Reviews by Hawkeye95

Giving 3 stars for beauty and the fun of having them. But they are not great for pets, they are flighty and they lay a smaller egg than a larger standard bird would. If you are wanting a gentle layer, this is not your bird. But they are still fun to have.

As chicks, my White Crested Black Polish were adorable. But I could tell right away, they didn't enjoy being held as much as my other breeds. I started calling them "flappy" by the time they were a few weeks old. They'd screech and run the other way, while my barred rocks, silkies and Wyandottes would come forward.

They have learned quickly how to navigate the ramp to my coop and like to be on the highest roost in the coop. They are more slender and very quick and flightly. It takes a while for them to calm down once you do get a hold of them. But for all of that, they make up in beauty and their quirkiness.

Unfortunately, their large crests make it difficult for them to see trouble coming at them. I recently had my turkey peck at a WCB Polish's crest and nearly kill her. She couldn't see which way to go to get away. I didn't see it happen until she was nearly dead. Although her crest had been completely pecked away, it has completely grown back in weeks later, and she is back to normal. Although... now she is even more flighty than the others.

This is a picture I took when my WCB Polish were babies.

I have black, splash and white silkies. They all have similar temperaments, in that they are calm and docile. Very sweet birds, and they are easy to get attached to them as pets. So far, mine are doing well in our temperatures of very hot summers to cold winters with snow. However, in the summer, I did set up a water mister system in their pen and made sure they had plenty of shade.

They did learn to use the ramp up to the coop, and can flap their wings enough to get themselves up to the bottom rung on my ladder style roost. The lowest rung, by the way is only about 4 inches off the floor. I've never seen them go higher than that on the roost, even though the ladder is very easy to navigate for the other birds. They also tend to sleep in a pile on the floor at night if they decide against the roost. I don't know if this is a Silkie thing, but I have two white silkies that are the "peace keepers" of the flock. If another bird (like a barred rock) is picking on another bird-- the Silkies go flying into action with feet out and chase down the birds that are not being nice. I've noticed they keep everyone in line and continue to stay on top of their job every day. Perhaps I'm lucky, or maybe this is a trait?

Below is a picture of my 9 month old Splash cockerel. One more thing to mention-- they LOVE to crow! All the time. They are not quiet about it.