At first sight the Polands looks as a complex chicken; time consuming and fragile. This is not true, since Polands are like normal chickens in a coop.
Polands are very friendly chickens and the full crest is no obstacle for the bird. The white feathers in the crest of non bearded Polands are more soft than the crest of bearded Polands. Both types can range free in a garden as long as it does not rain. It is a nice look to see the birds room in the garden. The advantage of free range is that the chickens know what is best for them, like weeds and insects, which is good for the fertility. A covered coop is nevertheless necessary for these birds in case of rain. They can stand the cold without a problem.
During the breeding season we cut a few feathers around the eyes. In that respect these crested birds have a better sight.

Let us look upon the White Crested Black Polish. They are the birds upon the lawn.

They are the big white plumed crests borne on each cock and hen, and the rest of their plumage is a greenish black of lustrous splendour. Surely so marvellous a fowl can never pass into nothingness; surely it will survive to make glad the hearts of fanciers as long as fowls remain one of our domesticated species. It is not contented that the utility of the Polish is as good as that of production-bred fowls; but eggs are not the only product of chickens. There is another product. It is less tangible but not less necessary to our existence. It is a product that love and dreams and poetry are made of.

It is such a product that the Black Polish with the White Chrysanthemum – like crest yields to those who breed it.

(G. Brenneman, 1977)

Small pens may be nice looking, but are often too humid in winter and too hot in summer, which easily leads to lice and the like. The crest is an ideal place for lice, because the birds can not clean it themselves.
Polands also need special drinkers. Their crest might get wet, which should be prevented. Drinkers, so-called upside down buckets, prevent the crests getting wet.
Feedstuff can be bought in specialized shops, which is mostly balanced. Some breeders mix their own feedstuff, depending on their preference or possibilities. However, it is useful to throw some feedstuff in the coop to prevent that the chickens get bored, like vegetables and weeds.

Breeders of fowls the world over has reported a condition that seems peculiar to crested breeds, particularly birds with heavier crests than others. The onset of the condition is described as a wobble in the head which can increase in severity to the point where the head twists right around and that bird in some cases looses its balance and mobility altogether. This is commonly called ‘cerebral hernia’. The Victorian Institute of Animal Science has conducted post mortems on breeds such a polish and silkies over the years and confirms the existence of a mutation connected with the gene for a dominant crest. A mutation is a genetic copying error or mistake that occurs when the DNA from the parent bird’s meet and divide incorrectly in what is known as meiosis. The skull of a crested fowl is unique. Unlike other breeds, it is dome like in structure and in heavily crested chicks; there is a tendency for the skull to be underdeveloped. Like the fontanels of a human baby, the skull of crested fowls has openings. These are supposed to fuse in the normal way and usually do. However, this does not always occur and the result is exposure of the cerebellum (brain). Subsequently, a bird’s brain space remains venerable to the environment. Certain bloodlines seem more predisposed to this condition, whereas other are seldom affected. Unsurprisingly, it is rare in adult birds, as their skulls have had the time to grow and fuse over. It is more prevalent with young birds between 1 and 4 months of age.

Conditions observed and possible causal factors.
There are a variety of causal factors and distinct conditions each of which can display the symptoms described above.

Type one.
Cerebral trauma or brain damage can actually happen to any young bird of any breed. It involves direct impact (ie a peck on the head) resulting in brain damage. Crested breeds could fare worse in such a situation. The brain is forced by the pressure of the impact and can ‘herniated’, swell or ooze out through the cranium.

Type two
Cerebral oedema or swelling of the cerebellum is an internal reaction to the environment and can occur in at least two ways. Firstly, as a response to hot weather and change, an excess of fluid builds up as in the brain cavity, placing pressure on the centers of the brain, which govern mobility. The bird experiences vertigo (spinning sensation) and consequently loses its sense of balance. If left untreated this can lead to permanent brain damage. On occasion birds may recover and live with a permanent, but slight head wobble, continuing to eat and live with certain normality.
Secondly, same symptoms can occur with a respiratory condition. The immune system can respond to the invasion of bacteria or a virus by producing more fluid with similar results.

