I have to talk POLISH!

[Jennieschicks]

I am a new polish owner and my chickie is 10 weeks. Her head is sooo poofy and she is eating and foraging well. Just wondering if I am supposed to trim her up a bit. Wondering how she is able to see through all poof! She is not a show chicken, just a pet! Also, since you guys are polish nuts on this thread (I hope!) I just had to give away my second polish (ended up a roo and can't keep him). When the chick that is left is out of the coop, she wanders around the yard by herself chirping her head off. Does she miss her other polish friend? Is that possible? It almost seems like she is calling for him. But he is gone. So sad if that is the case.

I did notice that of all my chicks, the two polish hung out together more than the others. Is this possible??? Do chickens have special friends? I am new to chickens would appreciate any thoughts!

 

[NovaAman]

When the chick that is left is out of the coop, she wanders around the yard by herself chirping her head off. Does she miss her other polish friend? Is that possible? It almost seems like she is calling for him. But he is gone. So sad if that is the case.

I did notice that of all my chicks, the two polish hung out together more than the others. Is this possible??? Do chickens have special friends? I am new to chickens would appreciate any thoughts!

In a word, Yes. Yes she does know he's gone, so she is calling for him. She'll miss him especially if they were always together. Maybe you can find another polish to replace your cockerel so she has a friend. I had a pullet whose brood brothers were her only companions. I had them processed, too many cockerel, and she was very very lonely for a short period. She has finally intagrated with some other pullets from another brood hatch. With 35 chickens running around, it still took a while since she was broody raised, and mama hens tend to keep their chick together, then when she ditches them when they are old enough, they tend to stick together after that. So, find your polish a gentle friend. She'll be alright.

 

[allmychickens]

http://www.swpoultry.com/CindySite/Sexing_Polish.html

Okay, here they are. Click to enlarge if necessary. I've read about sexing by crest, but I'm still not exactly sure what I'm looking at/for! Any help would be greatly apprecited. This is our 3rd attempt to get a single female from Ideal's straight run Polish! All males so far!

Chick #1 -WC Blue (gray body)


Chick # 2 -WC Blue (solid yellow body)


Chick # 3 -Golden laced


Chick #4 -Golden laced


Chick #5 -Silver laced




Chick # 6 -Silver laced






Chick # 7 -WC Black




Chick # 8 -WC Black

 

[flower]

In a word, Yes. Yes she does know he's gone, so she is calling for him. She'll miss him especially if they were always together. Maybe you can find another polish to replace your cockerel so she has a friend. I had a pullet whose brood brothers were her only companions. I had them processed, too many cockerel, and she was very very lonely for a short period. She has finally intagrated with some other pullets from another brood hatch. With 35 chickens running around, it still took a while since she was broody raised, and mama hens tend to keep their chick together, then when she ditches them when they are old enough, they tend to stick together after that. So, find your polish a gentle friend. She'll be alright.

This is very true. All chickens bond with the birds they grew up with and frequntly choose to be with thie own breed if they were raised together. When I move my birds around form one pen to another , I move three birds at a time so that they have friends with them. But the best reason is so that they do not get pecked on because they are an outsider. I moved three pullets that were hatched together in with four other pullets who have always been together. This was two months ago. Although they all get along, the two groups still favor their own little group. Crested birds do better with several crested birds together. No bird likes being alone. They are flock animals. Even human animals like to clump together.

 

[seminolewind]

Martha, what cute chicks! I've got some Crele Polish as well, 3 pullets, 3 roos. Just perfect. Crele and Project should all be one word, LOL. The project that never goes away

 

[UnionMan]

Well I have some questions for the polish experts. I purchased 4, 4 week old or so chicks back in early june for my daughter who wanted to try out the polish breed because she loves how they look. Of course we hoped to get all pullets but I know that's not always the case. Im 99.9% sure my golden laced is a cockerel and pretty sure two others (Black and Silver Laced) are pullets. The white one we got which is my daughters favorite is still undecided. Its a little bit smaller then the other birds and hasn't developed wattles like the GL has. It almost seems like it has a beard but im not sure. The chicks game from a breeder with a mixed polish pen. Ive included some pictures of the GL to compare the wattle development.

 

[UnionMan]

Heres a group shot with the SL hidden in the back corner.

 

[UnionMan]

Here is a Close up of the Head on the White Polish in question. Pullet or Cockerel? Bearded?

 

[ScaredOfShadows]

Heres a group shot with the SL hidden in the back corner.

GL - Boy
Black - Girl
White (think more a splash than white) - looks very girly. no color, no wattle growth, face has a girly look to it...I also say shes going to have a bit of feathering for a beard, but shes more non-bearded than bearded, she will get wattles as she gets older, even as a girl.

 

[UnionMan]

ScaredOfShadows - Yeah I think she is just late on developing her crest. There was a bearded hen in the breeding pen where I got her from. She was almost all white as a chick at 4 weeks but has since had a couple black feathers show up on her back. Her neck and crest within the last couple weeks have started to turn a grayish/splash color. I do notice though when they get let out in the morning to free range the GL and her seem to spar. Not sure if hes picking on her because she is the smallest or not. Here is the group shot of the 4 of them. Glad you think the black crested is a pullet too. The SL mirrors her exact look with the same puffy crest.