Polish

I had six golden laced polish. One died as a chick, two were killed by dogs, one was culled because he was attacking my mother, the last two are still with us. We were left with one rooster and one hen. Our rooster is FANTASTIC. He is very good to our hens and leaves us alone for the most part, though he does challenge me every once in a while. I like them a lot, but they are too skittish. They're not the type of bird that would be kept as a pet (with exceptions of course).
Most people say they are not good in a mixed flock because they can't see, but ours do very well.
One of our problems is that our hen hides her eggs. We haven't had a Polish egg in months, which is horrible because we wanted to hatch a few.
I wouldn't recommend this bird for people who want pets, but if you want them for viewing, they are a good choice. We are even thinking of ordering a few silver laced sooner or later.

ther a great kids breed and full of charicture

I have 1 Polish, a silver barred girl. One thing I can say about her is she is TOUGH! It may be because of how I got her. She was abandoned by a neighbor when she got severe frost bite on her feet almost 3 yrs. ago. When we found her she was hiding around another neighbor's hot-tub (no dummy she!). Her feet were severely frost bit and she had a terrible infection. We took her in and I started an antibiotic regime for her along with a few drops of an anti-inflammatory. Even as sick as she was, she still laid an egg daily. When she wanted to go with the other birds, she'd cry until I picked her up and carried her out to them. To make a long story short, she survived and not only survived, became head hen. And this after she had to have most of her toes amputated. She only has stubs and 1 digit on each foot. You should see her perch and "run" around with the other girls. I am quite impressed with the breed's hardiness. She is a gentle bird but as she has gotten older she has gotten an aversion to me ( I think she thinks I'm the devil). Oh course, I can't blame her because I had to do all the doctoring and I'm sure it hurt her! This late summer she FINALLY went broody (she's almost 5) and hatched a beautiful little chick. Unfortunately a hawk got her and Miss Muppet has never gotten over that and has become very "strange".
All in all, I LOVE the breed and am SO impressed with their "determination". Yes, the face feathers get in their way, but, now don't laugh, I trimmed her feathers around her eyes so she can see better. She thanked me for it! Will I get another? You'd better believe it! They're so fun and look so cool it's like having a piece of beautiful jewelry that lays eggs!

They are the most loving birds. I would have them in the house if they could be potty trained. They lay eggs all the time. I just ordered 5 more today and can't wait until they arrive!!

All 3 Polishes I have don't do anything but amaze me, lay eggs all the time, and make me love them to death. Hatchery quality or not, these birds are not only beautiful, but sweet and intelligent too! None of mine have ever gone broody. Mine will even fall asleep in my arms when I stroke their crest and talk soothingly to them! The only thing is that they will be noisy if they are hungry and can't find anything to eat. They are also vulnerable to predators since the crest limits their vision. I will be buying these again without a doubt and strongly encourage everyone else who has chickens to get some and do the same.

I've had a half dozen pullets and a half dozen roos. I've kept four of my original six pullets, who were all hatched from breeders' eggs. My purchase price listed was per egg. Reputable BYC breeder. All the roosters got rehomed young for being both really loud & aggressive with one another (8 wk old brothers drawing blood out in the run).
My four remaining Polish Crested hens are showy AND friendly, very tolerant of being carried and held on laps, and really personable. I've participated in several educational programs with one of my hens, Lacey, and she's been handled by hundreds of people while remaining pretty calm.
Two of my four pullets are bantams, the other two are standard.
The two bantams have more backswept crests, and the standards have umbrella-like crests which I trim sometimes. My standard (pictured) went broody once and raised a lovely batch of sizzle chicks for me, as dutifully as any silkie or cochin I've had.
They lay pretty well all winter for me in an unheated uninsulated wooden coop.
I had a couple of other pullets who got rehomed for flightiness. One of them attacked my face with her feet when I went to grab her to come in out of a storm.
ALL my pullets have gotten along perfectly with my 7 plus other breeds. No one picks on them or gets picked on.
Their personality seems to vary, but it will show up within the first couple weeks of hatching.
The voices of the Polish are rather raspy & loud. They have a prominent egg song. My black bantam Polish is named Raven for the sound.
I'd rate my mature hens 5 stars, but took off a star for the several flighty pullets & aggressive cockerels I've raised.

