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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

gardentlc
I have one GLP..(see posted pics) and it and my others are 13 weeks this sat. 07/20. The rest of my hens are Orpingtons and Rocks, (Buff). I cannot tell if ours is a Roo or a hen, Supposed to be all hens, but this one was my surprise chick, and I do not know if he/she is a bearded one or not either!! Had to separate "her" today, because the other chicks decided to pull out her head feathers (not all) and most of her tail feathers!! Poor baby! I hated doing it, but it was for her safety. She does not like being by herself, but I do not want to see her/him get killed by the bigger hens!!
 
drumstick diva
Are they eating well since you have them? If so and they aren't getting filled out maybe you need to feed them some other brand. What you wormed them and checked for mites?
If the other person didn't take the best of care of them - they probably never wormed them or much of anything else.
 
frank53061
I agree my Daughter has Polish Silver laced and golden laced and I dont think there any smarter or dumber than any other chickens its the fact that the feathers cover there eyes I find its easyer to sneak up on one and catch them then other chickens that could be a problem with preditores getting them they are a fancy yard ornament
 
haagchick
Polish chickens are a nice looking bird. That being said, if I had all that fluff on my head....I wouldn't be able to see either !! Lol!
 
kerahs ranch
Your roosters crest will not be in a ball shape, like a hen. The roosters crest will have jagged shoots coming out of it sort of like a tree? lol a hens head is very flat and has Distinct points coming out of it. I have a couple of 3 month olds and one 1 you can clearly see is rooster. If I can il try and get a pic. Another thing is look at the feathers near the tail. If they are coming in very showy and shiny, then you have a rooster. Hens will not have tail feathers like that. Listen for crowing as well. hope that helps
 
sepaditty1
I just got 5 polish chicks. I think 2 are roos. We'll see. My favorite little hen is Cinnamon. She had a problem with pasty butt and has what looks like a pretty nasty hemorrhoid. She isn't growing as quickly as the others. If she pulls through, she's going to be my favorite for sure!!!
 
Linda Stumph
I have a polish rooster and he is about 6 months. He came as a freebie in a shipment of 15 S L Wynd. The other birds keep pulling feathers out of his head and cause it to bleed. It heals but I don't feel it's a good idea to put him with the other birds. I would like to get him a Polish Hen and hatch chicks. Should I get a few day old hen or a juvenile hen?
 
hellbender
I've never owned any but have been around lots of them. The only thing I can say is ...I can't for the life of me, figure out how or why they are rated #16. I would like for someone to help me understand what criteria is used for these rating placements.
 
IndigoRaven
We received an assortment of day olds with two white crested black Polish, a white laced buff Polish, a buff Cochin, a Phoenix (what a beautiful bird with a sweet little call), and a Cornish. We weren't sure what we wanted and a friend had to order 15 but wanted more like 8, so they had us pick form some of the ones they received as part of an ornamental variety pack. We had all kinds of ideas about what type of chickens we might want in the future, but I have to say, the Polish have such sweet personalities. They all follow us around like puppies and love being pick up. The others are friendly but not so keen on being picked up. I've fallen in love with the breed and am considering looking into finding a fine Polish ro to join the girls. My daughter (this is her acount) is very interested in breeding them and has told me he's got to be white crested splash polish.
 
Fluffychicken7
I have a white crested blue bantam polish rooster that might need a home (it's not for sure yet), he kind of looks like a splash rooster (I think better). He's very friendly and likes to be picked up. He's just a little moody sometimes. He's 4.5 months old. How old are your hens? Where are you located? SoCal?
 
Tacampbell1973
I bought a Polish hen at auction several months back. Angel. She is the sweetest bird I have. the crest did pose a problem as the flock was free ranging back then ([pre hawk attack) but i tested out several ways of dealing with it. I tried cutting it but it just got shorter and floofier. So now I pull it up in a topnot and she seems a lot happier and far less jumpy. She reminds me of a big whitefluffy pillow and loves to be held to watch tv or video games.
 
PhotoChicken
Hey! That picture of the running Buff-Laced-Polish-Rooster (having a fabulous hair day) is of my Buffy-Boy. He's so cool! He's also a great shoulder chicken.
 
ChickensRock01
I have two white crested black polish chickens and they dont seem to peck at each other, in fact they love each other! I hope it stays that way
 

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Category
Chicken Breeds
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Reviews
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Last update
Rating
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