Crested Polish Hen Question

[apmorris]

I have a 21-week-old Polish hen with unusually long crest feathers. Every time she drinks water, the crest feathers get wet, dripping water on her head, face and chest. She has a perpetually wet head. With winter approaching, I am concerned that she may get hypothermic. Can I safely trim the feathers around her head? If so, how? How much is too much? She is a gentle bird and my husband can easily hold her, but I do not want to injure her.

 

[Mahonri]

Folks clip wings, I can't see how it would hurt to give her "do" a trim.

Wish I had more polish, they are so fun. At present I have 2 and 1/2 (one is a half breed roo)

 

[ThePolishPrincess]

If she's just a backyard pet and you're not showing her, then by all means, go for it.

I've done it plenty of times. But it's usually a two-man-job. One person holds the bird down and the other trims with safety scissors. You don't have to cut off alot so that it would be noticeable. Usually, just a little is all that is necessary. I know what you mean, though. Every winter ours will start to dip their whole face in and will actually, in the freezing winter months, gather icicles hanging on their crests!

Cutting off feathers is alot like cutting off hair on a human. The difference: The feathers on all chickens 'grow' with blood still in the quill part and as the feathers mature, the blood goes away back into the chicken. When the feathers are all grown out, the feather is alot like a hair. We don't bleed when we cut our hair, and if you don't cut too low, neither will the bird. You don't have to cut all the way to the end of the feather. Just whatever usually gets wet.