Hello from Shim's Family

Hello All. I found your site by googling "enrichment toys for chickens" hoping to find fun toys or games we could play with our Shim. My nephew Kevin won a baby chick at an Easter egg hunt year befor last. Of course his mom called me and asked if he could keep it at my house. We have 3 dogs, 2 cats, 3 bearded dragons, 5 hermit crabs, 2 tarantulas, 1 ball python, and at the time we had one guinea pig whose cage mate had just passed away. I thought maybe the baby chick would help Pickles get through his loss of his friend Gimli. I think it did for the time. Gimli died the Friday before Easter, oddly Pickles passed away the Friday before Easter this year. I must say, Pickles was the best chick mom he could be. Shim loved him very much. She always complained to him when someone did something to scare her or annoy her, Pickles listened patiently and let her snuggle next to him for comfort. She has also bonded to me like super glue. She sleeps with me most every night. With this all said, I am wondering if I am on the right site for us?? After looking through some posts, I see that most of you really do have "backyard chickens." I have a house chicken. I'm not sure if she really knows she is a chicken. She does some normal chicken things, such as she loves to roam the backyard, keeping the bug population down. I don't like to leave her alone; worried about hawks and such. She is NEVER allowed out at night. During the day, when she is out, she has her guardain Blaze (109 lb German Shepard) with her, or one of us humans. She does have prefereances for food. A good example is she likes her ham sandwich warm with melted cheese. She prefers yellow cheeses to white cheese, and absolutly hates parmasean. She likes bagles toasted but do not put any cream cheese or butter on it; she likes that on the side. I once read somewhere that chickens don't have a taste pallet. Maybe not normal chickens, but my house chicken definatly has. She still eats her chicken chow and oyster shells and bugs, I don't want her to get hooked on people food, she only gets small bites as a treat. She started laying eggs at about 5 1/2 months of age. After she lays, she sings a song and the dogs join in to celebrate. You should hear that noise! We do eat her eggs, that is another reason why I want her to have a normal healthy chicken diet. When we cook with Shim's eggs my nephews and nieces call the food "Shimalicous!" She got her name from my youngest neice - we didn't know if the chick was a She or Him = Shim! I thought that was smart for a 6 year old to come up with. So, back to my quest. Does any one know of any fun games or toys for her? I read about hanging the cabbage on a rope. I will try that with something she likes (cabbage she does not). She does like to chase bubbles (non-toxic) as much as the kids like blowing them and watching her chase. And that is what we are looking for; something interactive to do with her. I am new, so I will continue to brouse the posts to see if I can come up with the answer myself. Still, I welcome all suggestions.

HAPPY DAY CHICKEN PEOPLE