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

[ChicksinFL]

Quote:
Thank you.. I'm not sure what we are doing right or wrong. We are new to chickens we have these two Polish and four Silkie chicks. The girls are just holding them every day several short time spans. They don't mess with them at feeding but do offer a lunch time "treat" of meal worms but not till after being held. My girls will go out, get them and bring them into the house to watch TV with them. I had bought them as I had read they were a docile breed of chicken and so far that has been right on the money with us. We read several books on raising chickens and preparing them for show so we have a mock show area set up in our barn. The girls take all the chicks out there one by one daily to get them used to that as well.

 

[appychick]

I'v asked & not gotten much of a response,......
How sensitive are the Polish to cold temps? Can they tolerate freezing temps or not ? I was sent some by accident from hatchery & can't find anyone to take them so have to figure out how to "winterize" them now that I'm getting attached....

 

[HighNDryFarm]

Quote:
You don't say where you're from, so I don't know how cold you're talking about dealing with. The advice that I have found here on the forum is that they are pretty hardy and that you should provide them with a way to drink water w/o getting thier crests wet, to prevent it from freezing. I have not had any problems with mine but have only wintered on year with them. We have some freezing here but they do have the option to stay in the coop and stay dry and warm but we don't have weeks of freezing, some snow that falls for a day, then it usually clears up, the sun comes out and melts it away.

Did you try the search? You'll probably get more info but I think as a rule they are pretty hardy with special care to keeping thier crest dry.

 

[flower]

There are posts in this thread that have discussed the cold tolerance issue. The general consensus is that cold IS tolerated well if they are not wet. So folks keep them in the coop during rain and snow. I think that the wetness is mostly directed at their large crests. Think of them walking around with frozen crests, not healthy !

 

[appychick]

Thanks for the input ! I am talking extreme cold,even well insulated coop can get minus 30 F & colder. I usually have deep loose straw for the chickens to burrow into and give warm water a couple times daily+soaked grain when really cold to increase water intake. Any tips on keeping the crests dry in the winter when the water freezes on as fast as it touches their feathers ? Normal chickens get wet heads everytime I water them. I am a newbie to dealing with Polish. Tried Sultans & lost them when temps dropped to +40's when they were inside & dry. Problem with putting them in a small area with heat is they would become heat dependent & if there was a power outage or real cold blizzard,they would have no tolerance......So I am trying to figure out how to best deal with them this winter. If the males & females were separated,would they tolerate caged confinement for the winter ? And if I were to build them a special cage,how high would it need to be to keep adults from injuring their crests/heads ? I have read that their crests are not tolerant of freezing ??
Thanks for all your help !

 

[flower]

appychick There are folks on this thread from Missouri, Vermont, and Pennsylvania. Maybe you can go to the very front of the thread and look for them, PM to ask what them about their particular style. I live in the middle of the desert and we do not have very much rain or snow and it does dissipate fast when it does get wet. I use hanging water bottles with nipples for all my birds.

 

[NoseyChickens]

My bantam cuckoo polish cockerel. He's about 5 months old, still filling out (It was pretty windy out)

 

[NoseyChickens]

Also, I have not had any problem with my bantam polish tolerating the winters here in the high desert and we do get below freezing in the winter.

 

[aubreynoramarie]

Okay guys, remember how I said I MIGHT have a girl? Well here's some pics from today. What do you think? They've got to be AT LEAST a month old now, but probobly older.

Gold laced. It was so small for so long I though girl but check out that crazy crest! Definitely a boy.

Red crested red. Always been a boy, from day one,lol. Look at those saddle feathers and that mullet! I think he is going to be gorgeous.

Here's my question one. It's crest feathers are much softer and round but are those saddle feathers coming in? I just don't know

 

[aubreynoramarie]

Where have the experts gone???