polish chicken question

[Hillschicks]

We are getting a polish with our spring order because we want to mix polish in with our flock... We free range tho, and im curious how good they are at free ranging?? I know our silkie had trouble seeing up... Our other chickens would be up on the hay bales and our silkie would freak out because she didnt know where they went lol... The point is, with all that head dress the polish have would it impede their foraging??

 

[LukensFarms]

No but they are terrible layers so don't expect many eggs.

 

[gryeyes]

You might have to trim the crests if you notice them having trouble. I had to do that with a White Crested Black Polish rooster. The hen had no problem at all - as a matter of fact, she's got seniority over some hens I didn't expect would let her advance! She forages fine with the flock on our property. I do, however, provide feed for my flock; they don't just exist on forage.

 

[Hillschicks]

Lukens... Understood, we have plenty of other chickens for eggs... In fact we have more eggs than we can get rid of most of the time as i dont personally care for eggs and most of my family has chickens so eggs are everywhere lol... We dont charge for eggs because we dont care that much and most of them goto family and friends... In todays world everyone can use a break and free farm fresh free range eggs is a small help, but a help none the less... What ive done is asked them to grow food for the chickens instead of pay... Like my aunt i have growing giant sunflowers... Easy things that go a long ways

Gryeyes... Yea we ended up trimming our silkie hair so she could see a little better... Also, i build a large gravity feeder last summer they have access to 24/7 reguardless of how much foraging they do... Some would say they are spoiled... My mother in law even sends them a salad once in a while... To them i say, your dog is spoiled as well, my pets deserve it more, they feed people

I think we are going to go ahead with it... We have the standards.. barred rock, sex links, buff brahma, leghorn, EE, new hampshire red... Now its time to add some interesting looks... A turken, polish, frizzle (if we can find regular size), and a blue laced red wyandotte... Thats the plan anyway, could change before we order, it has a few times already lol

 

[Chic_girl]

Some Polish birds do well in a mixed flock, but other birds can get picked on extensively. My Polish roosters were always the lowest in the pecking order, and were killed by their larger flockmates. On the other hand, My 2 WCB Polish hens have seniority over the other birds, and they are the last members of my original flock- as such, I'm extremely overprotective of them!

If your flock free-ranges, Polish are good foragers, but they are targets to all sorts of predators- Hawks and other raptors especially. Polish birds with large crests can't look up, and so become lunch for a hungry falcon who spotted their crest bobbing around. I've nearly lost one hen, but she was lucky enough that I was there to chase the hawk away with a hose....

 

[Hillschicks]

Well thats the chance we take to free range unfortunately... Raptors are minor issue as most of our acres are covered in trees... Our biggest problem has been possum and mink... But for $3 we are gonna give it a go... We are going with a silver laced polish rooster i think... As with any of our roosters, if they are aggressive toward humans they can be in their own cage... The same as picked on... They would become strictly for breeding purposes until which time they are eaten... Cuz in the end isnt that why chickens are the best hobby ever, because their edible

 

[ReikiStar]

Our Polish are as alert as the others. Our cockerel had a full crest and he still spotted raptors in the air as quickly as our non-crested roosters. But we've since given him a hair cut because of the rain and to ensure his visibility is good. Our other Polish hen took to the ground as did our other chickens when they spotted something over head. As long as you manage the crest, they should be fine. I think Polish get a bad rap for being weaker, slower, dumber and we haven't found that to be the case at all with ours. They are a very ancient breed. They wouldn't have made it this far if they were SO much easier to pick off than other breeds.

 

[sjshaw1980]

My polish hen does well with the rest of my mixed flock, she is toward the bottom of the pecking order, but she holds her own. All the girls free range all day but when that one wants to eat, it's straight to the food bowl. She is not good at foraging. She is also the worst layer in my flock, and I mean bad. Like 3 eggs since last August kind of bad, and one of them was a soft shell. But if you don't really care for eggs, and just want good looks, the polish should be find as long as you keep a bowl of food out. Good luck!

 

[Uriel]

If you have the pen space I'd recommend keeping them locked up most of the time, because their crests impair their vision. They are easy targets for sure. I know my Polish male can not see me and jumps 5 feet in the air when i come at him from an angle that he can't see. imo they're great birds just not right for free ranging.

 

[Hillschicks]

Im going to do more research i think... Maybe a basque