Treatment
A) Prevention is better than cure. By ensuring that your birds are vaccinated and well managed the breeder can keep disease challenge to a minimum and avoid the third scenario. Identifying bloodlines that have this propensity and breeding away will help avoid heartbreak. Controlling temperature in extremes of weather can prevent this condition to some degree and ensuring that no foreign objects pose a threat to the birds’ welfare (ie checking perches, feeders etc are secure are all good preventative measures).
B) Cure - there is no guaranteed cure if you have a bird with the condition. However, a vet friend administered an intramuscularly injection of cortisone with positive results. In this case the drug reduced the inflammation/swelling and the bird recovered.
Other breeders have found that administering broad -based antibiotics have worked. The problem is that without a postmortem, you cant always isolates the cause. By then it is probably too late anyway. At the earliest detection of the condition I would use both cortisone and Baytril (antibiotic) to cover my bases. The longer a bird is left untreated, the harder it is to achieve recovery. Fortunately, the problem is not common. Edan Montgomery claimed that out of over 600 birds bred last year, about 5-6 developed the condition. Sadly, it is usually the heavily crested ‘potential champs’.
By hatching in large numbers, line breeding rather than close in breeding and practicing good management techniques, this condition is largely avoidable. Every breed has its hiccups. For crested breeds, this is one of them.
On a positive note, the rewards of producing a champion far outweigh the occasional disappointment linked with this condition. It also goes to show the largely detrimental nature of mutations. They are rarely if ever an advantage!

VIEW ON VISION
Polands have a large crest. This can hinder the vision of these birds, which should be prevented. In the last decades the size of the crests has been bred larger and larger by the fanciers, encouraged by the prizes which could be won at exhibitions. Even more so the structure of the crests became more loose, which went to the detriment of visibility of the Polands.
Not only fanciers became more critical but also the public discussion on well-being of animals made some Poland Clubs in Europe, notably in Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands, aware of the necessity to agree on the maximum size of the crests of Polands.
Within the Dutch Poland Club a lengthy discussion took place on the size and structure of the crest and the required amendments to the Standard description of Polands. In 1999 this led to a booklet of the Dutch Poland Club "View on Vision". In 2000 the Standard has been changed in line with the proposals of the Dutch Poland Club. Below a small summary of this booklet with illustrative pictures of poultry judge and Poland breeder Henk Timmer.

The size should be in harmony with the body of the bird. Also it must be densely feathered with good visisbility for the bird. This means that Polands must be able to look straight ahead and at both sides, to be judged at eye level.

Pictures 1 to 4 illustrate the relationship between skull and crest. If the skull is too wide and too low the crest falls for the eyes, and can even cause inflammation on the eyes. Ideally the skull is high, with the form of a cylinder. In general one can say, the higher the better. The basis of the skull should be as broad as the top. Breeders should exclude Polands with a small basis of the skull.

Breeders of Polands are advised to breed only with Polands with the right skull. Furthermore the feathering of the skull should be dense.
Illustration 6 shows a good skull and 7 a poor skull.

In the Netherlands it used to be common practise to cut the coloured feathers of the crests of Polands (see picture 8). In that way the crests seemed fully white. However, the coloured feathers (mostly black) are important for the sight of the birds. These coloured feathers are socalled supporting feathers; they support the other feathers to keep the crest upright. The same applies to the coloured feathers above the eyes.
So, for these reasons the Dutch breeders changed the rules, i.e. the coloured feathers should stay, but may be cut modestly.

How should it be conditioned?
When cutting the coloured feathers we work from the back of the crest to the front. Coloured feathers in the middle of the crest can be cut close to the skin. In the front of the crest the feathers can also be cut, apart from the last rows. In that way a nicely cut crest will appear.

