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

[FoxholeFarm]

I made the mistake of spritzing Tilly's crest with bitter Apple right after applying bluekote. I now have a blue created black polish lol!

 

[Timily Farms]

Here is the mottled

 

[Lacey1988]

Seriously can not wait to Spring to hatch some eggs from this lovely couple. (Ralph Lauren & Cruella DeVill.)

 

[Illia]

About the Partridge - Got pics of the face and shanks/legs? Does it have cavernous nostrils, what color are its legs and soles of the feet?

The mottled is a Houdan, I see 5 toes.

 

[Timily Farms]

Ok I will get pics of those and the lady I got here from said she was a mottled polish so I am sorry I was miss informed I guess no harm no foul

 

[Illia]

Ah no worries.

 

[CrazyChookLady5]

hi everyone,

I've been wanting to get a new breed of chickens and was wondering about polish's. but then Ive come across the mottled Houdan, they look very similar to polishes and was wondering what's the difference?

 

[Sylvester017]

hi everyone,

I've been wanting to get a new breed of chickens and was wondering about polish's. but then Ive come across the mottled Houdan, they look very similar to polishes and was wondering what's the difference?

Both are non-combative breeds except Polish hens are approx. 4 lbs and Houdan hens are approx. 6 lbs. I would not mix these gentle breeds with ordinary heritage or dual purpose larger breeds as they would be too assertive/eventually aggressive toward the gentler non-combative Polish or Houdan. I consider Silkie, Polish, Houdan, Breda, Ameraucana, Araucana, Dominiques, and even the larger Faverolles as gentle non-combative breeds and would not mix them with RIR, BRs, Wyans, NHR, Marans, Leghorns (or any of the Mediterranean class breeds) - nothing wrong with these wonderful breeds except that eventually their aggressive nature takes over in maturity and they can pick/bully on the softer nature of the non-combative breeds especially if you have a small yard. This is a generality taking the nature of the breeds into consideration but there can always be exceptions to the rule. Through sad experience I have found that mixing the super-terrific egg-layers or dual purpose with my gentle non-combative Silkies and Ameraucana have resulted in some injuries and had to re-home the bullies. Next Spring I am sticking to an order of another APA Ameraucana and lightweight Breda to add to my gentle flock. In a couple more years I may add a couple Doms but we'll see how the new group manages first. I am staggering my additions every couple years to allow for the aging of the older hens whose egg production slows down by around age 3-5. I have staggered age ranges from 1 year to 4 years so we don't suddenly have a halt of egg-laying hens all the same age.

 

[Illia]

Calling them non-combative and birds like Rhode Island Reds and Marans as combative is a pretty opinionated statement, I'd say.

The factual differences are that Houdans are a 5 toed bird who only comes in two recognized colors, mottled and white. They're larger, heavier, (they were made to be dual purpose) and normally by standard of the breed, should look like a brick with a crest and beard. Polish on the other hand are smaller and more "ornamental," they have the normal 4 toes on each foot, a more traditional slightly lean looking body, and come in a wider choice of recognized colors, however unlike Houdans there are no mottled Polish.

Because Houdans are a rare breed, and Houdans who look like what the breed standard and what their purpose of creation was for are exceedingly rare, honestly the only difference these days is that Houdans come in mottled and have 5 toes. Otherwise their body type in most cases looks the same. They often weigh the same if not for about 1/2 to 1 lb difference, they both usually have the same body type and tail set, they're both often bearded or non-bearded (even though Houdans should never be clean-faced unlike Polish) and have small, medium, or large crests and/or combs.

In a nutshell, these days, the only difference you'll see in most cases is coloration and that extra 5th toe.

If you want to get either Polish or Houdans for a backyard flock you're honestly not going to notice a difference. Hatcheries breed them both with the same idea in mind, and you'll get extremely similar birds. I don't see any behavioral or hardiness difference between my Houdans and Polish other than the fact that the line of Polish I've been breeding are remarkably courageous, tough, and curious birds. My Houdans act about the same as the Polish I kept for pets but didn't breed. There's not much to say on their temperament beyond that, because everyone's experiences differ on strain, environment, and climate.

