Out of all the chickens I’ve owned, the Polish are my favorite. I love the way the feathers on the tops of their heads looks. They remind me of fancy Victorian hats. The Polish Crested chickens I have owned – both hens and roosters – are not as aggressive as some of the other breeds I’ve raised although they are a bit skittish, flighty and easily excited. Mine made it through the Indiana winters just fine for a number of years. They do well in hot and humid climates as well, so late summer was not an issue either.
The feathered crest on top of their heads does obstruct their vision. I would trim some of the feathers on my Polish chickens heads so they could see easier. At one point I had 150 chickens and the Polish did not mind living in close proximity to the other chickens. I allow my chickens to free range during the day – although I noticed the Polish stayed close to the chicken coop – but I did lock them up at night to protect them from prediators.
The standard hens of this breed typically weight four pounds at maturity while the standard roosters weight six pounds. The bantam hens weigh 26 ounces and the bantam roosters weigh 30 ounces. They are good egg layers with the standards laying medium sized eggs and the bantams laying extra small eggs.
I just didn’t bother to separate my Polish chickens so they could lay pure eggs that I could then hatch. Polish hens are not broody, so hatching their eggs in an incubator or placing them under another broody hen is necessary. If you come across chicks or decide to try your hand at hatching eggs from this breed, be aware that sexing them at the hatching stage based on color or feather development is not reliable.
Chicken T was the last of the Polish breed that I owned. I originally found these chicks at our local Tractor Supply among the chicks they get in every spring. They never received another batch of Polish chicks that I was aware of and thus I have not raised them for a number of years. I miss watching the regal, whimsical Polish chickens run around in the chicken garden. I enjoyed them more than any other breed I have had and hope someday to add more Polish chickens to my flock.