My Polish bantam is bald !

Chicken Woman

Incredible Egg
11 Years
Oct 16, 2008
2,465
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Montana
I am new at chickens as you will probably figure out. I have 7 bantams (all hens) one being a polish I think. Then I have 4 RI red hens. The reds are laying well and are about 7 months old. My bantams are not laying at all ! They are also about 7 months old. My Polish ? Her head is bald except for right over her eyes. Yesterday I went out and she was bleeding. I have put her in a dog kennel used some steptic powder to stop bleeding. Today I cleaned her head with betadine and later sprayed with blu-kote. Now what !
Why aren't my bantams laying ?
 
My chickens have slowed down laying this time of year. Some of my banty hens only lay in spring and early summer regardless of age.
To keep the others from picking on your polish try Vics. vaporub on her head.
The others will hate the taste and leave her alone when you put her back into flock...
 
There is also a no-pick spray you can get at the co-op that should help.

Be careful if you have a picker in the flock, though, as she can teach the others this nasty habit.

Do you have plenty for the hens to do during the day? Cabbage, pumpkins or other squash, leaf piles or even hay can all do wonders at keeping chickens busy. Mine spend hours scratching through hay, or pecking at a nice pumpkin. They are less likely to pick if they are busy.
 
Mine seem to pick on my Polish too but she is no where near bald YET! I do put lots of thing in their cages and it really does help. I will usually put a cob of corn in there...that keeps them busy for a while and they also LOVE leaves to scratch around in. I think in the end I"m going to have to move my poor polish to the bantam coop so she is not picked on so much. I would leave yours out so she can heal up a bit...sounds like they get pretty mean to her
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Sometimes what I also do is sit right in the run with them with a stick and when I see them pecking at h er I will tap them with the stick and they have gotten better. Were all these hens raised together? Or did you add the polish later?

The no pick DOES word great too. It's made of all herbs so it's not going to hurt your chickens either
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I would pick some up.
 
They have always been together but they seem intrigued by her head. I CAN'T SEEM TO FIND NO PICK LOCALLY. aNYWHERE ONLINE i CAN GET IT ?
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EEEKKSS!! Have you you ever had Vicks on chapped skin- like under your nose when your mother smeared it all over you! Holy sting! Try Better Bitters from livestock store.
 
I have a polish with the bald head also. It has been picked at all along. BluKote didn't work. I haven't tried Vicks. I have an old spray bottle of Bitter Apple and thought about trying that, but it is so old I doubt it is any good.
I am going to try ordering the Rooster Booster Black Salve and the Rooster Booster No Pick online. It is easy to find the web site by Googling it.
 
I had a dog in chemotherapy that had a vein blow out from the nasty drugs,. The drug, once on the skin, burned and was intensely irritating to him. I wrapped the wound in vet wrap, then sprayed OLD Bitter Apple equivalent all over it. He ate it all off, and I assumed, because it was old, it was no good.

I tasted it - HORRIBLE!

I guess it all depends on the motivation - it's worth a try isn't it?

Good luck
 

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