty easy to put back in the run at the end of the day, but now Ginger will NOT go back in. She runs to the house instead.
Ginger is not being pecked by the other birds. She runs so fast to get away from ANY other chicken, even the friendly ones. She spends the day in the coop, not mixing with the other birds. We have our own hencam, so I can see that she rarely comes outside during the day. We've had some hot days so far in NJ this year, so I don't know how she stands it in there.
Ginger seems absolutely miserable. She doesn't want to be a chicken anymore, I am afraid. Do we bring her inside and make her a house chicken??? There are no other pets inside, so she would be all alone in the house, and I don't know if that is fair to her. I know that I wouldn't like it. If she comes in, I would still let her free-range with the other birds of course, but during the day I don't know what to do with her. Any ideas???
Ginger is not being pecked by the other birds. She runs so fast to get away from ANY other chicken, even the friendly ones. She spends the day in the coop, not mixing with the other birds. We have our own hencam, so I can see that she rarely comes outside during the day. We've had some hot days so far in NJ this year, so I don't know how she stands it in there.
Ginger seems absolutely miserable. She doesn't want to be a chicken anymore, I am afraid. Do we bring her inside and make her a house chicken??? There are no other pets inside, so she would be all alone in the house, and I don't know if that is fair to her. I know that I wouldn't like it. If she comes in, I would still let her free-range with the other birds of course, but during the day I don't know what to do with her. Any ideas???
