Opinions of Polish?

[DancingHen]

I have two standard size polish hens. I have had them for about a year now. They are friendly and social. One os them likes to sit on my shoulder for hours and insists on being pet when I bring her in the coop at night. They get along well with all of my other chickens. We have a mixed flock and the polish have no trouble with any of them. They are very funny birds with lots of personality. They make me smile more often than most of the others. In the year I have had my two polish they have been perfectly healthy. No disease, no injury, no parasites. They do talk a bit, but I would not consider them loud. They will tril pretty loudly when they see me coming. I think it is excitement, as they also rush over to see what I'm doing. Both of my polish hens have been very good layers. I get about 4 eggs a week from each of them. And they have not gone broody at all yet, which is nice since I don't want chicks at the moment. At first their eggs were medium in size and sort of thin. But recently they have begun laying HUGE perfect shaped eggs for me. I know it is their eggs as they are my only two hens that lay white eggs. I have included two pictures to show you their recent eggs. these were collected this morning. The brown egg in the middle is from my Buff Orping ton to show you a size comparison. And I put them in a carton sized for x-large eggs so you can see how well they fill the space.

Over all, I love polish chickens and would definately recommend them to anyone.

 

[DancingHen]

Oh, I forgot to add that they do indeed seem to handle confinement well. We keep ours in a run with the other hens when we are not around to watch them in the yard, and they seem happy with it. And if they seem a little jumpy, or can't find their way around it is probably just their head crest feathers blocking their vision. If you gently trim the head feather immediately around the eyes to give them bangs then they get around just fine. My girls never seem to have trouble, though, they just look at everything sideways, which always makes me laugh.

 

[taprock]

1) What has been your positive and negative experiences of Polish bantam or standard?
I have standard Polish and love them to pieces!!

2) Egg laying. Have you Polish been large egg layers? Or have they performed pittyful?
Very slow start. The eggs are medium sized.

3) Consumption of feed. This ranges from owner to owner, though are your Polish scoffers or suitable to eat at the Queen's table?
Not much comparison. Sure eat less when they are out free ranging.

4) Noisiness. How have their (your Polish) noise levels?
Girls can really talk when they are doing their egg thing. The roosters talk a lot too but not much different than my non Polish roo.

5) Personality. Docile and gentle or skittish and aggressive? What have you experienced with your birds?
Very Docile. I love their personalities. They are all so different. I have a few girls that love to follow me around and be held or carried. They will run all the way across the yard if they hear my voice. One of the reasons I picked them is so that my son can handle them. Very gentle.

6) Health. How have your Polish handled mites, fleas, molt, or any other disease that you have experienced?
I haven't been through a full summer yet but for the last half of the summer last year we had no problem.

7) Confinement. Do your Polish handle confinement well?
They seem to do fine. They refused to go out all winter and survived with only a few skirmishes between birds. Mainly other breeds and Polish however there is some infighting between the Polish.

Overall I love my Polish they make it a joy to go to the coop.

 

[kathyinmo]

I hated my Polish! I will never have one again. They are blinded by their crest, can't see, fly into the fences, etc. Flighty! Mine were late to begin laying, compared to the other breeds. I did not even sell them ......... I GAVE THEM AWAY, before they even started to lay! Yuk, hated them!

 

[Polishlady]

I love my Polish. I've bred and kept nothing else for over 30 years. It was love at first sight!
I think that is how it should be. Whatever you keep you should do it with a passion, it's not rational!

 

[allmychickens]

Even though I won't be able to be a keeper of chickens for a few months, I'm still pondering of which breed suits me best.
I decided on the Polish though there are so many wide opinions of Polish, I'm not sure if they are really the best breed for my situations.

My questions are,

1) What has been your positive and negative experiences of Polish bantam or standard?
2) Egg laying. Have you Polish been large egg layers? Or have they performed pittyful?
3) Consumption of feed. This ranges from owner to owner, though are your Polish scoffers or suitable to eat at the Queen's table?
4) Noisiness. How have their (your Polish) noise levels?
5) Personality. Docile and gentle or skittish and aggressive? What have you experienced with your birds?
6) Health. How have your Polish handled mites, fleas, molt, or any other disease that you have experienced?
7) Confinement. Do your Polish handle confinement well?

Many Thanks!
Bantimna

1) It has been all positive for me and my bantams! (my bantams and I)
2) Well from 3 hens I get an egg or two a day
3) Average feed consumption.
4) Loud, I constantly hear BRRRRRAAAAAWWWK! I like it though.
5) Mine are friendly enough to eat out of your hands but can be hard to catch, but once you get them they will sit in your lap for hours.
6) Lice are common but easy to treat with sevin dust
7) TThey do better in confinement in my opinion, because it is safer and they cant see well. Making them a perfect meal for hungry predators.

I highly recomend