|  *If you don't plan on showing your polish chicken, clip its crest feathers around the eyes so it can see.
*Little tiny stubby feathers like to grow between the polish toes. Remove them before a show. *The White crested black sometimes has too much black in the front. Simply pull the black feathers out, one at a time (do only a small area at one time so the bird does not get too sore) to get a nice line (keep a little bit in front) . *To keep those mites and lice away, mix some mitacide or lice powder with vaseline and apply a dob in the middle of the crest and under the wings. It works. *Sometimes it"s a good idea to tie the crest up and out of the way of the bird's eyes. They can scratch masking tape off as well as rubber bands. Try electrical tape. It holds well and not too sticky. Also, don't keep the crest tied any longer than a month. Let it down for a while. *Something to consider when breeding is the comb on the hen. Pull the crest back. Check to see if she has a comb. The hen without a comb is the one you want to use to keep the comb off the cockerel. *Another thing to consider when picking your breeders is the way the crest sits on the head. It shouldn't protrude forward of the base of the beak. *Watch out for the squirly tail, that is, the tail that sits high on the back. This is especialy true of the Buff Lace and Golden Lace varieties. Use hens with very low tails for breeding. *The hen decides the form. Pay particular attention to her. The rooster adds the color. *The Polish is an unusual chicken because of two features that are unique to them. First is the knob on the head of the bird. It is a protrubance from the skull. The bigger the better. The bigger the knob, the bigger the crest. Secondly is the cavernous nostrils that is unique to the crested. *To keep your polish from becoming bored and start crest picking, try putting big chunks of styrafoam in the pen. Hang them up. The birds will spend hours playing with these chunks. *An old poultry book says that if you put a dab of lard on a chick's head, it will help get rid of mites. *When brooding chicks, keep supplemented water in front of them all the time. Change the water every day and keep it clean. *Try feeding older chicks 28% turkey starter crumbles. It helps with all the extra feathers they have to grow. *Don't run the Polish with non-crested birds. With all those feathers, they can't see well enough to defend themselves. *Brushing roosts, floors and partway up walls with Cresol will get rid of mites and lice. *Keep a box with Seven powder mixed with sand so the hens can take dust baths during the winter. *Make sure the birds get their greens during the winter to help keep their nutrition at a steady rate-lettuce, green beans, dried grass clippings, and even carrots(although they have to learn how to eat the carrots) are some of the things you can give them to eat. Rabbit food is good as well, it has alfalfa in it for vitamin A.
*When brooding polish chicks, try to keep the flock to 10 or 15. They don't seem to do very well in larger flocks when very young. Once they are fully feathered they can be put into a larger flock of same age birds. | 
