Polish chickens.

[cottagechick]

I am hoping Polish lovers can help me...
I noticed some red flecks on my banty polishes head today. I wasn't sure if it was pecking, or if it was just the head feathers coming in.
A few hours later the spot is bigger and I saw my lf ee chick pecking at it. Why is this happening and how can I stop it. I took two other chicks and separated them from the others so the ee wouldn't have to be alone...can I put neosporin on it? Can I hope that the taste will be so bad she will stop pecking? Help!I have heard that they get picked on, and I have heard that others have had no trouble...will she stop being picked on so much when they get older if I keep her feathers trimmed so she can see? Should I get rid of the lf ee? I was planning on only having bantams but ended up with two lf (an ee and a red star) I figured I would just keep them...but I was so excited about my little polish and don't want her hurt. She seems really spunky and not especially timid...????

 

[becky3086]

Remove the Polish and put it in its own pen! It is likely your EE won't peck at anything but the Polish crest because it is unusual. It happens more often than not so that I just believe Polish should be kept with Polish. The pecking won't likely stop. Polish just aren't made for most mixed flocks.

 

[cottagechick]

I don't mean to sound dense....but how separate do I have to keep them when they are older...can they free range together and only be separate in their own pens? If the Polish has a hidey hole that the ee can't fit in will she be ok? When they have a whole yard to roam around and aren't so enclosed could the be ok or will they hunt her down and scalp her no matter what?

 

[OldMountainCur]

Numerous comments about "incubators" being the cause of hens "not wanting to set," become broody. Good theory, but an artifical one. Like every other animal we've domesticated we've altered thier ability to reproduce in some manner. In this case EGGS for consumption was more of a concern than production of meat. Therefore, we bred the best layers which inturn removed the genetics that produce broodyness. A hen that will produce 180 - 200 eggs a year will "set" at the drop of a hat, a hen that lays 280 - 300 + a year will become broody rarely and a hen that produces 325 + eggs a year seldom if ever becomes broody. It's the number of eggs they have been bred to produce rather than how they were incubated that curtails broodyness. In other words "if they are setting on a clutch of eggs, they "ain't layin." We can have eggs or we can have broody hens, difficult to get both.