As you may understand implementing changes takes time. This applies to the way the crests are cut for shows, but certainly for breeding Polands with the right skull and crests to get the necessary natural sight of our Polands. The Dutch Poland Club hopes to achieve this in 5 years time.
The last things we want is birds which can not see. After all we all want the best for our Polands!

In recent times various times research has been done to the vulnerability of Dutch breeds. Not only had we investigated the rareness of our (poultry) breeds, but also their genetic resources. In this research we got also more insight in the situation of Polands.
We know from qualitative research that Polands are rare everywhere in the world. The Dutch example might give you an idea of further research and wonder how the situation is in your country.

Background
The first research has been done in 2001 with an investigation among all clubs of small animal breeds, like poultry, pigeons, waterfowl and rabbits of Dutch origin. All clubs have responded!

Questions raised where among others; how many birds are used a breeding strain, how many colours, how many breeders. This estimate gave a good insight in the situation of Polands.

The situation of large Polands.
Difference is made between bearded and non-bearded Polands. Large are in general less popular than bantams, also due the space breeders have in the Netherlands. No account has been taken of the frizzle variety, nearly non existent since the creator, Arie Boland, died.

(note; since Tollbunt was not recognized at the time of research this colour has been left out of the statistics)

Both breeds, bearded and non-bearded, can be qualified as rare. You have to keep in mind that breeds are considered rare, according to the FAO, if there is less than 1000 breeding stock! The situation is not much better in other countries.

From previous research, looking at the number of exhibitors at shows, we can judge that the number of exhibitors has halved in 20 years time!

The situation of Poland bantams
The situation for bantams is slightly better than for the large ones. Even so, we see more colours at shows of W.C. bantams, like mottled, blue and cuckoo. Having said that, we must conclude that the W.C. Black is most prominent.

(Note; buff, khaki and chocolate have been left out of the statistics since these colours where not recognized at the time of the research.)

In the last years we have witnessed more interest in the laced varieties. Buff laced is still the most popular colour for many years already, silver laced and gold laced become more popular.

Important is to mobilize potential new breeders and fanciers. That is difficult and is contrary to the demographic developments; smaller housing, more leisure, less tolerance (crowing!) and so on. More cooperation and communication is necessary. And your ideas!

New varieties of Polish bantams originating in the USA

By Al Westling

I consider it an honour to have been asked by my friend, Luuk Hans from the Netherlands, to reveal the origin of chocolate and khaki Polish bantams, here in Kansas, in the heart of the USA. I am happy to comply.

I had been a pigeon fancier for many years before taking up the breeding of Polish bantams. In 1985, the very first year I had my WC blacks started, the well known dr. W..F. Hollander said he and a co-worker in genetics had discovered and classified a new gene that had been discovered in the Araucana breed[1]. They named it ‘dun’, because it was much like the dun in pigeons, a dark brown. It was incomplete dominant over black. So a pure dun mated to black would produce brown chicks. The colour would eventually be admitted to the Standard of Perfection as ‘chocolate’.
The original hen from Hollander was not a true bantam in size, really large. She was similar to a buff Columbian hen, but with her dark markings were brown (dun) instead of black. To get the size down I mated her to a black Rosecomb male. They gave me a nice solid dun pullet with a pea comb, which laid greenish eggs. Of course I used my best WC black Polish bantam male with her to get crests started and kept only the duns for breeding. By the time I had them 7/8 Polish with white crests, I showed one male. This would have been 1988, I believe.
Three judges handled him at three different shows. One said it was a poor coloured dark blue. One looked at the coop tag and remarked that we had no such color as ‘dun’. It was the Dean of the American judges, Eugene Barnard, who said “We have a new variety of Polish”. He later complimented me for the accomplishment.
For several years I used my best WC blacks to the WC duns and when the duns were as good as my blacks I eagerly mated my best dun cock to the best dun hen and got exactly what I wanted; a really good khaki male! This was in 1990, and the beginning of yet another variety. The khaki’s are pure duns and when mated khaki x khaki they will breed true. The chocolates have one black gene and one dun gene, thus when mated they can produce khaki’s, chocolates and blacks. You will notice that I am now calling the duns ‘chocolates’, the name they have been standardized with.
Chocolates of both sexes are dark brown and some are so dark as to be mistaken for blacks if in poor light. The khaki females should be light tan all over. The khaki male should have a light tan body with male feathers on hackle, back and tail a shade darker, then a patch of medium chocolate on the wing bows which is partially obscured by his hackle feathers. I have made cuckoo (barred) khaki’s from chocolate cuckoos. I believe this will be my last contribution to the Polish breed!
In November 2002 I had reserve Champion Polish bantam with a WC chocolate hen at our Ohio National Show, in Columbus Ohio. The competition was fierce, with 142 Polish bantams competing, of which over 100 WC blacks. At that moment I considered the chocolates were here to stay!

