Timid Easter egger

[JoeST]

I have one Easter egger in my group of 6 chickens who is very different from the group. She is the smallest of the bunch. At one point we didn’t think she’d make it. She was tiny as a chick & ended up getting pasty butt which we remedied with olive oil for a few days before it cleared up & she started getting better.
She’s now healthy & active but still noticeably smaller than our others. She more often than anything stays to herself. I’ve never noticed the other girls picking on her or running her off. But the others generally stay in a fairly close group & “runt” as we call her wonders alone & normal won’t eat with the others or even take favorite treats with the others. Every time I watch her it’s like we have a depressed chicken. And she’s very skiddish. All the others will come right to us & we can pet or pick them up fairly easily. Runt you have to corner & takes her a minute to calm down when you catch her.
I’ve thought about possibly taking her to my Mom as she has less birds & two are smaller bantams about the size of ours. But not sure if it would be a good or bad idea to try to interduce her to a new group? My Moms chickens tend to all wonder apart from each other like runt does. Its pretty uncommon for the three of hers to be in one place unless your giving them treats. Any suggestions?

 

[sourland]

As long as she is not being picked on and is getting enough to eat and drink, I would keep her with 'her' flock. Moms chickens would surely pick on her as the 'new girl'.

 

[JoeST]

As long as she is not being picked on and is getting enough to eat and drink, I would keep her with 'her' flock. Moms chickens would surely pick on her as the 'new girl'.

Hers are pretty laid back. Her Bantams are very friendly & their young, maybe only a few months older than mine. Her oldest is maybe 3 I don’t remember what breed she is but also real easy going. They’ve never shown any pecking order antics like mine do. Though again Runt never seems to get included in all that she just hangs back & the other birds don’t seem to bother her.
Thanks for the response. I want to keep her she’s one of my favorites in the group. I just didn’t know if it would be beneficial to put her with more relaxed birds or let her be with her group.

 

[sharkerbaby]

It may just be a personality thing. I have one who tends to hang by herself and wonder the yard alone when they are free ranging. She eats, roosts, preens, and rests with everyone. She does have a bestie so if she's with anyone it's with her but more often than not she's alone.

 

[aart]

As long as she is not being picked on and is getting enough to eat and drink, I would keep her with 'her' flock. Moms chickens would surely pick on her as the 'new girl'.

Ditto Dat^^^
She's low bird, that's all.
Adding her alone to another flock could be catastrophic.
Tho your moms flock might be 'mellow', adding a bird can bring out the heathen in any bird.

 

[JoeST]

Thanks everyone, looks like I’ll leave her be