Polish Thread!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[katatonic123]

She's back!

 

[chickyduck]

Can you post some pics? In general and this is not gospel the more untidy the crest the more likely it is you have a roo. The more tidy and rounded crests are more likely to be pullets. Have they got wattles? What colour are they? White crested black pullets do get wattles.

Frizzles are a totally different kettle of fish and I usually wait for a crow from them to be sure.

I have 2 white crested black. Ones crest is quit a bit bigger and yes they both have wattles. I also have a silver laced. I will try and get a picture. The white crested ones always have their heads down. No one is crowing or mating and they are 5 months old.

 

[rossfam06]

She's back!

Oh thank goodness!!!!

 

[katatonic123]

She now has a pony tail holder taming her poof. She has been running all over the yard and sticking with the flock instead of just doing her own thing since I put that in.

 

[chicken04]

Katatonic123. I have a white crested black polish that's 11 weeks and she couldn't see well. Her 2 polish buds helped her get around by using sound but it was just so sad to see her standing there peeping so I knew I had to do something. I got on the Internet and BYC and some things to help her. We considered put her feathers in a pony but the internet said that you to take it every 2 weeks and leave it out and put it back in and all that stuff. Instead her trimed the feathers around her eyes and It's worked great! She runs around now with her polish pals and plays with the flock you do have to give them a trim ounce in a while though. I'd also like to ask you another question in the picture I noticed a silkie in the background is that silkie a boy or girl because I have a thread and I'd like you to maybe check it out I'm trying to figure out if my 6 week old silkies are boys or girls the threads called are my silkies boys or girls? and of course at the top the BYC tag will be chicken04. I'm sorry this is so long and ,PLEASE reply.

 

[katatonic123]

@chicken04 I tried trimming but I don't know if I just didn't so enough or what but she still couldn't see well and I'm just afraid I'll hurt her. The pony tail was quick and easy and made her a different bird.
The girl in the background is actually a white silkie crossed with an EE. She's 4 months old.

 

[Sylvester017]

JMHO about trimming or tying up crests on crested breeds - I have two Silkies and when they are pullets they are very fluffy crested/bearded but after maturity and foraging around in the yard a lot of their crest flattens or mattes down and my Silkies nibble around each other's eye area only to clear vision and seem to do fine maneuvering around the yard and seeing predators or finding bugs/seeds. We find that whether our Silkies have fluffy full crests or matted down crests where they can see, it didn't change their behavior any. After molt when the hens grow in a new crest they tilt their head to see behind or above them just fine.

Chickens naturally move gingerly if a human is around whether the bird is crested or not. Every owner has to make their own decision but we never found it necessary to trim crests, beards, muffs, or wings but then we have a small cottage backyard and only 4 gentle hens - we have re-homed all our aggressive/assertive heavier dual purpose layer breeds. Polish and Silkies are aware their delicate heads are more vulnerable (vaulted skull has a hole at the top where the brain tissue is just under the skin). Vaulted/crested are more vulnerable to head pecks and injuries and will be more skittish than non-crested breeds. Trimming their crests won't preclude protecting themselves from possible head injuries. All chickens in general are nasty head peckers in flock politics and crested birds seem gentle or skittish because of protecting themselves from the other pecking chicken breeds. Cutting crest feathers will not do much to change this behavior which is why I don't put crested birds in a flock with normal heavy dual purpose LF layer breeds like RIR, BR, Orp, Wyan, Marans, Legs, etc. Most chicken breeds can survive head pecks from flockmates but vaulted skull, crested breeds, are more exposed to brain injury that can lead to seizures, wry neck, even death.

Hatcheries and breeders don't share this critical info so you see people tossing in their crested/vaulted skull birds into a backyard LF flock mix without knowing the risk of such a mix. If the owners are lucky their Polish or Silkies manage to avoid pecks from the LF but there are too many sad stories on these threads where chicks or juivies start showing symptoms of seizures, head-shaking, wry neck, or death, from a bewildered owner wondering why. Owners will insist their flock mixes get along fine and I can't dispute they dodged a flying bullet - my post is for information only and open for every flock owner to decide how to mix their flock since they know their own individual bird temperaments the best. For our own mix we had to decide on whether to have a heavier layer dual purpose flock or have a gentle crested under 5-lb flock. We get less and smaller eggs but don't worry any more that one of the gentles are going to be injured by a bigger assertive breed.

 

[katatonic123]

Well after I watched her run face first into the retaining wall I decided to pull her feathers away from her face and it's helped. Other than her I only have one other chicken who is considered standard size. The rest are at least half silkie so are smaller in stature than she is.

 

[HerbGir1972]

Some of our babies

 

[HerbGir1972]