POLISH THREAD Talk about your Polish and post pics of your Polish

[aubreynoramarie]

I agree, they're gorgeous

 

[Orcae]

Thanks!

I'm kind of suspicious - the woman we got Calypso from said he was friendly, but wouldn't catch him with her hands. She used a net...which she didn't do for the girls. His spurs also seem to have been clipped, and he doesn't like me to get near him. He wont eat out of my hand like the girls, much less sit in my lap or on my shoulders like the girls do. I picked him up and he freaked out so bad that I had to put him back down within 4 seconds. I really hope he's friendly. I don't want to have to sell him

Roos tend to dislike me.

 

[Illia]

Quote:
Yeah we're pretty far away but the closest I know of.

My Polsh get along super well with other breeds, are very hardy, and two of my girls have even survived being lost in our deep, unknown forests for 2 weeks - Came out alive without a scratch on them. Noone ever has crest picking problems, although they can lose their feathers if exposed to roosters too long. Because it rains so much out here, I do clip the front crest feathers of my girls to prevent loss of vision and disgusting build-up during the fall, winter, and early spring but otherwise they do great!

I will admit - The Polish are my favorite of all the breeds I've known. I have indeed known skittish, flighty, and sometimes "dumb" specimens, but all of my girls and boys that are kept and bred are very VERY friendly, smart, good free rangers, and hardy. They get along well with others, in fact, if there's a fight my White Crested Blacks are usually the ones winning it. Oh, and if there's a chicken chasing off something like a cat or such, it's the Polish.



ETA - I've heard so many stories, negative ones, about Polish. Personally I think two things are in this. . . One is handling. A lot of people don't handle their Polish as much because they're not the goal breed. Most people have Polish just as some little ornamental extra, and thus don't give them as much credit. Two is breeding. Most Polish are from hatchery stock, and thus very little, if any, care is put into breeding for hardiness or temperament. My two only roosters are not hatchery birds, and are very sweet boys. I've never had mean or skittish offspring from them, either.

 

[DancingHen]

Quote:
What color/type of polish are you looking for? And are you looking for breeder quality, show, or just pets? I live on the coast about 2 hours from Portland (Near Lincoln City), and currently have several batches of Polish I hatched this year.

 

[Haunted Chicken]

Quote:
Yeah we're pretty far away but the closest I know of.

My Polsh get along super well with other breeds, are very hardy, and two of my girls have even survived being lost in our deep, unknown forests for 2 weeks - Came out alive without a scratch on them. Noone ever has crest picking problems, although they can lose their feathers if exposed to roosters too long. Because it rains so much out here, I do clip the front crest feathers of my girls to prevent loss of vision and disgusting build-up during the fall, winter, and early spring but otherwise they do great!

I will admit - The Polish are my favorite of all the breeds I've known. I have indeed known skittish, flighty, and sometimes "dumb" specimens, but all of my girls and boys that are kept and bred are very VERY friendly, smart, good free rangers, and hardy. They get along well with others, in fact, if there's a fight my White Crested Blacks are usually the ones winning it. Oh, and if there's a chicken chasing off something like a cat or such, it's the Polish.



ETA - I've heard so many stories, negative ones, about Polish. Personally I think two things are in this. . . One is handling. A lot of people don't handle their Polish as much because they're not the goal breed. Most people have Polish just as some little ornamental extra, and thus don't give them as much credit. Two is breeding. Most Polish are from hatchery stock, and thus very little, if any, care is put into breeding for hardiness or temperament. My two only roosters are not hatchery birds, and are very sweet boys. I've never had mean or skittish offspring from them, either.

Thanks, I PMed you

 

[Haunted Chicken]

Quote:
What color/type of polish are you looking for? And are you looking for breeder quality, show, or just pets? I live on the coast about 2 hours from Portland (Near Lincoln City), and currently have several batches of Polish I hatched this year.

Thanks, I have sent you a message.

 

[Illia]

Okay, just showing some updated photos of my kiddos.

First is the youngest and newest - I had 2 Tolbunt splits hatch from a broody Marans a couple days ago. But, just 12 hours later, I ended up with 1. The one with the smaller crest of course. Ugh!

My second youngest are a batch of Tolbunt splits, some who don't look it but are. This first one is a bearded White crested girl. Funny thing is - Out of this batch of chicks, I hatched about a dozen Polish and didn't get a single rooster.

I sold all my God Laced splits though, ALL of them had too small of crests for my liking.

My next youngest - This here is a little sex-linked Buff Laced pullet named "Pick-Me" - She's actually part buff laced, as her mom was a silver laced hen, dad was a buff laced.

This is the sex-linked counterpart, the male. He's mostly white but technically a buff laced with the silver gene. He's not actually staying, just, not grown enough to sell or eat.

My full grown girls - From my prized, nearly perfect Silver Laced hen to my White Crested Black mommas. Everyone has their crests clipped. I have some Gold Laced, but they're not in the best condition to be showing off. Their crests are quite trim and their back feathers are quite tattered.

^ A WCB with a very nice body!


Well, here's a Gold Laced with a lot of black but produces good color. I believe she's my small crested culprit though. (although with of course the Tolbunt daddy, whom I'm not getting rid of)

In total now I have more Polish than any other breed here.

And I'm still hatching out babes, looking for some good splits to keep for next year's breeding.

 

[flower]

Thank you Illia, that was a treat !

 

[Cindilou]

What is Tolbunt? Is that a coloring?
Looking into Polish for the future...

 

[Illia]

Tolbunt is a rare color, possibly the rarest, that Polish come in. Technically speaking it is Gold Laced with mottling. (and possible mahogany genes, but unlikely)

Here's some other photos to better illustrate it -

It is a very beautiful and sought after color but has its fall-backs too. Most Tolbunts out there are from tight flocks with too much inbreeding, and thus are weak in fertility or general health and hardiness, however there are a good handful of people trying to improve and expand the color by crossing them out to Gold Laced or even Silver Laced Polish.

I myself have just two very fertile and active boys, but with how many other girls they're covering, I certainly look forward to seeing some true Tolbunt hens in my flock next year, too.