Polish Crested Question.

[Mysweetjesus7-7]

Hi All! I want to get a Crested Polish, I really want a Frizzle but they don't seem to be any in my area. Anyway, I live near Philadelphia,Pa. Are they cold hardy enough to live here? It doesn't get below zero often. It didn't even snow much at all here this winter, only a few inches!
I would be grateful for anyone who knows anything about Pols to show me the ropes.
Thank you very much!

 

[wamtazlady]

A Polish should be fine. Both myself and my neighbor had Polish at one time. I live in NW Montana where temperatures of -22 F are not unusual. My run and coop were set up to not allow breezes blowing through. Only reason I don't have the Polish anymore is that he got very people aggressive.

 

[Mysweetjesus7-7]

Thank you very much for letting me know! I appreciate it!
I'll be sure to buy an insulated coop!
I don't have any birds yet. I'm still researching.
I have a very small space for the coop. Will they be ok in a confined space at nights and rainy days?
I used to have a Red Sex Link hen and a duck. They both passed within days of each other last year, of separate causes.
I didn't have the heart to get more until now to get more birds. I got lonely in the garden and I wanted eggs again. I really missed my feather babies!
So I decided to get 4 different breeds. Polish Crested being one of them.
I want to get:
1. Plymouth Barred Rock
2. Polish Crested or Frizzle
3.Blue Laced Red Wyandotte
4. Swedish Flower
In your experience, will any of these really fight with each other? I researched all the breeds and it says they are all docile. But the Wyandotte gives pause. I'm looking for 4 different pretty, egg laying, cuddle bugs.
Do you have any suggestions?

 

[wamtazlady]

Insulated coops are fine as long as you do not plan on closing it up in the winter to hold heat inside it. I do not insulate as I do not want to provide a winter house for mice. The most important thing to remember about coops is a warm chicken is a dry chicken. Chickens make a lot of moisture when they breathe and poop. In a sealed coop this would mean the humidity going up and your chickens getting cold. You want to vent that warm but moist air out of the coop. I have about 10 square feet of vent area that is never closed even when it is -22 F. The vents are placed so there is no breeze blowing on the birds.

Chickens are covered in a down jacket year round. Hot weather is harder on them than cold weather. Look outside. Look at all the birds that spend winters in your area. You do not see the outside birds looking miserable. They flit around looking for food and when they sleep they find a place out of the wind.

Ideally you should have 4 square feet of area per bird inside the coop. The run should be 10 square feet of area per bird. Having less than that means your chickens may become stressed. Stressed chickens won't lay as well as they should. You also might have problems with them fighting or picking feathers.

My run is covered. I used to use a tarp but had a metal roof put on last year. Tarps work but are not ideal. The birds never spend days in the coop. Food and water is kept outside in the run year round. Water especially is kept out in the run to reduce moisture in the coop. To keep breezes off the birds in the run I have 3 sides of the run covered with clear vinyl shower curtains during the cold months.

 

[Mysweetjesus7-7]

I have a fenced in yard I plan on them playing in, I don't want them in a run. I plan on them sleeping in the coop at night.
I'm going to clip their wings so they cannot fly. The fence is 6ft high.
My last birds were house birds. I would take them in and out with me to garden everyday. That's why I know nothing of coops.
They had diapers.
My duck got into something in the yard. I think the neighbor might have thrown something into the yard. And she was dead by the end of the day.
My chicken had a bad accident a few days later. It's too graphic to recount.
But I ready for more babies again.