Tolbunt Polish Chickens - Hen Wanted

ArkRescue said:

I have a Tolbunt Polish Rooster. I am looking for a Tolbunt Polish Hen to breed him with. If anyone has any for sale, free lease, or rent please contact me. I was told I have the Cadillac of chicken facilities lol, so she would get a decent place to stay with unlimited food and water 24/7 (have heated waterers for Winter).

Here's a picture of my Tolbunt Polish Rooster - he USED to be mostly black and now he's changed to mostly white .... both pictures show the dramatic change, but since the 2nd picture was taken he has turned even whiter - I'll have to take another picture of him to show the completion of the dramatic transformation.

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ArkRescue said:

I don't see the pictures attached - I'll try again .........

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Busterduck said:

Here is the standard for the Polish Tolbunt. Still can't find any for sale but if I do, I will let you know.

Polish Breeders Club - Tolbunt

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ArkRescue said:

The college student in MD who sold him to me said he was a "dark tolbunt" and I needed to breed him with a "light tolbunt". Well now that he has changed colors so dramatically he looks like a "light tolbunt" LOL - he has way too much white now it seems. I'll get another picture of him to show.

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Busterduck said:

Whatever he is, he sure is pretty. Very unique. Odd that his feathers have changed so much. Very cool. There is a very nice lady that breeds Tolbunts on the forums. She may have an idea about his color. Hopefully she reads this thread.

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mingiz said:

PM Colliegal She raises these types of chickens..

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Colliegal said:

Hi Lisa, It was nice to hear from you again. Thanks for sending me a PM.

Your roo is so flashy! He is certainly pure Polish but, unfortunately, not of pure tolbunt coloring. That being said, I would venture to say that one of his parents must have been tolbunt, or both parents part tolbunt. You mentioned that he has changed colors from dark to light quite dramatically. That is always the case with tolbunts. That, plus the presence of three main colors, is how I know he is certainly part tolbunt.

If I owned this roo and could not find a pure tolbunt hen, I would choose a very good quality gold laced Polish hen with which to breed him. Place any roo chicks in pet homes and keep the offspring pullets to grow out. Choose the pullets that have the best mix of the three colors: red, black and white and breed them back to a pure tolbunt rooster. Roosters in any breed are ALWAYS easier to find than hens. Again, place roos in pet homes and keep the pullets with the best coloring and breed them back to their father (the pure tolbunt rooster). The resulting chicks will then begin, if you're lucky, to look much more like tolbunts.

All things considered, this could be good for the breed. Tolbunts, as you know, have a very limited gene pool. The introduction of other colors into tolbunts will be the only way this breed color can survive. Now, purists will hate me for saying that, but what good is a color line that has poor fertility and decreased vigor? Anyone involved in genetics knows that to improve these two issues you must introduce genetic diversity! So, I say, go for it, Lisa.

I do breed tolbunts and have a flock of about 11 of these beautiful birds. I am not at the point, though, that I will let any hens go. I'm sorry! Next summer, I may have an extra roo that will need to be placed. In the meantime, buy the very best gold laced Polish hen you can afford and start breeding! If I can spare a roo next summer, I'll be glad to help you out with your resulting chicks.

Good luck!

- Gretchen

PS - you are welcome to come and visit my farm and see my flock of tolbunts. Just drop me a line. Busterduck is coming out tomorrow afternoon, if you'd like to join us.


Here is a pic of some of my tolbunts getting ready for bed! I breed both smooth and frizzle tolbunts.

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ArkRescue said:

I happen to have 2 gold laced hens, 1 of which is of better quality than the other, so I will pair them up - probably in the Spring? Seems that it would be hard for a hen to keep eggs warm enough in the Winter?

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Colliegal said:

I think we can figure out some way to get the eggs hatched. If your girls are laying, then take advantage of it. Just remember, if they are with a rooster currently, any eggs they lay for the next three weeks could be fertilized by that rooster. So, put the hens with the tolbunt and wait for three weeks before you start collecting eggs to hatch. Do you have photos of your two girls? If so, could you post them so I can see them? Thanks!

Saturday it is forecasted to thunderstorm - in October! So, we can't get together then. Maybe another day?

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ArkRescue said:

Here's what he looks like NOW -almost all white when he used to be almost all black! How can that be?

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Busterduck said:

WOW. He sure is strange.

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ArkRescue said:

He's very SWEET - no attacking from him either, so he's a keeper. I just can't seem to get his scales on his legs to grow in better - I assume he had mites at some point, and I've treated him multiple times (different products too), and his lower leg scales are STILL sticking up - now what?

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idiganthro said:

The picture of the Tolbunts is amazing! They are beautiful. I'm still learning about chickens in general. This thread has been very educational! Thanks...

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ArkRescue said:

Well let's make this thread even more educational. I discovered yesterday that the BackYard Chicken forum folks seem to recommend (per Busterduck) the Brinsea incubators. So now I am looking into the Brinsea Mini since I really only need to incubate a few eggs at a time.

Anyone here have experience with the Brinsea Mini incubator and want to comment? I hear it has humidity factored in, which can really make a big difference in successful hatching rates.

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