Helpful Silkie Hair-gells?

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Khyree

Khyree

Songster
14 Years
May 9, 2009
87
22
116
Burien
Hello all! Well as the silkies are getting bigger and feathering out a bit we are noticing that they are going from our best hunters (as our welsummers and ameraucanas are rather clueless as to what to do with an insect vs our silkies who from their first outing were on the prowl) to rather blind birds. Their depth and accuracy perception are on a major decline. So my husband is really bothered by this and was wondering what other people did to 'fix' this as it were. he was thinking of trying to slick back some of the frontal face hair with vaseline or clipping their feathers just around the eyes... any suggestions? They are our first babies together and he is really worried that they won't be able to compete with the others shortly.

~Thanks
 
I took my beard trimmer, actually any hair cutter would suffice, and went straight up over their eye. That took off lots of feathering; however, you really couldn't tell much difference in their overall appearance. It made a 1,000% improvement in their ability to see. I thought that that was important because there are hawks aplenty in my area. I will not have to do the one-minute trim job again until after they molt.
 
I am going to do this when I get home today! I have the sweetest fluffiest 14 weekers-and boy do they have a ton of fluff blocking their vision! I hate to ruin how beautiful they are but Id rather they see where their food is and stop running into fences and such! Ill take before and after photos! Im sure by the time I mate them and such -it will have mostly grown back for pictures! I always thought about cute little barettes!
 
Glad you asked this question! I plan to get a few polish in the spring and since they will eventually be free ranging with the rest of the flock I was trying to think of poof control options.
ETA: I thought about barrettes too, but then I realized I'd only be giving the other chickens some interesting objects to peck at.
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joebryant, is there any risk of nipping blood feathers on these silkies? I am new to the breed and I'm ready to get out the clippers just as soon as I am sure I'm not going to bleed my birds!

Thanks!
 
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What about those little rubber bands you can get in the hair care section? you can get them in black, brown, or clear. I'd think they (the other chickens) wouldn't notice the clear as much, and maybe not peck at them.
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d'uccle_lover :

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its amazing how smart animals can be.
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I have a hen with a foot injury and every day I would find her soaking her foot in an outside waterer that gets warm in the afternoons. They may not be smart, but they know how to take care of themselves.​
 
Quote:
joebryant, is there any risk of nipping blood feathers on these silkies? I am new to the breed and I'm ready to get out the clippers just as soon as I am sure I'm not going to bleed my birds!

Thanks!

Beats me since I don't even know what "blood feathers" are. All I know is that on both my blue and my splash silkies, I took my beard trimmer, started at the bottom and made a few cuts going straight up. You really can't tell that I did anything, BUT you can actually see all of both eyes on both silkies, and they can see anything, anywhere.
 

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