Polish Crest trimming partly accomplished!

[CritterHill]

Well, I finally bit the bullet and went out and trimmed a bunch of crests on my 9 week old polish chickies.

I don't think I have to do them all. Some of them seem to be able to see, but a couple of them had poorly formed crests flopping completely to one side and totally blocking all vision on that side of their head!

I attacked them first. I only got 4 done before they all decided they had had enough and hid under the coop, refusing to come out even for millet.

One in particular seems SOOOO much happier. There was some weird goop all stuck in the feathers on the obstructed side (though the eye itself seemed clear and dry). She now runs with her head straight up instead of twisted to one side!

I'll try for a couple more tomorrow.

Wish I had gotten before/after pics...

 

[Jades Chickens]

I have never heard of triming polish crests before. What is the purpose? Is it a common practice with you all that have polish chickens? I have had a couple polish chickens in the past and never did anything to their feathers.

 

[dangerouschicken]

I thought they weren't supposed to see and that was part of their charm

 

[WisconsinChick]

Quote:
The purpose is so they can see. it is a common practice if your not going to show the chicken.

 

[antiquebuff]

I have 24 Polish that are 8 weeks old. I will trim them a little. If you don't , some can have trouble finding food and water and I like to let mine out for about an hour a day and they have to see a little!
It is not recommended if you plan to show them. I also do my Silkies, but have not had to do my Sultans yet. If I am selling some for show I just hold those out and don't trim.
It is a job, but is so cute when you see them look around afterward and if you are very careful you cannot tell its been done!
Good luck on the rest of them tomorrow!

 

[smom1976]

I did one of mine too.. she was pecked on.. so I figured I would at least give her the op to run..

But I have one that has such a mop head.. it is funny I frequently hear the "where did everybody go" cheep comming from her..

cant miss her cheep..

funny little guys..

 

[lilchick]

Had a sultan named Bubby that needed some help.... I used small rubber band to pull it into a neat looking top knot! only thing is not too tight or he can't blink!
I also gave him a mohawk and that worked best and kept his eyes from tearing up and he could see to eat and drink....

 

[CritterHill]

I don't think all of mine need to be done. For some reason the gold laced have crummy, long, lopsided, goofy crests that obscure their vision bigtime! They also seemed lowest on the pecking order, so I figured I'd help them out a little.

I bow down to all of you that can trim and have it look normal. I don't have that much talent. One of them now has a mullet.

 

[polish momma]

Hi I have 8 polish girls and they are 10 weeks old. I am so nervous because I have read you can hurt them and make them bleed if you cut the wrong feathers. About 6 of my girls crest have grown so long they can't see. How far do you cut down and are there feathers on the crest I should be avoiding. Thanks for the help

 

[sunheeter]

I have a gold laced polish about 3 months old. It's crest is starting to tip to one side, making it hard to see out that eye. The skin is actually sitting more heavy on that side. Is that normal? I don't want to cut the feathers if I can help it (we sell the chicks and having a full grown version helps people see what the bird looks like) but I also want to make sure she's happy and comfortable. We recently adopted a silver laced polish rooster, and he had a serious eye infection on one side, with the same issue where the crest hung down on that side and his skin weighed down his eye. The skin around his eye was also very pale, discolored, etc and he had puss coming out of his eye. So with him, I washed him (he totally smelled ) and totally cut off his top feathers, and we got some drops from our local feed store which really seemed to help. It's been about 2 months and now his feathers are growing back and starting to put pressure on that one eye again. So do I have to keep his feathers short?? Is there a way to keep the crest on a bird without it falling to one side?? They are just so beautiful.