Polish Thread!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[dreamwallaby]

How can you tell gender from the egg they hatched from?

Any advice on letting them outside for the first time? I would love to let them free range some, but we along with two neighbors have invisible fences for our dogs and I'm afraid the chicks would be a great snack.

Our one dog on the other hand, is fiercely protective of them.

You can't tell gender from the egg it hatched from.
For free ranging, it would be better if the dogs were inside when you tried it but if there is any chance the dogs will eat them then free ranging may not be an option. You may want to look into large runs instead. They can spook easily and take off much faster than you'd expect. If they got spooked into the dog's area they'd be chicken tenders.

 

[Hobbshouse14]

Thanks! Our covered run will be 30x11' and then will eventually have a moat around our 50x70' garden.

Petunia (our blue polish) flew out of the run in our garage this morning, so we just finished letting them out for the very first time. My husband and I were both there to supervise with out two dogs and it went great! Both dogs were laying down right near them! Unfortunately, we still have other dogs in the neighborhood to worry about.

 

[jenniferlamar70]

Thank you all for chiming in and sharing your thoughts! I was afraid the black polish was a cockerel- always bumping chests and standing up to the girls, even trying to pull out neck feathers from my sweet buff brahma who is almost twice his size. My other one, who we think is a Welsummer cockerel seems very sweet. Looks like we will most likely be down to 6 after starting with what we thought was eight pullets.

We will wait until they are three to four months old just to be sure. The polish ones are pretty fun to watch though!

Also, yeah I am definitely a newbie at this- they get the pine shaving everywhere with this set up and I am sweeping up the garage at least five times a day! Now if we can finish the outside run, we can finally get them outside. I'm afraid at this rate they may be in our garage forever!

How can you tell gender from the egg they hatched from?

Any advice on letting them outside for the first time? I would love to let them free range some, but we along with two neighbors have invisible fences for our dogs and I'm afraid the chicks would be a great snack.

Our one dog on the other hand, is fiercely protective of them.

My 2 polish roosters were easy to sex. They started getting wattles at like 4 weeks. They are close to 10 weeks now and already crowing lol. Since we live in such warm weather mine have been out for awhile. Right around 4 weeks we started taking them out to the introduction pen for a couple hours a day. We decided to have them in a seperate coop since they can easily fall prey to bullies and predators. We have hawks really bad and they have taken off with even big chickens. My 2 roos can't see very well either even with a trim. They are so loving though. good luck.

 

[jenniferlamar70]

Thanks! Our covered run will be 30x11' and then will eventually have a moat around our 50x70' garden.

Petunia (our blue polish) flew out of the run in our garage this morning, so we just finished letting them out for the very first time. My husband and I were both there to supervise with out two dogs and it went great! Both dogs were laying down right near them! Unfortunately, we still have other dogs in the neighborhood to worry about.

You have to watch for neighborhood cats as well. I had one kill 3 of my polish.

 

[pipAchick]

You have to watch for neighborhood cats as well. I had one kill 3 of my polish.

Jennifer you should let your home owners know, there's pet insurance for hobby farms.

 

[pipAchick]

@Hobbs
If you don't clip their polish wings they can REALLY fly guys I highly caution free ranging polish. Not a wide decsion for financial investors.

One kind/friendly dog can create confussion,especially if it's same color as unkind dogs. Coyotes will lure or bait with the smallest least aggressive&then lead your polish into a massacre. Has even happened to Small toddlers. Generally coyotes in suburban areas dont roam in packs. If you see skinny vermin that's when you gotta be aware&your investment could be at risk. Just wanna help all ya enjoy what ya got,dont mean to sound preachy.

 

[Hobbshouse14]

@Hobbs
If you don't clip their polish wings they can REALLY fly guys I highly caution free ranging polish. Not a wide decsion for financial investors.

One kind/friendly dog can create confussion,especially if it's same color as unkind dogs. Coyotes will lure or bait with the smallest least aggressive&then lead your polish into a massacre. Has even happened to Small toddlers. Generally coyotes in suburban areas dont roam in packs. If you see skinny vermin that's when you gotta be aware&your investment could be at risk. Just wanna help all ya enjoy what ya got,dont mean to sound preachy.

Wow! I had no idea that they could fly better than most chickens, but it makes sense now. The two that have flown out of the run in our garage have been the two polish chicks. I will definitely reconsider the free range thing and stick to the run.

We have several coyotes here, hawks and just had a raccoon with rabies at the end of our street yesterday morning. Animal control took the raccoon, but now we are wondering what other animals it had contact with. Yikes! Definitely looking like the run is our safest bet.

 

[Hobbshouse14]

My 2 polish roosters were easy to sex. They started getting wattles at like 4 weeks. They are close to 10 weeks now and already crowing lol. Since we live in such warm weather mine have been out for awhile. Right around 4 weeks we started taking them out to the introduction pen for a couple hours a day. We decided to have them in a seperate coop since they can easily fall prey to bullies and predators. We have hawks really bad and they have taken off with even big chickens. My 2 roos can't see very well either even with a trim. They are so loving though. good luck.

Thanks, that gives me hope about our black polish Marley. How did you transport them to the introductory coop?

 

[jenniferlamar70]

Jennifer you should let your home owners know, there's pet insurance for hobby farms.

Really? We are going through state farm. I'll have to talk to our insurance rep. Thanks.

 

[jenniferlamar70]

Thanks, that gives me hope about our black polish Marley. How did you transport them to the introductory coop?

We just put them in a small dog crate. We built a pen in the coop for introductions but with the polish being so much smaller. We are actually in the process of building a second smaller coop where they can be away from the big birds. Our polish hen is a real bully. I'm afraid if she went with the big chickens they would hurt her.