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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

Kristin Brown
The best advice I have for you is to use a spacious brooder box with a red heat lamp. I have heard the red is a deterrent for picking. I ordered an assortment of 26 chicks after last Christmas. It included at least 6 crested breeds of Houdan and Polish. I did not experience the head picking you are describing, however did have another breed of chick with scabbing on it's beak that wouldn't get left alone. Once scabbing shows, chickens always seem to be attracted to that one, you know? Isolation works, otherwise I suggest giving the chick to another chicken-loving friend.
 
Kristin Brown
I might try trimming back my hen's crest. She is free-ranging which makes her an easy target since she's got all those feathers in her eyes!
 
Bearing1
My 2 Polish are not really chickens, they think they are puppies follow me everyplace and jump on my lap when called by name.
One is with me when ever I am working in the shop, she will follow me back and forth to the work bench, drill press under the car takes naps on my knee one of the best pets I have ever had and I get eggs what a bonus.
 
Gen9
Awwww! I'm glad yours do that. I felt so rejected when they ran from me! I took great care of them, but I am willing to buy some more because I love it when they walk with me. They were a new addition to my flock, I slowly introduced them (over a 2 month period) and no one got in squabbles, injured or bleeding. It was a smooth transition. Despite the warnings of adding polish crested chickens to an established flock, I'm willing to do it again.
 
M
We have 6 polish....they are really nice birds.....they get along well with silkies, but for some reason we had one silkie
rooster who was constantly picking on them. Needless to say we removed him. I read in alot situations with other
chickens though, the polish get the lower end of pecking order... But with my silkie hens they all live well together,
but then they were raised together from babies.... They enjoy our company and will carry on a bird like conversation with you....lol.. I love em..!
 
chart
Did you ever get anymore? They are so interesting looking. Breaks your heart when they die, huh? I like the big and the odd. It's been a while since I've had my own chickens. Have gotten 14 over the last 8 days and lost 4 from my first batch. In rapid succession within the first 60 hrs.. I honestly think it was stress or something weird because everything at home was right. Bad luck of the draw, I guess... Among the 10 I have are 3 Turkens (naked necks). They are wild looking! they run around like little roadrunners and jump up grabbing at flying dust particles. They are (supposedly) 5 days younger than the others, but don't act like it! At first the others wanted to peck at their red necks, but they stood right up to them. I hope you get some more Polish!
 
misgallinas6
keep them in the coop for a week or a bit more!! let them now that that is the "safe house" and once you let them free they will come back!! that is what is did!! except my coop has a lower area where they are out side so they had a look of what their play ground was going to be, kind off put a fence around it!
ps: the fence is open all day so they can go a do what they like best!! and i close it at night.
 
drumstick diva
they are such beautiful birds. I imagine that they do better with their own kind, as other breeds probably bully them alot
 
drumstick diva
they are such beautiful birds. I imagine they need to be kept with others of their breed, so they won't be bullied
 
lmccall728
Out of all the baby chicks we bought 5 weeks ago our little Polish (white crested black) has the most personality by far - not sure if it is a hen or roo yet. Doesn't matter though, I love this little chick - he/she does not take any crap from the bigger chicks and is the friendliest one of all.
 

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