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Polish

The Polish or Poland breed is best known for its elaborate crest of feathers that nearly cover the entirety of the head.
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General Information

Breed Purpose
Ornamental
Comb
V-Shaped
Broodiness
Seldom
Climate Tolerance
All Climates
Egg Productivity
Medium
Egg Size
Medium
Egg Color
White
Breed Temperament
Flighty,Noisy,Shy
Breed Colors/Varieties
White Crested : Black, Blue, Cuckoo, Choc. Solid : Black, Blue, White, Cuckoo. Laced : Silver, Golden, Buff Other : Tolbunt, Crele
Breed Size
Large Fowl
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The Polish or Poland breed is best known for its elaborate crest of feathers that nearly cover the entirety of the head. This crest limits their vision and as a result can affect their temperament. Thus, though normally tame, they may be timid and easily frightened.

The oldest accounts of this breed come from The Netherlands, but their exact origins are unknown. One theory suggests that their ancestors were brought by Asian Mongols to Eastern Europe during medieval times, and thus, could have originated in Poland. It is also believed that immigrants brought the breed's predecessors from Spain or Italy in the late 16th century. The Polish was standardised in the Netherlands and declared a thoroughbred in the 16th century already. The American Poultry Association states that the breed was introduced to the USA between 1830 and 1840. The breed was, during a certain period of time, much favoured by American farmers and chicken fanciers.

Polish chickens are bred primarily for ornamental purposes and exhibition, but were originally productive egg layers. Polish hens rarely go broody and are noted for their white eggs.

The American Poultry Association accepted three Polish varieties into the American Poultry Association’s Standard of Perfection in 1874; additional varieties were accepted in 1883, 1938 and 1963. There are bearded, non-bearded and frizzle varieties of this breed.

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Polish eggs

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Polish chicks

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Polish juvenile

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Polish hen

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Polish rooster

For more about the Polish breed and their owners' and breeders' experiences with them, see our breed discussion here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/chicken-breed-focus-polish.1098899/
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Latest reviews

Addicted To Chickens
Pros: Extremely sweet
Friendly
Pleasing to the Eye
Very good target flying
Cons: Runs very fast
DON'T GET ME STARTED ON THIS!!!! There are way to many things about them to love!! Mine are very sweet and easy to socialize with.
PippinTheChicken
Love Polish!
Pros: They can jump\fly very high (not sure if pro or con but I like it)
friendly
beautiful
funny
Cons: They can jump\fly very high (not sure if pro or con but I like it)
My hen hatched some polish chicks in June 2021. I have fallen in love with them. They have such funny little personalities.
They are very friendly with other chickens AND humans, they are always up for a cuddle.
They jump\fly very high, it's very entertaining to watch
Purchase Price
£15 for 6 hatching eggs
Purchase Date
May 2021
J
Jumpyrules
agreed
Addicted To Chickens
Addicted To Chickens
Correct!
lily7grace92
Pros: The absolute cutest
Good egg laying ability
Friendly
Endless entertainment
A great way to add diversity to a flock
Cons: Flighty
Can't see well
Have a tendency to lay anywhere but the nesting box
They bother the other hens (no personal space)
Extremely LOUD
My personal experience with Polish hens:

The good- They have a great temperament when played with as baby chicks. We have one that loves to be picked up and will fall asleep in your arms. They are surprisingly good layers. We have had ours lay almost every day for close to 6 months through the winter even! (we do not use supplemental lighting at all either) They are so funny to watch and we have the greatest time just watching them around the yard. In all they are a good chicken to have especially if your looking for some fun poof heads to laugh at.
The bad- They DESTROY nesting boxes (kick ALL the hay, shavings whatever right out) and then they don't even lay in them! They can also be extremely flighty because they really can't see that good. It can be a pain the trim and keep their head feathers clean and keep them from icing up in the wintertime. One of our hens is probably louder than the rooster and voices her opinion a lot.
I really like my polish hens, but 3 is plenty and I probably wouldn't get more unless something happened to them.
Below is my buff laced bearded polish hen- Mrs. Santa Claus
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Purchase Price
Free
Purchase Date
3/8/18
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Comments

Lauraslittlelayers
Hi,
Can you manage to tell what gender they are at nearly 6 weeks? I have 2 Silver laced polish bantams, but do not know the gender of them. I have put some pics on here.
Thank you Laura
 
