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Polish

The Polish or Poland breed is best known for its elaborate crest of feathers that nearly cover the entirety of the head.
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General Information

Breed Purpose
Ornamental
Comb
V-Shaped
Broodiness
Seldom
Climate Tolerance
All Climates
Egg Productivity
Medium
Egg Size
Medium
Egg Color
White
Breed Temperament
Flighty,Noisy,Shy
Breed Colors/Varieties
White Crested : Black, Blue, Cuckoo, Choc. Solid : Black, Blue, White, Cuckoo. Laced : Silver, Golden, Buff Other : Tolbunt, Crele
Breed Size
Large Fowl
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The Polish or Poland breed is best known for its elaborate crest of feathers that nearly cover the entirety of the head. This crest limits their vision and as a result can affect their temperament. Thus, though normally tame, they may be timid and easily frightened.

The oldest accounts of this breed come from The Netherlands, but their exact origins are unknown. One theory suggests that their ancestors were brought by Asian Mongols to Eastern Europe during medieval times, and thus, could have originated in Poland. It is also believed that immigrants brought the breed's predecessors from Spain or Italy in the late 16th century. The Polish was standardised in the Netherlands and declared a thoroughbred in the 16th century already. The American Poultry Association states that the breed was introduced to the USA between 1830 and 1840. The breed was, during a certain period of time, much favoured by American farmers and chicken fanciers.

Polish chickens are bred primarily for ornamental purposes and exhibition, but were originally productive egg layers. Polish hens rarely go broody and are noted for their white eggs.

The American Poultry Association accepted three Polish varieties into the American Poultry Association’s Standard of Perfection in 1874; additional varieties were accepted in 1883, 1938 and 1963. There are bearded, non-bearded and frizzle varieties of this breed.

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Polish eggs

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Polish chicks

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Polish juvenile

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Polish hen

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Polish rooster

For more about the Polish breed and their owners' and breeders' experiences with them, see our breed discussion here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/chicken-breed-focus-polish.1098899/
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Latest reviews

Addicted To Chickens
Pros: Extremely sweet
Friendly
Pleasing to the Eye
Very good target flying
Cons: Runs very fast
DON'T GET ME STARTED ON THIS!!!! There are way to many things about them to love!! Mine are very sweet and easy to socialize with.
PippinTheChicken
Love Polish!
Pros: They can jump\fly very high (not sure if pro or con but I like it)
friendly
beautiful
funny
Cons: They can jump\fly very high (not sure if pro or con but I like it)
My hen hatched some polish chicks in June 2021. I have fallen in love with them. They have such funny little personalities.
They are very friendly with other chickens AND humans, they are always up for a cuddle.
They jump\fly very high, it's very entertaining to watch
Purchase Price
£15 for 6 hatching eggs
Purchase Date
May 2021
J
Jumpyrules
agreed
Addicted To Chickens
Addicted To Chickens
Correct!
lily7grace92
Pros: The absolute cutest
Good egg laying ability
Friendly
Endless entertainment
A great way to add diversity to a flock
Cons: Flighty
Can't see well
Have a tendency to lay anywhere but the nesting box
They bother the other hens (no personal space)
Extremely LOUD
My personal experience with Polish hens:

The good- They have a great temperament when played with as baby chicks. We have one that loves to be picked up and will fall asleep in your arms. They are surprisingly good layers. We have had ours lay almost every day for close to 6 months through the winter even! (we do not use supplemental lighting at all either) They are so funny to watch and we have the greatest time just watching them around the yard. In all they are a good chicken to have especially if your looking for some fun poof heads to laugh at.
The bad- They DESTROY nesting boxes (kick ALL the hay, shavings whatever right out) and then they don't even lay in them! They can also be extremely flighty because they really can't see that good. It can be a pain the trim and keep their head feathers clean and keep them from icing up in the wintertime. One of our hens is probably louder than the rooster and voices her opinion a lot.
I really like my polish hens, but 3 is plenty and I probably wouldn't get more unless something happened to them.
Below is my buff laced bearded polish hen- Mrs. Santa Claus
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Purchase Price
Free
Purchase Date
3/8/18
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Comments

hellbender
I also stunned that someone doesn't know these birds aren't 'chickens'

and that since, in my opinion, these, while beautiful, are more scary

looking than regular chickens. Is there a point to this? I guess ...it I

Were I to be afraid of chickens, these would put me on to run...lol
 
tonkatoy
I have one too, bought a polish and a silkie at the feed store since you rarely see them in the feed store. The polish is such a nice curious bird and I really do look at her as a pet. She and the silkie get along just great and have the sweetest faces. I'm not sure how big she will get since she is growing so slowly I think she might be a bantam but I don't know if polish come in bantam size.
 
Twinkkitten
My polish was a rescue. She was picked on at the feed store. She is skittish. Not sure if she can see. I read on a post that some people tie up there top feathers. I wouldn't do that. She is pet. I would never eat Ola.
 
sayga
We love our Golden laced Polish. She took a long time to start laying this spring because she didn't get much light in under her "hair," and so she kept trying to go to bed at 3pm. There are much fewer daylight hours for a chicken always in the dark. Our Polish has a particularly fine crest of "hair," (we had 2 others, neither as spectacular as Spike's) and it's very full and poofy. So it was even darker for her than for some other Polish. Once she starts laying, though, she's a good layer. She does try to roost on the fence sometimes, and we have to go out and collect her and put her in the coop. I love that chicken, though. She's my favorite.
 
Tacampbell1973
Hello...I was hoping someone could tell me,,,do the chicks start right away with the crest or a sign of it? Reason is I just lost my only Polish hen, whom I loved dearly, to a coyote two weeks ago or less... only good thing is I have 8 of her eggs hatching under another hen along with the hens own eggs, not sure if I will tell them apart right away. They will only be half as dad Roody is a Gold Laced Cochin. Am crossing fingers and wings for fluffy headed fluffy booted babies...
 
windzbreezy
My girl went broody this year and hatched 4 so far. If its contagious she probably picked the behavior up from my light brahmas. One just had a successful hatch.
 
highonhens
I have a white crested polish roo and 15 hens of basic variety, RIR ,Black star.. I cannot keep them from pulling out his head feathers. Once he is bald in the center, they leave him alone, but as soon as I can get those feathers growing back, I see blood and pecking. I did better just leaving him bald, but in MT the winters can get nasty and a bald head is not a good thing. I'm happy with his looks and personality, but I will not get another just because of the attraction of those dang bouncy feathers on his head.
 
jnkir7
just wondering how to cross a polish with another breed and nor loose the crest
 
CrzyChknLady81
Very pretty color...Is she laying? She looks very much like my he...I was just curious because I am fairly new to the breed and was wondering if it was a color difference that made her crest look rooish... Im buying some hatching in a couple weeks and going to specifically see if they have buffs..that is just the prettiest color ever!!
You are so right about their temperment..even my roo is a complete sweety..he is huge, but a complete baby <3
 
10Momma14
Do you know much about the colors in the polish? I have a rooster that I don't know if he is a mix of two colors or if he is one color.
 
Chickengirl47
When my brothers Polish, Peaceful, was a few weeks old she was getting black and white wing and head feathers, and so I was unsure wether she was a White Crested Black or Silver Laced Polish, but now that she is older I'm pretty sure she is a White Crested Black. How old is your rooster? Do you have a picture of him?
 

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Category
Chicken Breeds
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