HELP! Polish Rooster Head Needs Help!

[Charlotteandfriends]

Hey everyone. I have a sweet little polish rooster (Named Rod Stewart.) and he is constantly having problems with his head. The hens constantly pick at his sweet little head and i'm not sure what to do to stop it. I bought this chicken lotion that is supposed to taste bad to stop the pecking but it's not working very well. I don't want to purchase anything again, i'd just rather use what I have to wrap his head or something. The hens don't aggressively peck at him, they're just curious. Any ideas on what I could do?? I'm not so keen on having him separated to heal, because he just always wants to be with the hens. I'll take any ideas!! Thank you! (His head is gray because of the lotion. It's usually red/pink.)

 

[Mantisquailman]

There's a white house on the hill video on YouTube were they put some kind of antipeck glasses on their chickens to make them stop pecking at each other.

 

[coach723]

I would trim those crest feathers back, they can attract pecking and obstruct his vision. It's not uncommon with crested birds. You can trim with scissors. Some people put a pony tail on them to hold them up.
I've not found the peck no more to be very effective personally. Sometimes blu-kote helps, but it's messy, stains, and it doesn't always help either. I would put some triple antibiotic ointment on it a couple times a day, to help it heal, and see if trimming the feathers helps resolve the pecking.
Sometimes it's also an issue of space, if they are crowded, this kind of behavior tends to be worse.
Pinless peepers are what is being referred to above, some find them effective, but they have to wear them all the time (take them off and they will go back to pecking) and there are some incidences of beak injury from them, just FYI. They also obstruct vision, if your birds free range that can put them at risk. I personally wouldn't use them unless it was a major bully.

 

[FunClucks]

Pinless peepers on your hens might help. But that amount of damage seems extreme. If the pick-no-more lotion doesn't prevent all pecking of his head, you will need to separate him to heal. You can put an XXL dog crate in the run with your hens, and place him in it with his own food and water. He can still see them, but they can't injure him. The pecking could also be occurring at night, so he'll need to stay separated for a month or two until that heals.

I have a predator-secure fully covered run, so I just keep my injured chickens in an XXL dog crate in there with the flock, no rain protection needed. I run a branch through one end for a perch if needed.

Could have just been a peck that drew blood, and then everyone saw blood and scalped him, or could be that they really don't like him. If they don't like him, you'll need to rehome him or the hens, as pinless peepers can be used for a month or two but no longer - they make it a lot harder to peck other birds, and help them forget bad habits. But if they don't like the rooster, as soon as the pinless peepers come off, they'll start pecking him again. You won't know which it is until after he heals and you try to re-introduce him to the flock.

If you look around on here, there's an Article about a dressing you can make with pine tar that should protect his head more and flake off once he's fully healed. That would allow him to stay with the hens, but I worry that they'll keep picking on him and injure him in other places.

 

[Charlotteandfriends]

Pinless peepers on your hens might help. But that amount of damage seems extreme. If the pick-no-more lotion doesn't prevent all pecking of his head, you will need to separate him to heal. You can put an XXL dog crate in the run with your hens, and place him in it with his own food and water. He can still see them, but they can't injure him. The pecking could also be occurring at night, so he'll need to stay separated for a month or two until that heals.

I have a predator-secure fully covered run, so I just keep my injured chickens in an XXL dog crate in there with the flock, no rain protection needed. I run a branch through one end for a perch if needed.

Could have just been a peck that drew blood, and then everyone saw blood and scalped him, or could be that they really don't like him. If they don't like him, you'll need to rehome him or the hens, as pinless peepers can be used for a month or two but no longer - they make it a lot harder to peck other birds, and help them forget bad habits. But if they don't like the rooster, as soon as the pinless peepers come off, they'll start pecking him again. You won't know which it is until after he heals and you try to re-introduce him to the flock.

If you look around on here, there's an Article about a dressing you can make with pine tar that should protect his head more and flake off once he's fully healed. That would allow him to stay with the hens, but I worry that they'll keep picking on him and injure him in other places.

Thank you so much for your help. I don't think it's a matter of aggressive behavior with the hens, they are just always so curious and willing to eat/peck at anything. The strange thing is that he lets them peck at him! He makes no noise and just stands still like he's not affected...

They do not free range anymore ( Due to hawks and other predators constantly attacking..) but instead we have made super long wide tunnels going around the yard so that they can still get to fresh grass, so I think he has enough room to get away if he needs. I will probably end up separating him from the rest in a crate like you had mentioned, and finding out about the pine tar dressing.

Do you think I could wrap his head with anything somehow, or would that not be so great for his head? I'm also super worried that it could get worse (*knock on wood...) and could end up getting to his brain. Again, thank you so much.

