Some help with polish bantams

[the fox]

I am going to soon bet a pair of them, i have done loads of resach im just checking that there is nothing that book will not tell me?
That i should know about them.

 

[Crunchie]

Hey there,

I responded to your other thread about fence height, but thought I'd chime in here, too. Sorry if I ramble on about stuff you already know! But there are a few things that apply to Polish that don't apply to other kinds of chickens, so you probably won't have read about it a regular poultry book.

I think that the Polish are a little more "high maintenance" than a lot of other chicken breeds. They've been bred to be fancy, not utilitarian, and with that comes a few problems. I mentioned in your other thread how the Polish are very susceptible to predators because of their large crests. They just can't see with all of those feathers! Makes them easy to catch--good for us when we need to catch them, bad for us when a hawk beats us to it!

You can trim their crests so that they can see better--you really should do this if you are planning on letting them free range at all. I've also heard of taping the crest--I suppose kind of like making a top knot "pony tail" with medical tape to keep the crest out of the way--but I've never done that before, so I'm not sure how well that works! They also might be a little more skittish than some other breeds because not seeing so well seems to make them a little nervous. But I have some birds that are super flighty and others that run right up to me and I can pick up easily, so this probably partly depends on the individual bird.

The crests also get dirty and just plain gross if you aren't trimming and you don't provide a water/feed setup so that they won't be dunking their feathers everytime they get a drink. What works for me is one of those plastic waterers with the screw-on base (I think it's a Little Giant brand). The space they drink out of is pretty narrow, and it seems to keep their feathers dry.

They are also prone to getting picked on--literally--by other chickens and each other. Again, it's those crests--it's like a bullseye! Especially the white crested varieties, on which the crest really stands out against the darker body color. If you keep them with other chickens, your others may pluck their feathers. If you keep them separate, they may pluck each other. Adequate space seems to help that problem.

If you haven't already found it in your research, the Polish Breeders Club has an MSN group here: http://groups.msn.com/PolishChickens (if you join the club, you will also get access to another web site that is for members only). It's a good place to find information and breeders. I would recommend spending the $10 for a yearly membership; the newsletters alone are worth it for the info.

Have fun with your new birds! I love my Polish. I only have white crested blacks now, but I hope to be breeding some different varieties when I have the space for it. What variety are you getting? Oh, and everyone here on BYC will want to see pics when you get them!!

Good luck!

 

[the fox]

Thank for the help