The Poland, or Polish fowl, is quite unknown in the country which would seem to have suggested the name, which originated from some fancied resemblance between its tufted crest and the square-spreading crown of the feathered caps worn by the Polish soldiers.
The breed of crested fowls is much esteemed by the curious, and is bred with great care. Those desirous of propagating any singular varieties, separate and confine the individuals, and do not suffer them to mingle with such as have the colors different. The varieties are more esteemed in proportion to the variety of the colors, or the contrast of the tuft with the rest of the plumage. Although the differences of plumage are thus preserved pretty constant, they seem to owe their origin to the same breed, and cannot be reproduced pure without careful superintendence. The cocks are much esteemed in Egypt, in consequence of the excellence of their flesh, and are so common that they are sold at a remarkably cheap rate. They are equally abundant at the Cape of Good Hope, where their legs are feathered.
POLAND FOWLS.
The Polish are chiefly suited for keeping in a small way, and in a clean and grassy place. They are certainly not so fit for the farm-yard, as they become blinded and miserable with dirt. Care should be exercised to procure them genuine, since there is no breed of fowls more disfigured by mongrelism than this. They will, without any cross-breeding, occasionally produce white stock that are very pretty, and equally good for laying. If, however, an attempt is made to establish a separate breed of them, they become puny and weak. It is, therefore, better for those who wish for them to depend upon chance; every brood almost of the black produces one white chicken, as strong and lively as the rest.
These fowls are excellent for the table, the flesh being white, tender, and juicy; but they are quite unsuitable for being reared in any numbers, or for general purposes, since they are so capricious in their growth, frequently remaining stationary in this respect for a whole month, getting no larger; and this, too, when they are about a quarter or half grown—the time of their life when they are most liable to disease. As aviary birds, they are unrivalled among fowls. Their plumage often requires a close inspection to appreciate its elaborate beauty; the confinement and fretting seem not uncongenial to their health; and their plumage improves in attractiveness with almost every month.
The great merit, however, of all the Polish fowls is, that for three or four years they continue to grow and gain in size, hardiness, and beauty—the male birds especially. This fact certainly points out a very wide deviation in constitution from those fowls which attain their full stature and perfect plumage in twelve or fifteen months. The similarity of coloring in the two sexes—almost a specific distinction of Polish and perhaps Spanish fowls—also separates them from those breeds, like the Game, in which the cocks and hens are remarkably dissimilar. Their edible qualities are as superior, compared with other fowls, as their outward apparel surpasses in elegance. They have also the reputation of being everlasting layers, which further fits them for keeping in small enclosures; but, in this respect, individual exceptions are often encountered—as in the case of the Hamburghs—however truly the habit may be ascribed to the race.
There are four known varieties of the Polish fowl, one of which appears to be lost to this country.
The Black Polish. This variety is of a uniform black—both cock and hen—glossed with metallic green. The head is ornamented with a handsome crest of white feathers, springing from a fleshy protuberance, and fronted more or less deeply with black. The comb is merely two or three spikes, and the wattles are rather small. Both male and female are the same in color, except that the former has frequently narrow stripes of white in the waving feathers of the tail, a sign, it is said, of true breeding. The hens, also, have two or three feathers on each side of the tail, tinged in the tip with white. They do not lay quite so early in the spring as some varieties, especially after a hard winter; but they are exceedingly good layers, continuing a long time without wanting to sit, and laying rather large, very white, sub-ovate eggs. They will, however, sit at length, and prove of very diverse dispositions; some being excellent sitters and nurses, others heedless and spiteful.
The chickens, when first hatched, are dull black, with white breasts, and white down on the front of the head. They do not always grow and get out of harm’s way so quickly as some other sorts, but are not particularly tender. In rearing a brood of these fowls, some of the hens may be observed with crests round and symmetrical as a ball, and others in which the feathers turn all ways, and fall loosely over the eyes; and in the cocks, also, some have the crest falling gracefully over the back of the head, and others have the feathers turning about and standing on end. These should be rejected, the chief beauty of the kind depending upon such little particulars. One hen of this variety laid just a hundred eggs, many of them on consecutive days, before wanting to incubate; and after rearing a brood successfully, she laid twenty-five eggs before moulting in autumn.