Rescued the Polish again this morning..

[RyRy2]

Poor Chickie (my 9 yr old named her) she really can't see a thing, we've trimmed her crest a few times and it helps a little, but not enough (I'm not sure how far I can cut it back without hurting her) about a month ago she was up on the hay and fell between the hay and the barn wall, easy enough to fix, I moved a bale of hay and she followed the sound of my voice down the "long dark tunnel" and got out. Last night I went down to lock everyone up and couldn't find Chickie.. I walked around calling her, but couldn't find her anywhere. This morning, still no Chickie, so I started walking around again and then remembered that the night before some of the chickens had been up on the hay, so I started looking for holes she could have fallen down, nope, no Chickie. We have a metal pole barn and finished the inside with 2x10's to create a bit of an insulation barrier and allow me to put stalls in, this leaves about a 6" wide gap between the outside wall and the inside wall. You guessed it, she climbed up to the top of the hay and evidently stepped up onto the 2x10 and fell between the walls... Lucky for her a cat had fallen in that exact section previously and I had already dug and escape tunnel from the outside that I had just covered with rocks.. I moved the rocks and made the escape hole a bit bigger then started calling her, good little Chickie that she is, she came towards my voice and I was able to grab her legs and gently pull her out (11 weeks old, so luckily she isn't full size yet or I'm not sure she would have fit). I put her down and her little friends all ran up and surrounded her, one of my Ameracauna's even pushed me out of the way and acted like she wanted to protect her (tried to peck me when I started to pet Chickie).. Fun morning, I'm just wondering where I will have to get her out of next, lol.

 

[OHhappychicks]

Does she need rescued so much because she can't see where she is going? That is hilarious!! I have 3 golden polish that are about 3 wks old now. I've never had this breed before, so it sounds like maybe I can expect some adventures!!! Maybe tie a bell around her neck!!

 

[theoldchick]

Wow, I guess you need to keep her in a polish proof pen!

She's an accident waiting to happen!

 

[lvchicken]

Omg!!! That silly Chickie is a riot!!!!!!

 

[flnatv]

LOL... I have golden laced and this afternoon... 2 had escaped... I know how and it is fixed... Mine are also in a barn... double walls... UGHHH

You need to post a picture

 

[RyRy2]

Chickie is also a Golden Laced, very sweet and yes, I think she gets lost all the time because she can't see where she is going at all.. We have almost 14 acres and the chickens free-range in the acre or so closest to the barn, I keep telling my husband I would like maybe 2 more Polish and so far he is resisting, says she is cool, but a lot of work to keep track of. The other chickens pretty much take care of themselves.. I don't think I've posted enough to be able to include a picture, not sure how and don't see an "add picture" button anywhere... I've heard Polish can be skitzy but she is the friendliest, sweetest girl we have (probably from all the handling, between trimming her feathers and keeping goop on her head so that the others don't peck her bald)..

 

[TeriyakiChicken]

hahahaha
You gotta love Polish!

 

[OHhappychicks]

Quote:
Do the others pick on her alot? Was she raised with them or did you get her at a different time? I only ask because I have 3 golden polish. They are about 3 wks old. We have 15 more their age. We have 1 & 3 yr old chickens in one pen and 1 month olds in another pen in which we are going to integrate the 3 wk olds. I am a little worried about the others picking on them.
From the sounds of it, I might have to double fence them!!!

Sorry about the repeating myself!!

 

[welasharon]

I went to put mine up and realized Henrietta (polish) was missing. I had about given her up for lost when I happened to hear something under the house. I looked and there she was standing in the corner....poor baby had no clue how to turn around and get out of the corner....I had to crawl in after her.

 

[RyRy2]

dshappychicks - I split an order from McMurray back in March, so she has been with these guys her whole life, they were fine until about 7 weeks old and they started pecking her head, I had noticed before that it seemed like there should be more feathers than there were, but never caught anyone, one day we caught them in the act and got her out of there (they had drawn blood). I let her heal up and put her back, but with bag balm on her head, the other chickens don't like the greasy feel on their beaks so they leave her alone. the funny thing is that the older hens and roosters don't bother her at all (maybe because I free range). I've heard that it is better if you have a couple of Polish vs just the one, but you will just have to wait and see. keep an eye on them and definitely monitor the interactions with the older chickens until your sure the little ones are safe. One interesting thing I found when I was researching possible causes / solutions was that The Polish can't see thru the feathers sometimes (definitely true for Chickie, her crest is very floppy) which means they can't see a dominate chickens body language telling them them to move, causing some pecks, its one reason I trimmed her.. Good luck with your babies (aren't they adorable at that age

) be prepared to separate if you have to, but I've talked to some people that never have a problem..

welasharon - oh my gosh, that sounds exactly like Chickie. I've had to pull her out of tall grass because she can't figure out how to turn around. I can picture it...