Feathered friend finds home Feathered friend finds home (October 08, 2003)

Former petting zoo chicken popular squatter at Day School

by Rachel Metz

You can make an appointment with Ruby, but don't expect her to keep it.

She may be late or she may not keep the date at all. When she does show up, don't get too close -- make her nervous and she'll fly away.

She is, after all, a chicken. Following several months roosting on the site of the Gideon Hausner Jewish Day School, Ruby -- or Midnight, as some call her -- has become a favorite with many students.

"The kids are crazy for her," one teacher said.

The trim, black-feathered chicken visited the school last spring as part of a petting zoo. She escaped and eluded capture, making the school site her home.

Caryn Wiseman, mother of a student at the school, volunteered with the petting zoo last spring and remembered seeing the chicken wandering around. A person working with the petting zoo assured Wiseman it was OK, but the next day, the chicken remained on the lam.

"And the next day there was the chicken, and the next day there was the chicken. I guess they just couldn't trap it," she said.

Since last spring, local animal services have tried several times to catch her. Their track record doesn't bode well for school officials. They've gotten so attached to their feathered friend, they want to take her along when the school moves to a new site this winter.

"(Kids) love her. I think they would be really disappointed if we didn't take it," said Rachel Wells, an administrative assistant at the school.

At first, Ruby kept her distance from the building, wandering freely and freaking out if anybody came too close. Now, she is more at ease, like one of the family, Wiseman said. Sometimes she disappears for days at a time, but always comes back.

Good thing, too. The kids flock to watch Ruby. Just mention her and they go wild, shooting out details regarding the minutiae of Ruby's life. There's the eggs she laid, her hiding spots in campus trees and the time one boy saw Ruby walking up an outside flight of stairs.

"It's fun to chase the chicken, and it runs really fast," one student said.

There's also the eerily prophetic encounter: One time the chicken mysteriously appeared while the kids were doing the chicken dance, said fifth-grader Jordan Buschman.

However, not everybody likes Ruby. Third-grader Sarah Rabin said the chicken "poops a lot" and "she doesn't do anything."

Ruby takes all the attention in stride. She struts around the grounds of the Day School like she's in charge, stopping to dig her slender yellow legs coyly into the dirt or peck at some stray feed.

At first school officials fed her whatever they had on hand -- cereal or chips. Eventually, they put her on a chicken feed diet, Wells said. Still, Ruby might not be completely weaned off human cuisine, as Wiseman has seen her hanging around for food scraps.

"I think it's kind of cool. All the kids think it's pretty funny," Wiseman said.