This is Charlotte — The newest addition to my garden chicken flock!
She is a 4 week old Golden-laced Polish chicken. Polish chickens have a crest of feathers on top of their head (a top knot) which makes them cute and funny at the same time. Charlotte is just starting to get her head feathers and is going through an awkward stage at the moment. But she is still cute as a button.
It is important to note that Polish chickens are a very old breed, but they are NOT from Poland. Their exact origin is actually unknown. During early classification, they were called 'Poland Fowls' and Charles Darwin classified all the races of fowl with top-knots as 'Crested or Polish'. Today, they are raised mostly as show birds and as pets. They are quite docile and lay white eggs.
I am currently babysitting two other Polish chickens with Charlotte. (One is another Golden and the other is Buff.) All three are much more cuddly than Penny (my Barred Rock) and Gertie (my Easter egg chicken). They will run to me when I open the cage and love to be held. It is funny how each breed and each chicken has it's own personality traits.
This week I am merging the two flocks (the Polish with my other chickens). The babies are finally big enough to take care of themselves during the pecking order phase. Yes, chickens do have a pecking order and it takes awhile for them to work out all the logistics of that. These two flocks are only 4 weeks apart, so they are merging quite well. The trick I learned is give the younger ones a few places to escape from the large birds. As long as they can get away to relax, they seem fine.
About the Author
Theresa Loe blogs here about taking the garden full circle while striving for a more local, fresh-from-the-garden lifestyle. She is a TV producer, video host, freelance garden writer and a wrangler of chickens and children. (Not necessarily in that order.) For more information on these topics, you can subscribe to her free monthly newsletter.
Theresa Loe is the award- winning Co-Executive Producer & Canning Expert on Growing A Greener World TV. She blogs here about Living Homegrown®, local and fresh-from-the-garden. 
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Cuuuute! Charlotte is really adorable.
We’ve learned never to integrate a sole chicken into a flock. Sometimes sorting out the pecking order can be quite brutal (once, it was very bloody, and another time, the poor hen simply wandered off, hid under our canoe and died of what we assume was a broken heart or broken spirit). We’ve had better luck in the recent years with integration, but we’re still cautious about it.
Oh, she is too cute.
Thanks for the tip Teresa. I have heard bad stories about integrating one chicken. I’m integrating all three polish with my existing flock. But I am still being careful.
My friend Helen gave me the idea about giving them an exclusive area. Since the Polish chickens are still small, I set up a section of the run that only they can access (the other chickens are too big for the opening). They just run in there when they are getting picked on. I keep food and water for them in that section in case they get stuck there for a long time. So far it has worked.
Most of the time, the chickens are socializing nicely. I’m not letting the Polish sleep in the hen house yet. I am keeping the separate for now. I would hate for them to get picked on all night long with no where to run!
So far, so good…but I am not letting my guard down!
Thanks Ms. Price! We think she is pretty cute too!!
Their so cute Mop Heads I call them, Love it : )