Crested Polish chicken behavior with kids?

[mom2chicksandpups]

What kind of temperament do the crested Polish chickens have? My daughter and I want some just because they are pretty and I wondered how they would be around children. This is one type I haven't seen a lot of information about (yet.)

I don't have any particular color/type in mind. I just thought they were pretty and we will make a pet out of nearly anything that breathes around my house.

 

[chickenlittle32]

I was wondering the same thing because my boys want them. They are nice looking birds but if they don't have good temperaments, I don't want them.

 

[Sugar Sand Farm]

Polish are my daughters favorite chicken as well. We have several. I find they are flighty compared to other breeds. They are the first chicks to fly out of the brooder and usually spaze out when you go to pick them up.
The roosters aren't mean and my grandchildren can hold them, I just get the idea that they would rather not be held.

 

[EngieKisses]

We have some polish chicks that are 9 weeks old. They are fun, they like to be petted, and ours dont run from us. They were handled a whole lot as chicks. My neice and nephew can hold them, they peep a lot when first held, but they dont flap around really. My neice and nephew are 3 and 6.

 

[cherndon712]

I've been worried about this too. We just hatched 10, and they are flighty little buggers! Try to kill themselves on the cage when I feed and water them! It's not that they weren't held, as they were a lot when they were born. They've just always been like this. I though maybe the brooder was the issue, with them not being able to see us, so I put them in a wire cage with a floor, so they could see us coming. But they're still the same...
I do have an older one that WAS jumpy, but isn't so bad anymore. He's around 2 months now.
My neighbor has them, and she only has one roo. But she always warns my kids to stay away from him, and he has gotten her DH a few times...

 

[happyhensny]

I had a Polish Roo and he was mean - to everyone BUT me. If he spied someone-anyone he would run after them and attack. I could pick him up, pet him and he would sleep in my arms. After he attacked my 3 kids, my mother-in-law (who I LOVE) and my tenants he had to go. Very hard for me but can't sacrifice everyone else.

 

[rachiegirl]

Son just got a polish banty from TSC. seems a bit skittish but soon calms down. Has a really loud peep though! I think they tend to be a bit flighty as adults because all the "hair" makes it hard to see. friend got a dozen and lost all but 1 to hawks. think they can't see danger as well when fully feathered. not sure, but maybe can give them a bit of a hair cut to keep their eyes a bit less obscured?

 

[Lucky Ducky]

I've got 4 red crested red polish and 5 white crested blue polish that are 6 weeks old today and they looove

to be petted on. I just moved them outside this weekend and my 7 year old DD asked me how come they were coming over to me while I was squatted down and butting my hands with their heads. She laughed when I told and showed her that they were just trying to get my attention. I showed her how they would stand there for me to pet them. Only I definitely need more hands because I can pet 2 at once but then the others come and they start pushing and shoving just to be the ones getting a rub down. I make sure to take the time to rub on them all. When their new feathers were coming in they loooved to have the breast area and their backs scratched. My cuckoo marans are the same age ( they all came from Ideal and they brooded together ), they act the same!!!

 

[cyanne]

I had a buff-laced polish rooster when I was a kid who was sort of my special pet because the rest of the chickens were mean to him so he was kind of a loner. When I bought chicks for my 'grown-up' flock I ordered a couple of the buff-laced polish, even though I knew they weren't really great layers, thinking that they would be all tame and cuddly like he was. WRONG!

I have a polish hen that is the only survivor of the two I bought as eye-candy for my flock...saying she is flighty is a massive understatement. The other day I tried picking her up when I caught her in the coop and she flailed around like a crazy rabid chimpanzee, clawing me all over and whapping me in the face with her wings and screaming her head off from the first second I touched her until a good 10 minutes after I gave up and let her go.

This is pretty much par for the course with how she and her late sister have acted since I first got them as babies, no matter how much I tried to handle them.

I think the head poof makes them extra paranoid because they can't see well. I've often noticed her walking calmly near me and then suddenly noticing that I'm there and jumping straight up in the air and screaming before running away.

I still think they are pretty, but I've definitely gotten over my desire to own any more Polish...I have many, many MUCH more sweet and tame birds in my flock that are just as pretty and THOSE chickens also lay a decent amount of eggs to pay me back for all of the food they eat.

 

[ThePolishPrincess]

Polish hens are wonderful pets when they are socialized with people from day one. My hen is by far my favorite and besides the random flip-out when something spooks her, she's a great pet. I would recommend them if they are handled daily and treated with love whenever possible. If you don't have the time to dedicate to stimulating them, I wouldn't bother.

However, I hear roos can be very nasty as adults. Don't go for the Polish unless they are sexed.