Caring for overly feathered polish

[AOrchard]

Hello! My poor Nitro the polish chicken has grown in quite the head of hair! The other chickens don't care about her fluff, but she is low on the pecking order, so gets bossed around. However she can't see them coming and can't see the flock dynamics to obey them, so instead she hangs out of the outskirts of the flock and panics if they come near here. I feel so bad for her and want her to be able to see! She is my first Polish chicken and I don't feel like I am doing this right.

I tried trimming with scissors which was helpful but couldn't get close enough to the skin to get the fluff around her eyes. She has a thick short fluffy area right in front of her eyes that's especially hard. Was also feeling nervous about trimming too close to the base of a feather and making it bleed?

I tried a ponytail, which she could see much better with, but now she just scratches it off right away.

Any advice? Is there a better way to put in the ponytail so it doesn't come out so easily? I tried to angle it so the feathers aren't pulling as much and it's more comfortable but doesn't seem to matter. I'm trying to take care not to catch her comb or skin.

Any advice welcome. I'm considering splitting off her and bantams into a separate flock, since she can see the bantams who are directly below her , but then I need a second coop and it's not super workable. I'd much rather help her see.

Cute pics of her with a ponytail below prior to any trimming. And two poor photos with her hair down, for whatever use they are.

 

[black_cat]

I don't know how to help, but how did you get such a fluffy rock in the last two pics? Is she scared of the bantams? I she a bantam or a standard?

 

[AOrchard]

@black_cat Ahaha that is Cheddar the lion head rabbit He lives next to the run and gets to explore it sometimes.

She is a standard sized polish. She doesn't seem scared of the bantams, she even tries to boss them around sometimes (though they don't really allow it, but politely).

 

[black_cat]

@black_cat Ahaha that is Cheddar the lion head rabbit He lives next to the run and gets to explore it sometimes.

She is a standard sized polish. She doesn't seem scared of the bantams, she even tries to boss them around sometimes (though they don't really allow it, but politely).

Are there specific chickens she is scared of or just all of the standards? How is she with the roo?

 

[GemmaGA]

@AOrchard I am with you on this - I would be interested in what folks have to say .

I have a gold laced/bearded polish named Muppet (that's my pretty girl there). She pretty much can only really see out of one eye, because her head feathers flop over to the side a bit and kind of obscure her other eye, and she is a real spaztastic chicken because she doesn't know if she's coming or going half the time

 

[AOrchard]

Are there specific chickens she is scared of or just all of the standards? How is she with the roo?

The roo has tried the mating dance at her once or twice that I've seen and otherwise ignores her. She's just coming up on 6 months, not laying yet. She will eat next to him if it's just them.

She has two EEs she was raised with that she follows at a slight distance, and is willing to eat with them when no one else is around. They are good fliers though and often fly over the fence into my chick area for the day, so she just sits near the door while they are in there or runs around on her own.

She is afraid of the 3 standard sized adult hens, or if there is any commotion in the flock she gets terrified of everything, even if she is nowhere near the fuss. I only have 3 adult standard at the moment (besides her) so not sure if it's just those birds or all standard birds. I have seven more up and coming standard size pullets to introduce in the next month.

 

[darlingdarla]

She's so gorgeous.
I have the same issues with my polish girls. Usually, as they get older, they figure out ways around their impaired vision. I cut my young polishes crest but leave the older ones since they can defend themselves better.
As for the ponytails, my polishes escape them within a few seconds, I don't know how anyone gets their birds to wear them.
If you're wanting her to see better, then trimming her crest is your best bet. Otherwise, keeping the feeders and waterers in the same places so she remembers where they are can help make her life easier, if the rest of the flock picks on her you could even try feeding her separately. I have a special feeder that my polishes and bantams go to if they're being chased away from the main feeder.
Talking to her when you're nearby so she recognizes your voice will help her be less skittish around you.
Give her lots of hiding places like outdoor roosts, that way she can escape the other birds if she needs too.
Also, check her crest regularly for mites. Since they can't preen their crest feathers, it's really easy for mites to live on their heads.

My buff crested polish had horrible anxiety when she was younger. She was terrified of the other birds and jumped my fences to get away from them. I started feeding her separately and trimming her crest. Over time, she figured it out. She's still low on the pecking order, but will fight back if she needs too.

 

[AOrchard]

@darlingdarla Thank you! That is encouraging to know that they will learn and adapt with time. I don't mind trimming and waiting it out if she's likely to learn and integrate better. I can definitely do an isolated feeding station, do you do anything different with it to encourage the main birds to stick to the main one?

 

[LaFleche]

They are terrified of everything due to lack of orientation as they cannot see because of the overgrown crests.
Regular trimming of the head feathers starting at an early age to allow for unobstructed view at all times is essential for them, otherwise they might even starve to death as happens quite often.

 

[darlingdarla]

@darlingdarla Thank you! That is encouraging to know that they will learn and adapt with time. I don't mind trimming and waiting it out if she's likely to learn and integrate better. I can definitely do an isolated feeding station, do you do anything different with it to encourage the main birds to stick to the main one?

She's still awfully young too. I find pullets start asserting themselves more when they start laying.
All I do is carry the polishes to the second feeder and let them figure it out. Mine is out of sight of the main feeder, but really just adding extra feeders to the chicken yard or run will help the lower birds not get picked on. It helps if they have a friend to eat with, so if there's a bird she's particularly attached to you can feed them together.