Chicken cannot see because of feathers

[TayLuvChicken]

I have some polish crested chicks 7-8 weeks old and one of them has its feathers growing directly in front of its eyes. The chicken has trouble eating and drinking because her sense of where everything is completely off balance. She often trips over things in the yard and she doesn't move very far because she knows she can't get farther than a few inches without hurting herself. Is there anything I can do to help her? Will her feathers eventually move out of her face or something? She seems miserable and can't keep up with the others and starts squalling until someone picks her up and move her to where the others are. She really needs some help. What can I do?

 

[Pyxis]

You can trim them - it won't hurt her, it's just like a hair cut. Just make sure there aren't any blood feathers coming in and if there are, avoid trimming those as they will bleed. If that does happen just have some corn starch or flour handy to press on it to stop the bleeding. Or you could put the feathers in a hair tie to keep them out of her eyes, like this:

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Give him/her a hair cut.
Are you sure it's a pullet?
Boys usually have unruly hairdos and girls are usually neatly coiffed.

That's why I don't raise those breeds any more.

 

[TayLuvChicken]

Do polish get blood feathers on their head? She's still young and her feathers I don't think are long enough to put in a hair tie. I would trim them but I don't exactly where/how to trim feathers around a chickens eyes. I don't want to end up cutting a blood feather and hurt her or give the other birds a reason to chase her around the yard. How should they be trimmed? Is there a specific way?

 

[Pyxis]

Do polish get blood feathers on their head? She's still young and her feathers I don't think are long enough to put in a hair tie. I would trim them but I don't exactly where/how to trim feathers around a chickens eyes. I don't want to end up cutting a blood feather and hurt her or give the other birds a reason to chase her around the yard. How should they be trimmed? Is there a specific way?

Yes, they do - all feathers have a blood supply when they are growing in. They'll be easy to spot - they are in a protective sheath. They look like this:

https://simplethrift.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/2012-09-16_16-00-05_773.jpg

Just don't cut any of those and you'll be fine Otherwise, there's no certain way to do it. If you're afraid she'll be squirming and are nervous of poking her in the eye or something, either have someone else hold her for you or wrap her in a towel.

 

[TayLuvChicken]

Most if not all of her feathers on her head are like those in the picture. She's fine with being held and being pet but squirms and jerks her head away when someone touches her head feathers. They seem warm towards the root like blood feathers and they have that sheath around the base of them. Is it maybe just regular non blood feathers I'm seeing? I don't want to just willy-nilly start cutting and then realize they're blood feathers. I've never had polish before so I dunno what to expect with them. It's definitely a hen and I've read their head feathers will get out of control when they're this age. I have not seen what to do them though. Have you had polish? She's one of my favorites and I don't want to hurt her or make her fear me.