SOS Polish almost pecked to death, is there any way to prevent this?

[Germaine_11.20]

Hi, tonight I heard a comotion in the coop and the RIR were attacking my White crested Polish. If my DH hadn't got there quickly she would be dead.
I noticed the RIR's have feather pecked a different White crested Polish but they never gang attacked it.
I have heard about cutting the crests on the Polish back or off. Does anyone know if this helps. Will the crests grow back, and will it hurt them?
Any other suggestions are welcomed. Thanks!

 

[muell112]

in another post, someone mentioned putting the feathers up with a hairband in a pony tail to prevent pecking of the head by others...seems like that would work for vision too if you don't want to cut the feathers. Might be easier for you and the bird to trim them though. I think their heads actually have a crest so I wouldn't cut them too short/be careful. If that doesn't work can you separate them? They are supposed to be a pretty docile breed and I believe but could be wrong that RIRs are more on the aggressive side.

 

[Germaine_11.20]

That is a good idea about the ponytail. I will try that when she is stronger.
I don't think I understand what you mean by crest though. Isnt that just feathers? I was not sure if any blood ran through the feathers though.

 

[muell112]

I read somewhere a while back that there is actually a knob on their (Polish and mottled houdan) skulls...I'm not sure how big it is/haven't ever tried to feel around to see how big it is...It can't be that large though - I'd just use caution I guess if you decide to cut the feathers.

 

[rmelvin23]

I had to get rid of my polish crested rooster because the hens were tearing out his feathers. I never thought that the hens would wear out the rooster. I think that it is hard to keep the crested breeds with regular chickens.

 

[Germaine_11.20]

Wow, I will have to check for the knob. I think the ponytail idea is out, the feathers aren't quite long enough.
She is doing well in a bird cage on the table. I think I may have to get the other two out of there too and then find the mean chickens and make them dinner.

 

[ThePolishPrincess]

All crested breeds have a vault (or knob) on their heads. That is where the crest sprouts up from.

There are 2 reasons for the pecking of the Polish:

1.) They are weak. The Polish is a weak breed and because of their sight restriction, they cannot see. Polish roosters, like most roosters, will submit to their hen's every whim. If she wants to peck him, he will do anything for his ladies and allow himself to be pecked. Other roosters will simply walk away, but most of the time, not before having some damage done.

2.) Their feathers stick out in a poof. It draws attention to them. The hens will be attracted to that feathery doo and when they peck, they'll see that feathers taste pretty good.

Especially when they get them to bleed and then they taste salty. That's how they learn. Chickens are vicious creatures. Truely bloodthirsy.

I have a medium sized flock with a few Polish and they have never been pecked. Having a few bullies go after a Polish is managable. Having a flock doing it is hard to fix. Even if she does manage to get away and outrun them, how long will it last? Feel free to read others' suggestions. There are more threads out there but I couldn't find any. Try doing a search?

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=2575694

You can cut the feathers if you wish, but not too short. It might be a bit too late if they now see your Polish as a chew toy. The crest will moult out and grow back each year. You can also look online for Hot-Pick. It never works on my birds but I hear others find it useful.

 

[Germaine_11.20]

Well that was very interesting, thank you. Did you mean that they are literally a "weak" breed? Is it just their nature then not to fight back?
The little hen was doing better so we tried to re-introduce her to the flock. No sooner had we put her back in when a Red Sex Link chased her into a corner and started pecking away.
She is in a bird cage right now. I just don't know what to do with her. The Male has his crest pecked almost off, but seems to be ok and the other hen is fine so far.
The coop is plenty big enough and so is the run. So overcrowding is probably not one of the problems. Just mean chickens. Hmmm I am thinking Chicken soup right now.

 

[muell112]

Check out this website: http://www.mypetchicken.com/chickenBreeds.aspx

It has information on the disposition of each breed. If you do make some chicken soup and want to get more birds, some are listed as especially docile. I got some of those breeds and they seem to be doing fine with my crested breeds (I have 3 polish and 2 mottled houdans). The cochins, bramhas, jersey giants, and americanas I got from Estes Hatchery are very non-aggressive at this point (13+ weeks).

 

[jhmoore]

I have been in your shoes, and it is so frustrating. I have 2 polish (one white crested and one silver laced) and 6 traditional standard breed hens. My white crested was so picked on by the bigger breeds, that they actually plucked all her crest feathers to the point of making her bleed, over night! I tried the hotpick, blue-kote, pine tar- you name. Nothing deterred their pecking. I also tried trimming her feathers once they grew back in. But, they kept at it. It was as if they already had her pegged as weaker. They never did more than simply bully the silver laced, but the white crested was always very abused.

I ended up having to build another small coop and run for my two polish girls. They are happy to live by themselves, poofy heads and all. I wish I had known that the crested breeds don't mix well before I got into chickens.

Good luck to you and your hen!