Gracey the standard, who is buff-mottled khaki. Can't see much, but is a great broody.


Lacey the bantam as adolescent. Khaki crested buff. She's one of my top "ambassador" birds. Gentler than a silkie! She's even gone camping with us.

I only have 1 left ( the girls were killed by a mink ) but Ivan my boy is a white crested blue, absolutely beautiful guy, and not aggressive to anyone.

I have two polish - Bearded Buff Laced Polish, and White Crested Black Polish. They are both pretty, and funny!

I love the Polish Chicklets that have come to live here at my Sparkle Garden on Goose Hill My Miss Divine Miss Clara loves her swing and is just so very awesome.

Here are couple of Chicklets from Hot2Pots beauteous eggs I was fortunate enough to hatch

I didn’t like owning the White Crested Black Polish. She seemed kind of stupid (comparatively speaking) and none of the other birds liked her. That combined with the crest blocking her vision meant a lot of problems for her. Probably would not own again.

Love em. I have them in several colors including crele and lemon cuckoo. I just love em. Not great foragers. Due to limited visibility they are easy targets. : (

My second favourite breed only next to the barred rock

I have a buff laced polish (beardless largefowl) and a self black (bearded large fowl). My black one is super friendly, loves to be handled and talked to. She is not afraid of anything. She lets strangers pick her up without a fuss. My BL is a little more skittish, but she is still very young.

Neither of mine have begun to lay yet, even though one is 10 months old

Very unique ornamental. They kind of mind their old business but they aren't shy. Mine get along well with the rest of the flock. Visitors are totally taken with them and they always get a laugh. I have raised a lot of Polish birds and have never had one aggressive roo. Average layers of smaller sized eggs.

If you have to build a separate coop in order to keep Polish, get busy because they are better entertainment than TV. Love all the beautiful colors, and my roosters are so nice I never worry about them being aggressive with anyone. Great birds for kids, and everyone that sees them here on the farm wants one or more!

I first started with Polish when I ordered about 5 of each color the hatcheries offered, and was very, very excited for them. Sadly when I got mine, most died off within a few weeks, but I still had some strong survivors. Once they grew to adults, I had a few White Crested Blacks and a Silver Laced hen. Super layers of medium white eggs, extremely cold hardy and pretty heat hardy too but it doesn't get that hot here. Now, my big love of them before also finding out about non-hatchery colors is that they're, if in a flock of more than just a couple Polish, VERY tough, smart, friendly birds with an eagerness to get out there and do with what food they got in their plot. Mine are among the three best foragers of all the breeds I've had, and tough too. I once lost two hens in a terrible storm, and they were toughing it out in the middle of the woods somewhere beyond my place for 2 weeks - A distant neighbor called up and found them in their property, and when I came to get the girls - They were hungry but otherwise quite healthy and okay.



After those girls I expanded to breeding Polish because I love the breed so much, so I fell in love with some very rare colors such as Tolbunt and Crele, and today, I enjoy the wonders of the breed in constantly changing but generally large numbers. They do very well in mixed flocks or in just flocks of Polish, and the roosters are very friendly IF you don't get them from hatchery/feedstore lineage.

Oh, and Polish, at least mine, are super vermin control.

Giving 3 stars for beauty and the fun of having them. But they are not great for pets, they are flighty and they lay a smaller egg than a larger standard bird would. If you are wanting a gentle layer, this is not your bird. But they are still fun to have.

As chicks, my White Crested Black Polish were adorable. But I could tell right away, they didn't enjoy being held as much as my other breeds. I started calling them "flappy" by the time they were a few weeks old. They'd screech and run the other way, while my barred rocks, silkies and Wyandottes would come forward.

They have learned quickly how to navigate the ramp to my coop and like to be on the highest roost in the coop. They are more slender and very quick and flightly. It takes a while for them to calm down once you do get a hold of them. But for all of that, they make up in beauty and their quirkiness.

Unfortunately, their large crests make it difficult for them to see trouble coming at them. I recently had my turkey peck at a WCB Polish's crest and nearly kill her. She couldn't see which way to go to get away. I didn't see it happen until she was nearly dead. Although her crest had been completely pecked away, it has completely grown back in weeks later, and she is back to normal. Although... now she is even more flighty than the others.

This is a picture I took when my WCB Polish were babies.