 

[Sylvester017]

Calling them non-combative and birds like Rhode Island Reds and Marans as combative is a pretty opinionated statement, I'd say.

The factual differences are that Houdans are a 5 toed bird who only comes in two recognized colors, mottled and white. They're larger, heavier, (they were made to be dual purpose) and normally by standard of the breed, should look like a brick with a crest and beard. Polish on the other hand are smaller and more "ornamental," they have the normal 4 toes on each foot, a more traditional slightly lean looking body, and come in a wider choice of recognized colors, however unlike Houdans there are no mottled Polish.

Because Houdans are a rare breed, and Houdans who look like what the breed standard and what their purpose of creation was for are exceedingly rare, honestly the only difference these days is that Houdans come in mottled and have 5 toes. Otherwise their body type in most cases looks the same. They often weigh the same if not for about 1/2 to 1 lb difference, they both usually have the same body type and tail set, they're both often bearded or non-bearded (even though Houdans should never be clean-faced unlike Polish) and have small, medium, or large crests and/or combs.

In a nutshell, these days, the only difference you'll see in most cases is coloration and that extra 5th toe.

If you want to get either Polish or Houdans for a backyard flock you're honestly not going to notice a difference. Hatcheries breed them both with the same idea in mind, and you'll get extremely similar birds. I don't see any behavioral or hardiness difference between my Houdans and Polish other than the fact that the line of Polish I've been breeding are remarkably courageous, tough, and curious birds. My Houdans act about the same as the Polish I kept for pets but didn't breed. There's not much to say on their temperament beyond that, because everyone's experiences differ on strain, environment, and climate.

Don't feel offended about the combative vs non-combative breeds. It's not an opinion but an experience gone through personally so be tolerant for sharing my lesson learned the hard way - something I hope will help someone else possibly experiencing a similar circumstance. I always thought a chicken was a chicken was a chicken. My folks only had Babcock Leghorns in quantity and before that a few RIRs & BRs so my experience had always been with assertive breeds until later when I started building my own little flock and found a significant difference in breed temperaments. I had discovered that the crested, bearded, muffed, feather-footed breeds turned out generally more docile in temperament than the popular heritage or heavier dual-purpose breeds. As pullets the breeds seemed compatible together until they reached about 18 months to 2 years of age and at this maturity the larger, heavier breeds bullied the smaller or gentler breeds just because they could get away with it - the gentle breeds either couldn't or wouldn't self-defend themselves. We re-homed our nice Leghorns and Marans because they were exceptionally aggressive towards our Silkies and Ameraucana. I had a couple Silkies I thought were moulting (their heads were going bald!) but then discovered the Marans cozying up to them at roost to pick off all their fluffy feathers! During the day the 7-lb Marans would jump and claw attack the 2-lb Silkies - not an equal match. I know flock politics is a chicken thing but when there are escalating attacks with potential injury I don't tolerate it. Leghorns are wonderful birds for so many reasons but the Mediterranean breed class are not shrinking violets and will take advantage of bullying if not put in their place by an equal defender. Ameraucanas and EEs would rather flee than fight so the Leghorns had a field day chasing them to pull out their beards/muffs. The Leghorns and Marans were an equal match to each other so instead shifted their focus to chase the gentler breeds. Marans are aloof and stand-offish to humans which makes them seem calm but they will suddenly jump on and claw-attack viciously a gentler breed. My friend and I have experienced this with our Marans and will not be replacing them in any variety if there are gentler or smaller breeds in the flock. I love nearly all breeds of chickens but found out the hard way that it is wiser to keep the breed sizes and temperaments similar to avoid serious flock conflicts - especially in a small suburban yard like ours.