Picked-on Polish Pullet

[chickmanna]

Hi All & Thanks in advance for any advice.

Our Buff-Laced Polish pullet is getting picked on. I've read alot about this on the BYC forum and am having limited success with a remedy. Rooster Booster Anti-Pick Lotion seems to help as long as I keep it on her head constantly. But I'm hoping to find a better solution. It's time consuming and I'm hoping she doesn't have to go around with a purple head forever. She's my granddaughter's pet so getting rid of her is not a good option at this point.

From what I can tell, she's getting picked on simply because she's different and too docile to object. There doesn't seem to be any other feather picking or feather eating going on in our flock of 6 pullets. The other girls just seem to bother her when she bends her head down to eat, they go for the back of her head, and she's developed quite a large bald spot there. I could raise the feeder, but they free range every evening, so I don't know how much that would help. Any thoughts?

I love the Polish and would get a couple more if I thought it would help. Would several Polish in the flock make her less of a novelty or just make more targets for the other girls? Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Annie/Chickmanna

 

[teach1rusl]

Even though they free range, I would still set the feeder/waterers up on blocks. Yeah, I use to want a polish as part of my mixed flock until I began reading lots of stories like yours. They seem to do fine with silkies, or similar type birds w/crests and such, but not so much with "regular" chickens. Many people trim the feathers of pet silkies with large crests so that they can see better, so I wonder if it would work to cut the feathers down fairly low on a polish?? It wouldn't look good, but being half bald doesn't look good either...

 

[Eggcessive]

I have two 11 week old polish chicks, and the same 1 has been pecked by another chick to the point of a bald spot 3 times. The

third time after the feathers were coming in well and were picked even with a purple sprayed head, we finally separated him with the other polish (who's never been pecked) and 4 bantam chicks. After 2-3 weeks feathers are finally coming in again, and we will have to reintegrate them into the big flock of their mates in a couple more weeks. I have also been considering what to do about their lack of vision with the headdresses--does anyone trim around their eyes.

 

[teach1rusl]

Quote:
Here's a thread addressing that very thing: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=529774