White Crested Black Polish Rooster
Allow me to present a truly magnificent breed of show chickens! Polish chickens are known for their plumage—especially their splendid bouffant crests. Despite the name, Polish chickens were apparently bred in the Netherlands (although there are some apocryphal stories about how they first arrived in Europe with Mongol raiders!). Some historians speculate that they are known as Polish chickens because their feathery crest resembles the flared hat of the Polish lancers, but the real reasons for the name are lost in time.
A Polish Lancer of the Imperial Guard (re-enactor)
Bantam Frizzle Polish
Bearded White Polish Hen (from Cackle Hatchery)
Like many of the truly chic, Polish chickens suffer for their beauty: their feathery crests impede their vision—which often makes them skittish and flighty. They have good reason to be anxious: because of their reduced eyesight, they are easy prey for foxes and other predators (and, if kept with other doughtier breeds of chickens, they fall low on the pecking order).
Tolbunt (Beard) Polish Hen
Golden Laced Polish Chicken
Silver Laced Polish Rooster
Polish chickens are mild-mannered and can make good pets (if you happen to want a pet chicken). Additionally they can be decent egg-layers–though nothing like modern egg-laying breeds like the leghorns. As you can see from the images included in this post, there are many different colors and varieties of polish chickens to suit your palette and your ornamental tastes!
Buff Laced Frizzle Polish Hen
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January 3, 2014 at 12:12 AM
Beatrix
Wow!
Those are some stylin’ avian coiffures.
We had a ‘bird flu’ outbreak here AGAIN so the Nepali health dept. came around & destroyed & disposed of everyone’s chickens. (Basically they went house to house & grabbed the chickens, broke their necks, threw them in a large white UN issue body bag & sprayed the yard rather haphazardly with some sort of pine scented disinfectant.)
I ordered some new chicks from Taipei to be delivered by air freight.
Guess what? They have curly feathers all over & look like walking giant dandelions!
Anyhow, did you know that Nepal is a major migratory bird stop & that at any given time of year about 10% of the world’s bird population can be found here? (Most of the migrating birds are from northern Europe & Siberia.)
January 3, 2014 at 12:57 PM
Wayne
Hi Beatrix, happy new year! I’m sorry to hear about the chicken woes you are suffering in Nepal. What breed of chickens do you raise? I am not sure I know about any “walking giant dandelion” breeds (other than the Polish chickens of the post–maybe you have some of them!). Does your flock suffer from predation? There must be some formidable hawks and owls in Nepal. Speaking of which, I’m amazed that 10% of the world’s bird population is there, especially considering the vast flocks living in Africa and South America…but then Siberia is a pretty big place…
January 4, 2014 at 4:24 AM
Beatrix
Well Wayne, Asia is a pretty big place!
And the Himalayas are squidged right in the middle of Asia the largest continent on the planet.
Actually the Himalayas are pretty darned big, at 1,500 miles long.
I’m not sure what sort of chickens the ‘dandelions’ are, I just ordered them on the internet from a Taiwanese site. The description said ‘economy’ breed & unsexed as I recall, the chicks cost $25/30 but to air freight them it cost $100. Evidently raising fancy breed chickens is popular all over east Asia as well as Taiwan – I believe over 100 breeds were offered on the website I ordered from.
Our chicks are still in their coop being warmed by solar powered light bulbs. The biggest predators around here are our 7 cats.
I have never seen an owl in Nepal, although I have heard them.
Anyhow…
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
(I hope you enjoyed your holidays too)
January 7, 2014 at 2:31 PM
Mike
Polishing one’s chicken can get one arrested if done publicly in the wrong locale.
October 6, 2020 at 5:23 PM
Anonymous
Any for sale but it has to be a hen
July 11, 2021 at 6:19 PM
Dallas Smith
I am from Australia. May I please seek permission to use the photo of your White Crested Black Polish in a small book that I am writing?With due acknowlegement of course
Thank you- Dallas Smith