they are a jumbled up conglomeration of genes and breeds. There is a whole page on the polish breeders club site about them.
So far not many breed true, just have to take the good with the bad. I have them as you know in bantam and they are Jim Parkers line, but they just dont breed 100%.
you'll get them, blacks, whites, reds, black crested reds, and a beautiful gold mottled looking one with a black crest. At least these are the most common colors in mine. I think the large fowl are a little more refined, but no one has them in bantams to amount to much, so the gene pool is very small on them
Okay, since it was a rare nice sunny day recently, I gotta show off my smooth Tolbunt boy. And talk about him a little.
So first, he's quite underweight, as you can see with that breast. . . . He's been the low man compared to his frizzled brother for a while now, and today out of the blue he's suddenly top dog and chasing the frizzle around on occasion.
Anyway, although he is gorgeous and he's going to have a LOT of ladies this year, I really have to say - In terms of body, he's actually the most flawed Tolbunt male I've ever known.
Which I will fix in future generations, yes, but otherwise I have to say. . . The tail is incredible high angled, the crest is the smallest I've seen, the comb isn't even a full V comb (it has been confirmed too, as I've got a couple mutts from him who came out with single combs, single x v combs, and one even had a pea comb?! - all from a single combed parent) His frizzled brother has a perfect comb though - He has none. Zip. Nada. And his brother also has the required sort of "scooped" effect above the nostrils, which this guy doesn't. So that's one of the many reasons I'm keeping both to use.
But, I still love him, I just need to and am working on getting rid of those problems in the future generations. My biggest issue, really, will be tail angle. Finding laced Polish with low set tails isn't too common, especially with my luck in Polish. Oh boy are there few Polish hens out there. Most are squirrel tailed.
Oh, on a last note - He's got the least white I've ever known on a Tolbunt, which is a big plus, however of course everyone was right. . . See that nearly pure white beard? It was mostly black mottled before.
Some hens decided to eat his beard clean, then it grew back and behold - lots and lots of white. I'd hate to see how white he'll be when the rest of him molts next year. But for now. . . LOVE his lacing and really liking the lack of white in most of the feathers, but hating the common trait of smudgy white all over the secondaries, primaries, and tail.
Hey, Illia,
Nice job critiquing your cockerel. That tail makes me cringe but his color is nice. I wish I still had Gooney Bird, my tolbunt boy to lend you, he had a great tail set but I shipped him down South to father kids there. Good luck with your work in progress.
I think I've stepped over the brink into crazy town. I have 60 polish eggs from seveal awsome breeders in the incubator and a banty polish quad coming in the mail. We are taking some of our birds to a show next weekend. Kaylee uses he LF polish for showmanship. I need to take new pics but this little guy is a frizzle