Polish hen - should I give her a haircut so she can see?

[Scoop]

I know this is really a silly question.

But seriously, she can't see too well as you other polish owners know. Has anyone ever gotten out the clippers?

 

[luvchicks8]

Why not just be careful

 

[ThePolishPrincess]

Yup, 3 of my hens have had hair-cuts. Get someone to hold them and then use a pair of safety scissors to cut away crest and muff feathering around their eyes. But this should be done annually because the crest feather will most likely moult out.

Pics here: (Scroll down.)
http://polishchooks.com/chooks_problems.html

I find that as long as someone with a good grasp is keeping hold of the Polish, pinning them to the ground is not necessary and will stress them out more than needed. Also, the trim in that picture is rather bold. I never trim away that many feathers. I tend to like my Polish more natural looking but that's just me.

It's not a silly question.

Actually, it's quite common and this practice is commonly done.

 

[sonew123]

I did yesterday. My Silver L Polish has a huge head dress-she dissappeared for 3 nights-everynight we had a search party out for her. Found her and locked her in her kennel. Let her out the next day and off she went. #rd night I had had enough and did the haircut 2 nights ago. She has stayed with her peeps every since-she was totally blinded by her feathers-Im glad I did it! My 10 yr old DD held her while I used the scissors-2 minutes piece of cake

 

[Southerngirl]

I always trim my polish crests too. It really helps them out to see other chickens, food, predators etc. Just a couple of snips and your done. Once you do it, it won't bother you so much the next time. Good luck!!

 

[Scoop]

Thanks for the replies everyone. If I have time tomorrow, I'll give it a try!

 

[Nostalchic]

Hey Scoop,
I have just the one Polish rooster, and I regularly trim the soft feathers over his eyes, and I also keep his tall "crest" feathers tied (with a tiny rubber band or 2) into a top knot which helps keep my other chickens (none of which are Polish) from picking at his head, which they do unmercifully if I don't pull the feathers up to keep the skin of his crest protected. He doesn't exactly like any of this, but I can do it pretty easily at this point, by myself, and he just sighs and submits. I think it has helped him a lot, also nice to be able to see!

 

[AN]

im do glad you posted this...i just told DH....i don't think our polish can see with all her feathers.

 

[Maryallison]

None of my hens have ever needed a trim, but the polish Roo I had....YIKES! Talk about a bad hair day! They are neat looking chickens and doing the trim is easy! Good luck with it.