The spitz, jersey giants, turkens and sussex are all great hardy birds! The Lakenvelders I have never owned, and I do not know anyone who does, if I remember correctly they are cold hardy, but I could see there combs as being an issue. The polish are my biggest concern, I have never had luck with them, and I know there crests get into the way.
I happen to have two lakenvelders and a Polish. The lakenvelders are very independent and last summer tried to spend their nights in the tree instead of going into the coop. I got really good with a broom poking them out of the tree
they have continued to lay throughout this winter. The Polish is a rooster, and is a big scaredy-cat. I have not had problems with hens pulling out his top feathers like I did with my previous polish roo.
View attachment 1669452 Not trying to be at all negative, but I think you need to take them as they are or get a different breed. Even when he is a bit soggy, Cuzco is really quite lovely with all of his crest feathers!
I've bought from her before to hatch eggs. She works for egg color and healthy sturdy birds. That's for the Maran and OE. The Legbar comes from a local farm/hatchery so I'm not sure on their quality
Oh no I totally get you aren't being negative. I just want opinions because I've never owned polish before, I just thought they looked cool. But if they wont work in my flock dynamic I'd rather not get them or force them to live like that
Polish can be picked on. The keys to keeping them successfully in a mixed flock is plenty of room, make sure there are multiple polish so the crests aren't such an oddity, and being ready to react and remove if there's problems. I personally keep my polish crests trimmed as it helps them see better and they are less hysterical and reactive.
Chicks are a bit harder but adults are very obvious. Often times hatchery birds are smaller than ones that are bred to the Standard
