Polish Crosses ~ Ethical or Even Possible?

[Mrs. K]

I did not know that, I though all polish birds were bantams, learn something every day.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I did not know that, I though all polish birds were bantams, learn something every day.

Most are. I took this

Size​

Polish chickens have two different sizes that are recognized by the American Poultry Association:

1. Standard
2. Bantam

Generally, a standard female Polish chicken will weigh around 4-5 lb., while the male birds can weigh up to 6 lb.

The bantam Polish chickens will weigh no more than 2 lb., and these are the ones you're most likely to have in your backyard.

from this website.

https://milefour.com/blogs/learn/po...e,you're most likely to have in your backyard.

I took a quick look at McMurray's website. Some of them are in the Standard range. They are kind of small for a full-sized chicken. Some people may think they are bantam.

 

[Altairsky]

I wouldn't keep a polish rooster unless I wanted to breed polish.
In my philosophy, a backyard rooster has to be, genetically, the top.
Polish roosters don't have a good sight because of the large crest, therefore they won't make good flock protectors and they might not see hawks.
Crested offspring might also have issues with the sight, and they will eventually carry the vaulted skull deformity genes which is something that I would not want in my mixed flock gene pool, unless I wanted to breed pure polish.

 

[FowlPlay2]

Hi, welcome to the forum! Glad you joined!


Are these standard sized or bantams. I'm mainly asking about the Polish boys but some of these could come in either full sized or bantam. Some people will assume that a Polish is automatically a bantam and the others are full sized but that is not always the case.

They are all full sized, at least that’s what the hatchery said.

Why? What are your goals for those chicks? What traits do you want those chicks to have? They are going to inherit traits from both parents.

I would like to continue to grow the flock a bit, it really doesn’t matter what traits they get.

A Polish rooster can fertilize the eggs and chicks will hatch. Healthy chicks. Deformities? Do you consider the Polish heads deformed? The chicks would inherit some of that.

I do not consider their consider their heads deformed, I just wanted to make that crosses won’t have any health issues. We’ve had chickens before, we’ve just never had a rooster. I don’t want to raise animals that end up having a miserable life because I didn’t do my research, you know?

People will tell you of things that could possibly, sometimes, occasionally, might happen. They are correct, they might happen. But then they might not. Would a Polish cross suit my goals? Not at all. I don't know what your goals are.

Thank you so much! I actually didn’t know polish are usually bantams, I just thought they COULD be bantams.

 

[Altairsky]

I do not consider their heads deformed

They *are* deformed.
Their brain is deformed.
https://bitchinchickens.com/2021/04/05/vaulted-skulls-in-chickens/
I would never want a rooster that passes this monstrosity into my mixed flock gene pool.

I just wanted to make that crosses won’t have any health issues.

Polish crosses will inherit some of the polish health issues.
The vaulted skull and brain deformities might cause an increase in chicks unable to hatch or with neurological issues at birth.
Polish chickens tend to have a large crest that covers their eyes and make them go blind so the crest has to be regularly trimmed. One of my free range polish (which was pretty much feral) went blind and literally died of starvation. From what I could see in my flock, they're not as smart as normal chickens. If mixed with normal chickens, their crest is seen as a pecking toy by the non-crested chickens. My advice to save you a lot of trouble is, all polish, or no polish. In the end I sold all of my polish. The only good thing about this breed is that it sells really good.