CochinBrahmaLover
Hey
your polish lay a lot? WOW! i heard they SUCK!! lucky!!
You can but its better if you post on here, sometimes you cant and gotta wait till 7 weeks
 
smilot
Too funny we just did the same thing to one of our first new chicks. We only ended up with two Barred Rock eggs that hatched from our first pair, but we are pretty sure the one is a roo. We named him Chicken Bryan after my partners favorite thing to order at Caraba's . I have a feeling that because he was the first one to hatch he'll be sticking around instead of sticking to a pan. We also bought 3 "special crested" at the feed store out in the booney's. After I googled it, I found they were Polish, and I think a Polish, Silky mix I am not sure. Of course we ended up with 2 roo's and the silky one turned out be the only pullet. We only kept the one roo for obviouse reasons. They are to date our favorite out of our flock of 10.
 
shadow rabbit10
I am sorry, and please don't take this the wrong way, but I am not allowed to give my e-mail to people I don't know. Again, I am sorry, but I have had problems with strangers getting my contact info before, and ever since, I have to be cautious of who knows my information. It's more of a security thing.
 
NewbieLewis
I had that happen once so farr mine are only about 8 or 9 weeks but a few weeks ago i had went to check on them and they both were bleeded it scared me but it healed up rather fast. So is this a normal behavior for polish ?
 
C
As far as my experience goes, it is a normal behavior for this breed. In my search for a Blue Polish breeder I came across several threads here on BYC about Polish head-pecking and how difficult it is to stop. The only advice that seems to work is separation. It makes me think that all of those beautiful Polish that we see pictures of on the internet must be kept in solitary confinement in order to keep them looking so beautiful.
Maybe there is a bloodline that doesn't produce this behavior. I sure hope so!
I got mine from McMurray Hatchery.
Jenne
 
MontanaMomma
I had two polish chicks (3 months old)... I lost one today ): They were picked on so I wonder if the other chickens killed her. The two were raised together so I don't know what to do the remaining loner. I have separated her from other chickens for her own protection, but I feel bad for her being all alone... I wish I would have known they were difficult to integrate. I don't know what I'll do now. ):
 
NewbieLewis
I had purchased two polish and was told the roos dont have a perfectly rounded crest mine are about 2 months and if this is true i have 2 roos !!
 
Arkansas81
Yes that is what i am reading and been told. i have 6 polish in total, i got them for my daughter that wanted to sell eggs etc. if what i am reading and being told then i have 2 hens and 4 roos. mine are roughly 2 months as well. ive never had chickens before so i am learning as well. if i have that many roos i dont know what i will do, cause i have 3 big roos as well. so kinda sounds like we are almost in the same boat! dilema, dilema!
 
aznewmom
I pity the fool!!!!!! Sorry, couldn't help myself.
That cutie looks like Mr. T. :)
 
California_chickie
I agree the Polish are beautiful, and spazzy! I only have bantam breeds, and I usually try to hatch my Polish along with Silkies- it has worked really well. I only have a few full grown Polish, so I can keep them together with the smaller chicks and they get to be the boss! So far, all my Silkie-Polish family members snuggle up together & get along just fine!
 
Kagu
Roos have a scruffy crest and their wattles will come in WAY before the hens. The hens have a nice crest that covers most of there head
Hope that helps
 
BuckNBark Farm
Love my Polish! I have two gold lace (wanted silver laced, but 6 died on the way to the "middle man". The gold ones, both of them are far from standard- one has a crossed beak, and white in his/her hair. . But, I love them dearly. They are sweeter than my Silkies. The cross-beaked is my favorite of my flock. She/he is the only one that likes to be held. I LOVE POLISH
 
kvmommy
I had some polish that lived about 5 mo. They were kind of neurotic but so sweet. I'd hear flapping and the next thing I know one would be perched on my shoulder. No other chicken has ever done that. But all were killed. I had about 10 chicks of all breeds that hatched together but only my polish were killed. not sure if the poof makes them easy targets but I'm not going to get anymore. I do have a polish/ameracauna x that is brilliant and beautiful but skittish as heck.
 
bird sitter
I just got two Black crested black polish bantam hens and one roo! So excited and they can be so hilarious!!!
 

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Category
Chicken Breeds
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Reviews
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Last update
Rating
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