I have to talk POLISH!

[cuntryuppiechick]

I sent the dh for feed and he came home with 2 more ducks for himself and two Polish for me. One has a vaulted skull. They should be buff laced. 3 days old.

 

[Illia]

Are you sure that's a Polish?

I see a tiny tiny little bump that will probably mature to a crest the size of a Spitzhauben's but otherwise I don't see a vaulted skull or even, well, a crest.


Still a cute chick though

 

[Mrsfoote]

So, Success for the Polish I own. Past few nights my Dad has locked the chickens up, and I asked him is everyone in? In which he replies yes. Well Last week for some reason something said go outside check...We have a dog whose killed a chicken, and last thing I'd need is to wake up in the morning and find my Poor Demented Polish Tina dead....

So something kept saying go do a head count, but I was like nah....Dad knows. Next morning my dad comes home and he said he was outside in the morning and he kept hearing this peeping...turns his head and Tina our Polish was sleeping on top of the shed under the fig tree branches. So he scooped her up and put her in the coop for a few more hours. So I said well at least she had the mind to go into the trees. So the next night I was gone came home just after dark. Dad said he locked everyone up. So I go to do a head count...no Tina. Of course i Had no flash light that was bright enough to look, so I come inside grab my head flash light, tell my mom she comes out with me. Find Tina in the fig tree sleeping. Scoop her up put her back into the grow out coop.

So I'm feeling a bit bad. Tina is the Only Polish...she was raised with a Showgirl and Wyandotte mutt...who don't even wait for her. So if they go to the coop first and don't tell her, or she isn't following one, she doesn't make it in. So yesterday got home....Sat outside all evening with the birds. Closed the side and bottom of the Grow out coop, because they like sleeping on in the covered run part, which was fine during the summer but its getting cooler now....So I only leave the one small door open and guess who was the first one in BEFORE DARK....TINA!!!!!!!

So I have a question would getting another polish be beneficial for Tina...you know birds of a feather. I've only owned one Polish at a time...bit airy in the head for me. But I feel so bad she is always alone, and she is sooo sweet.

 

[tinychicky]

to the OP, umm no offense but those are kind of poor quality polish

they're are very mis matched. the cockerel should be as close to perfect as you can get and the hens should be about identical and balance out any of his flaws. for example, if you breed a hen with too much black on her crest (in WCB polish) to a rooster with poor crest coloring, your chicks are likely to all have poor crests or at least carry the gene for it and in the future, all of your birds will be DQ'ed because of it. that's the first thing there is to know about breeding. if your breeding for quality, start out with the best birds you can get and improve from there. if you start out with hatchery stock, your chicks will all be poor quality and you won't be doing to poultry world any favors by putting more poor birds into it. don't expect show class polish from your current stock. like i said, no offense, it's great that you want to breed! maybe you should keep those for pets and get some quality breeder stock? try looking at a show, there's usually good stuff at the bigger ones or i'm sure plenty of breeders on byc could help you out. in the mean time, review the breed standard and compare it to your birds. see what i mean? wouldn't you feel better breeding quality birds you can feel proud of? best of luck to you!

-- Tiny

 

[cuntryuppiechick]

They were at the local feed store so who knows. The one you can't see well has the vaulted skull. The blue Wyandotte eggs I bought on ebay hatched and turned into buff Orps so I don't get too upset and love them all, or they go to freezer camp.

Are they all supposed to have the vaulted skull? I assumed it was an option.

 

[HighNDryFarm]

Quote:
Thank you Tiny, if you were talking to me....there's been some other birds on here but I am the OP. First, they did come from a breeder. 2nd my goal is not SQ, I'm not interested in showing, am interested in breeding a good looking bird for pets. I sit with the breed standards printed out in front of me, staring at my chickens so much I think my neighbors think I'm a crazy chicken lady! And compared to some I've seen on here, my are pretty nice birds. I know they're not SQ but there are three that I think are pretty nice birds, but from what I've seen, they certainly are not poor quality but everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and I do appreciate yours.

I've bred cocker spaniels for over 30 years and I have spoke those very words you are saying to me, on more then one occasion, to someone who had a cocker spaniel that I felt they shouldn't breed. However, with cockers it was usually more times health, temperament and lack of have basic information on the two dogs that I was concerned with. And many times I had issues with the show breeders who were willing to breed a perfect looking dog that had no other qualities and health issues just to take home that title, but I digress.....so I hear you and I have had many a discussion with myself

as to what my goals will be with these birds and how what I choose will effect the breed itself. So I thank you and everyone who has given their opinions. I have time to do some swapping around of what I keep and see what I want to add before anything starts happening. I already have a list of people who would like some eye candy pets in their yards and I feel my chickens have some pretty nice Polish qualities that wouldn't make someone wonder if it was a Polish or not. So pet homes are OK for me and actually a goal.....hey, you never know what will happen when I get started......

It's OK if everyone's goals are not the same. Sunnydawn is breeding her Marans for egg color....she could have a really funky looking chicken throwing some beautiful chocolate eggs. By standards that bird would be culled but because Sunny has a different goal for breeding that odd girl stays and gets to make some babies that hopefully even darker chocolate eggs! Hey, it makes the world go around, as long as the the birds are being well taken care of, respectfully managed, they knock your socks off and have some fun!

 

[seminolewind]

Quote:
This quote made me laugh out loud. I don't think Polish or any bird live long enough to overcrowed the chicken world. The OP, I think is just looking for a critique of her birds to learn what SQ is and why her birds don't have it. Detailed. OR, what her Polish would need to be closer to SOP.

Start with the easy stuff. Like mine-I think one of my departed roos was the best of the bunch. Nothing struck me as blatantly wrong. The other roo was crooked all over. Easy. My one BLP is pretty nice poof and body wise, but has spurs. The other two have messy poofs, and each is missing a toenail. And one has a tiny feather between her toes.

Lola is too small and has a blended color. Her sister's poof is not covering her eyes, not full enough. And my Crele/Cuckoo is nowhere near, her poof is flattened somewhat, her neck is too skinny, and I think her wings are a bit lower than they should be. That's about all I can tell. I don't know about body shape, tail angle, and the rest. But at least I know something, and can only learn more.

But I'm not selling, or showing. .I love their sweet, airhead personalities.

 

[HighNDryFarm]

Quote:
This quote made me laugh out loud. I don't think Polish or any bird live long enough to overcrowed the chicken world. The OP, I think is just looking for a critique of her birds to learn what SQ is and why her birds don't have it. Detailed. OR, what her Polish would need to be closer to SOP.

Start with the easy stuff. Like mine-I think one of my departed roos was the best of the bunch. Nothing struck me as blatantly wrong. The other roo was crooked all over. Easy. My one BLP is pretty nice poof and body wise, but has spurs. The other two have messy poofs, and each is missing a toenail. And one has a tiny feather between her toes.

Lola is too small and has a blended color. Her sister's poof is not covering her eyes, not full enough. And my Crele/Cuckoo is nowhere near, her poof is flattened somewhat, her neck is too skinny, and I think her wings are a bit lower than they should be. That's about all I can tell. I don't know about body shape, tail angle, and the rest. But at least I know something, and can only learn more.

But I'm not selling, or showing. .I love their sweet, airhead personalities.

YES! Gosh, someday I'm going to learn to tell the short story. Thank you for explaining me.....

 

[seminolewind]

Bigdaddysmom, did I say something wrong? Maybe I should have told the short story, LoL

 

[Mrsfoote]

So to chime in...on opinion. Do Polish do better when they have another Polish in a mixed flock. Posted the story up above, but I'm just wondering, if anyone else has found this.