[1] The Araucana breed is the only breed that had the dun gene, a mutation, no doubt. Several breeders have introduced duns to other breeds. We now have solid duns in Wyandottes and Rosecomds and many OE Games.

Dun Polands in Europe

By Luuk Hans

In 2004 I received six eggs, sent by mail from the USA. I hatched two cocks and two hens, the cocks were chocolate, the hens were khaki. How lucky can you be?! I gave a pair to a well known Dutch breeder and I kept a pair myself. This year I hatched some good chocolate and khaki chickens. Compared to our standard the crest is somewhat too big, i.e. the vision of the birds should be better. Also the wings are carried too low (no doubt an inheritance of crosses with Rosecombs). On the other hand the feathers are softer than of our Poland bantams. Apart from that these aspects the American dun Polands have stolen my heart for their curiosity and nice character.

Note: In January 2009 both colours have been recognized in the Netherlands. In Germany the chocolate colour is in the process of recognition.

The Dutch Poland Club has published a booklet on Poland’s. Unfortunately only in Dutch. It is a real 'must' for people who collect books on Poland’s. The booklet has 60 pages and is illustrated with a lot of colour pictures of Poland’s in all varieties.

The booklet costs Euro 4,50 (excluding postage costs) and can be ordered by sending an email to the secretary of the Dutch Poland Club (info@kuifhoenderclub.nl).

Colour	Total number breeding stock	Female	Male	Number of breeders
WC Black	52	40	12	5
WC White	25	20	5	3
WC Blue	8	5	3	2
WC Cuckoo	14	10	4	2
WC Mottled	14	10	4	2
BC White	47	40	7	2
Total	160	125	35	10

Colour	Total number breeding stock	Female	Male	Number of breeders
Self Black	19	15	4	3
Self White	30	20	10	3
Self Blue	7	5	2	2
Cuckoo	7	5	2	2
Silver laced	14	10	4	3
Gold laced	14	10	4	3
Buff laced	14	10	4	3
Tollbunt	14	10	4	1
Total	105	75	30	8

Breed	Show season 1979	Showseason 1985	Research 2005
Poland, non-bearded	23	18	10
Poland bearded	15	14	8

Colour	Total number breeding stock	Female	Male	Number of breeders
WC Black	105	80	25	15
WC White	30	20	10	3
WC Blue	14	10	4	3
WC cuckoo	14	10	4	3
WC Mottled	14	10	4	2
BC White	13	10	3	1
WC Buff	14	10	4	2
Total	200	150	50	20

Colour	Total number breeding stock	Female	Male	Number of breeders
Self Black	20	15	5	3
Self White	14	10	4	3
Self Blue	14	10	4	2
Self cuckoo	13	10	3	2
Silver laced	21	15	6	5
Gold laced	21	15	6	5
Buff laced	62	50	12	10
Total	165	125	40	15