Calling all seasoned Polish Chicken owners. My Polish doesn’t understand how to be a chicken.

[ForFlocksSake]

Oh she is so so sweet. But she’s not very intelligent at all.

My Polish is 14 weeks old and I’m concerned about her behavior. She’s the only Polish in the flock and I of course expected some goofy behavior from everything I’ve read, but this is beyond what I imagined. Her 3 brood mates don’t reject her at all, yet she seems to isolate herself quite often. My older chickens do pick on her but not any more than the other younger girls. But this girl…she just does her own thing and it doesn’t seem normal. I’ve never seen her jump on an any roosting bar, inside the coop or in the run where we have set up 2 areas to hang out. Even when her brood mates jump up to relax, she will walk away and choose the top of water bucket on the opposite side of the run to sit and relax. I’ve seen her dust bathing with the other young ones, but she often goes on her own in the coop during the day or to a different area of the run.

But the MOST frustrating part is night. Everyone goes off into the coop and up on a bar and she will do 1 of 2 things. Settle down in a nesting box OR she stays OUTSIDE on top of one of the water buckets. Every night I go out to get her and put her on the roosting bar next to her brood mates. She stays there when I do that but it doesn’t seem to change her habits.

I’ve trimmed her crest to make sure she has better site. I’m not sure what else I can do. We don’t have a predator issue really but her staying out in the run is definitely not safe. The holes in the fencing are large enough for a raccoon to reach through. While I’ve never seen a raccoon in our yard it’s not a risk I want to take.

Anyone here ever have a Polish behave this way? I really do love her and I’m worried she’s just not a happy chicken being such a loner.

 

[nuthatched]

Can she see past her floof?

 

[ForFlocksSake]

Can she see past her floof?

Her eyes aren’t covered but I trimmed around them anyway to give her some more peripheral vision.

 

[Ocho 8 Farm]

Oh she is so so sweet. But she’s not very intelligent at all.

My Polish is 14 weeks old and I’m concerned about her behavior. She’s the only Polish in the flock and I of course expected some goofy behavior from everything I’ve read, but this is beyond what I imagined. Her 3 brood mates don’t reject her at all, yet she seems to isolate herself quite often. My older chickens do pick on her but not any more than the other younger girls. But this girl…she just does her own thing and it doesn’t seem normal. I’ve never seen her jump on an any roosting bar, inside the coop or in the run where we have set up 2 areas to hang out. Even when her brood mates jump up to relax, she will walk away and choose the top of water bucket on the opposite side of the run to sit and relax. I’ve seen her dust bathing with the other young ones, but she often goes on her own in the coop during the day or to a different area of the run.

But the MOST frustrating part is night. Everyone goes off into the coop and up on a bar and she will do 1 of 2 things. Settle down in a nesting box OR she stays OUTSIDE on top of one of the water buckets. Every night I go out to get her and put her on the roosting bar next to her brood mates. She stays there when I do that but it doesn’t seem to change her habits.

I’ve trimmed her crest to make sure she has better site. I’m not sure what else I can do. We don’t have a predator issue really but her staying out in the run is definitely not safe. The holes in the fencing are large enough for a raccoon to reach through. While I’ve never seen a raccoon in our yard it’s not a risk I want to take.

Anyone here ever have a Polish behave this way? I really do love her and I’m worried she’s just not a happy chicken being such a loner.

I hatched out some polish chicks last spring. So I have had mine for almost a year now and she does the same thing. I always had to go out at night and PUT her in the coop because she would be sitting in some random spot. Now she is better about going in the coop and I haven’t had an issue for a few months. She is always roaming the chicken yard by herself. She has a few pals but chooses to walk around and find her own spot. I don’t know… I just think this breed is a little aloof. She sweet as can be to me and lets me pick her up and hold her for a while, but yeah I think it the breed in general. I think your 14 week old will get better about the coop issue as she gets older. Instead of putting her in at night, what I did was go out there when it was almost time to go in the coop and I would place her at the bottom of the ramp and tap her butt to cue her to walk up the ramp. Eventually she got it.

 

[ForFlocksSake]

I hatched out some polish chicks last spring. So I have had mine for almost a year now and she does the same thing. I always had to go out at night and PUT her in the coop because she would be sitting in some random spot. Now she is better about going in the coop and I haven’t had an issue for a few months. She is always roaming the chicken yard by herself. She has a few pals but chooses to walk around and find her own spot. I don’t know… I just think this breed is a little aloof. She sweet as can be to me and lets me pick her up and hold her for a while, but yeah I think it the breed in general. I think your 14 week old will get better about the coop issue as she gets older. Instead of putting her in at night, what I did was go out there when it was almost time to go in the coop and I would place her at the bottom of the ramp and tap her butt to cue her to walk up the ramp. Eventually she got it.

I like that idea of placing her on the ramp, but the problem is she won't jump up on the roost. Shell walk right over to a nesting box and settle down so I still need to go out again after dark and put her on the roost. My husband thinks I should just let her sleep in the box if that's what she wants, but I'd really prefer her to not poop up the nesting boxes.

I had no idea shed be so high maintenance haha.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Did she have a vaulted skull as a chick?

 

[Ocho 8 Farm]

I like that idea of placing her on the ramp, but the problem is she won't jump up on the roost. Shell walk right over to a nesting box and settle down so I still need to go out again after dark and put her on the roost. My husband thinks I should just let her sleep in the box if that's what she wants, but I'd really prefer her to not poop up the nesting boxes.

I had no idea shed be so high maintenance haha.

I might let her stay in the box for a few more weeks and see what happens. Mine would lay on the floor of the coop but eventually as time went on she learned to jump up to the roost like everyone else.

 

[ForFlocksSake]

Did she have a vaulted skull as a chick?

Not sure what that means.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Not sure what that means.

Did she have a top hat or a normal chick head?

 

[ForFlocksSake]

Did she have a top hat or a normal chick head?