Polish Red Cap and Rhode Island Red

The most striking characteristic of the Polish fowl is the large protuberance or knob on top of the skull from which the crest of feathers grow and the large cavernous nostrils are found only in crested breeds. They are an ancient breed coming from eastern europe in the 11th and 12th century. They are good non setting white egg layers. This breed needs protection from the rain and freezing temperatures because of their crests. An insulated hen house should work fine in northern climates. Good show specimens are stunning to look at. Because of their restricted vision they dont stray far if allowed to free range. Its a good breed for small children because they seldom peck people. A challenging breed for show. It takes about ten years to develop a good strain of polish show birds. So if you plan on showing yours raise many to get a few correct ones. Just an average table bird since its main use is ornamental and eggs. They often get bullied by other breeds. Red Caps make good fryers with tender fine grained meat. The lay a good number of white eggs. They make good free range birds and they are quite wild. The roosters love to bite and will do so whenever handled. I was never fond of this bred but raised it because of its beauty and rarity. Most of the roosters will go seven pounds and the mature hens six. Rhode Island Reds are the most common brown egg layers. Very hardy and lay through cold weather. Fast growers and fast feathering. If allowed to set the hens make good mothers. Rhode Island Red roosters often turn aggressive. My aunt was spurred in the back by one and required stitches. Thats the only negative thing about this lovely breed. Sometimes its hard to find show chickens colored correctly. Their large brown eggs incubate well. They make a good table bird. They are not easy excited when strangers enter the hen house. Some judges prefer a lighter or darker shade of red. Even when mine got rained on they still laid. This breed has excellent health. They eat more than leghorns because of being a bigger bird but under less than ideal conditions they will out lay the leghorns. Free range chickens must be wormed every few months also inspect chickens for lice. I often keep some cedars branches in the hen house to repell bugs. Once a year all the litter needs to be removed. During the year sprinkle fresh litter on top of the old to keep it clean. If you use hay as litter or grass clippings it makes wonderful compost for your vegtable garden or just roto till it into garden soil. It contains plenty of nitrogen and minerals for plants.