What to do about a pecker

[CackleFruitCrnr]

Hey all! I'm a newbie owner. I have a mixed flock of 5 girls who are about 4 months now and have been raised together since day one. Just over a month ago I noticed my white crested polish bantam had fro feathers missing. I used blu-kote and antibiotics and started trying to figure out which of the girls is the meanie. Turns out my silver spangled hamburg is the culprit. I put the polish banty in a large dog kennel in the run and her fro feathers are going back nicely....until today. I got sidetracked and left the polish in with the general population and now she's got missing head feathers again.

Their run is 6'x12'. Has perches for climbing, dust bath areas, food, water. I take treats down so I know they're not lacking in protein. The SSH doesn't pick on any of the other girls and none of the other girls pick on the bantam. Unfortunately, we've got construction crews on property at the moment so they only get to free range in the evenings after the crew is done for the day. When I free range them they seem fine until they decide to "relax" under some bushes and then the SSH will start pecking the polish again.

I'm at a loss as to what to do next. Any suggestions will be most welcomed!!!

TIA!

 

[azygous]

Polish Pecking is very Prevalent in flocks where the Polish Pullet is the Primary Polish Pullet. (I dare you to repeat that six times without going nuts.)

Your flock is fixating on the one huge difference among them - that inviting little mop on top of their mate's head. This is how chickens roll. Actually humans roll that way, too. We seem to find difference among our social groups an obsessive focus, too, but chickens are especially apt to adopt it as sport.

You can't counsel them to stop picking on their different friend, but you can rig the game so the Polish isn't the main attraction. You do this by creating more of the same. Get a bunch of whatever looks similar to a Polish puff. Those nylon shower scrub puffs come to mind. Feather dusters. You get the idea. Hang these facsimiles around the run, the more the better. Go crazy with color variety. Chickens love color. Let them dangle at varying heights, blowing in the breeze.

Very quickly, your chickens, if taken in by this trick, should become desensitized by seeing so many things resembling a Polish Puff, they will soon lose interest in all of them and get back to chicken bid-niss.

I hope you use these shower puff scrubbers. You'll have a five year supply when this is over.

 

[CackleFruitCrnr]

Oooo what an interesting idea!!! I'll give that a shot and see if that works. Thanks!!

 

[21hens-incharge]

I am very curious what the results will be. We get so many posts where a single Polish is targeted. It will be nice is there is another option for them.

 

[Chickassan]

I'm so glad this isn't what I thought it was.

 

[CackleFruitCrnr]

I'm so glad this isn't what I thought it was.

 

[lazy gardener]

I'm so glad this isn't what I thought it was.

I had to go back to the beginning to find out what you were talking about! I almost cried down my pant leg.

Azygous, you get the prize of the day for thinking outside the box. In this case, I don't believe there even exists a box. OP, you have to come back and let us know how this works out. perhaps you should make a little feather duster cap for each of your other 4 birds, A different color for each, with a little silk ribbon to tie under their chins.

 

[Chickassan]

Seriously, I'm still nursing a summer cold with Jameson and my "irished" mind thought for sure this was a woe is me I've got a rooster thread just poetically worded. Not that it makes it any better that this poor lady's polish is getting a forced new hairdo. Pecker really is one of those multipurpose words. My mind wasn't completely in the gutter just sitting on the side dipping it's toes.

 

[aart]

My mind went right there too ....chuckles.

Wonders of the polish can see well enough to avoid the pecks,
might need a little 'hair cut'?

 

[CackleFruitCrnr]

I'm so glad everyone is getting a chuckle! That's all you can do is laugh!

I've given the polish a haircut. Actually gave her a mullet the first time I did it (don't cut in the dark!) The silly thing will walk right up to the SSH, sit in front of her and allows her feathers to be plucked.

I put 4 different colored poofs in the run yesterday afternoon and so far no one has paid any attention to them. Boo!!!