 

[Charlotteandfriends]

I would trim those crest feathers back, they can attract pecking and obstruct his vision. It's not uncommon with crested birds. You can trim with scissors. Some people put a pony tail on them to hold them up.
I've not found the peck no more to be very effective personally. Sometimes blu-kote helps, but it's messy, stains, and it doesn't always help either. I would put some triple antibiotic ointment on it a couple times a day, to help it heal, and see if trimming the feathers helps resolve the pecking.
Sometimes it's also an issue of space, if they are crowded, this kind of behavior tends to be worse.
Pinless peepers are what is being referred to above, some find them effective, but they have to wear them all the time (take them off and they will go back to pecking) and there are some incidences of beak injury from them, just FYI. They also obstruct vision, if your birds free range that can put them at risk. I personally wouldn't use them unless it was a major bully.

Thank you so much for all your help. Do you think that if I trim his crest feathers that it would be more attractive towards the hens? I'm just super afraid of major future head injuries.
I think it's definitely all the hens who play a part in pecking at him, not anyone specific.

I think they may have plenty of room although they are not free range due to constant predator attacks. We just recently made long wide tunnels going around the yard so that they still have access to bugs and grass so I think he has enough room to get away. I'm just still so worried about him.

Thank you again so much!

 

[coach723]

I don't have polish, but it's a common issue, others picking on the feathers on the head, and the feathers impairing vision leaving them more vulnerable. Many say that trimming the feathers helps with both issues. I wouldn't try to wrap the head in anything. Bandaging might also attract pecking, and it can actually increase chance of infection in many cases, and bandaging could get caught on something or slip down and cause further injuries.
I have a very docile older rooster, and hens will pick at him sometimes, and he just takes it. They haven't however caused him injury.
Crating him where he can still see them, and they can see him might be your best option until it heals enough to be safe from further injury.
If you trim the feathers, and it's not effective, they will grow back when he molts. If it is effective, then you will need to re-trim them as needed.

 

[Eggcessive]

I had two polish hens in the past who suffered the feather picking on top of their heads occasionally. I would use BluKote spray daily or every other day when the feather picking was first noticed, and it would stop it. But one was scalped as yours is in the picture. I separated inside the coop with food and water, and applied antibiotic ointment twice daily until healing for a few days. Then I used the BluKote again when the crate separation was over.

We have always had hawks around especially in summer and fall. I lost a bird now and then, but my chickens were so much happier getting outside to free range. We planted evergreen trees in the yard, and they would hang out under those when hawks came around.The head pecking stopped when they were getting out daily.

 

[FunClucks]

Thank you so much for your help. I don't think it's a matter of aggressive behavior with the hens, they are just always so curious and willing to eat/peck at anything. The strange thing is that he lets them peck at him! He makes no noise and just stands still like he's not affected...

They do not free range anymore ( Due to hawks and other predators constantly attacking..) but instead we have made super long wide tunnels going around the yard so that they can still get to fresh grass, so I think he has enough room to get away if he needs. I will probably end up separating him from the rest in a crate like you had mentioned, and finding out about the pine tar dressing.

Do you think I could wrap his head with anything somehow, or would that not be so great for his head? I'm also super worried that it could get worse (*knock on wood...) and could end up getting to his brain. Again, thank you so much.

Here's the pine tar article I was talking about that might help you. Chickens feel pain, but will not show pain or hurt unless they are practically about to die - it's a defense mechanism since the other chickens will attack a wounded chicken and drive them out of the flock or eat them. Wrapping his head will not help, he or they will just pull it off, and you don't want to constrict breathing or blood flow or anything. Also, I don't think it's needed, just keep the wound clean and slathered with Neosporin or the tar. A bit of dirt on top of Neosporin also won't hurt them. I've had birds with 2" long cuts through their skin down to the muscle heal up just fine without me even putting anything on the wound (the wound was visibly clean and covered by the hen's wing, and "clean" feathers, and wasn't gaping open), I just separated the chicken in an isolation cage, and after a month or so, it had healed up fine. They can heal from some surprisingly drastic wounds, and scalping is pretty common, and usually heals well. I too would be worried about the hens making it worse or eating him, separation is key unless/until you can be sure they won't touch it. Unless he gets an infection, which isn't too likely, he should heal up fine.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...s-and-injuries-with-stockholm-hoof-tar.74400/

Sounds like they may have over-done the grooming of him. They will "groom" roos they like, and eat half his feathers off basically, and roos will let the hens do it. If he lets them do it, it may be really problematic to stop this behavior. Best bet, get him healed, trim his head feathers, then increase floor space available for them in the coop/run as much as you can, and decrease stress in their lives. All the predators may be causing stress to them. Tunnels will help for sure, but large areas where they are safe are also needed - the tunnel is narrow and prevents chickens from getting past at a distance from each other. Distance as they pass each other is how they show they are lower in the pecking order and avoid being pecked. It is stressful for a lower order chicken to get close to a higher order chicken due to risk of being attacked. Also consider putting up cardboard or something to block line of sight to predators outside the run, and the view of other chickens in the run. If they think they're 'hidden', it decreases stress. Just don't create dead ends, so lower order chickens can always run away.

Good luck!!! I think your roo will probably be just fine.