dreamofglory,
watch the length of back....he needs more. He is as fine a specimen of this variety that I've seen in a while, but if you can tighten up the wing carriage and lengthen that back, that would be a show stopper
Recall that White Rocks are "sports" from barred rocks.....could be a similar issue here. Also, are you 100% certain of the hen's ancestry? Some hatchery/production barreds have been inter-bred with other birds including leghorns
Keep in mind the ORIGINAL "Whites" were sports from the Barreds, thus, those tightly bred thru Rock only lines would have the same tendency as the Barred birds
Great articles by Brian Reeder in Exhibition Poultry Magazine in the Fall 2013 (I think), regarding autosomnal red. Might be worth googling and reading. Pretty sure it was a three part series (like in Aug/Sept/Oct issues so something like that)
Jill
In my world I look at wide of skull, from the top. The distance from the comb to either side of the skull. Secondly, I look at the distance from the eye to the top of the head and from the eye to the start of the waddle
Beekissed and Fentress
In my world, I can now hatch from hens as opposed to pullets, but still do occasionally if I see a stellar pullet. At one point I too was forced to start with pullets and you do what you have to do
Hatching from pullet eggs should not limit size of adults so long as...
I'm guessing you are hatching from young birds??
My pullets lay a smaller egg than my hens.....over time I am trying to hatch from hens over 2 yrs old and less from pullets. Egg size is definitely different, although to your point, they CAN catch up if genetics and proper feed are there
Duckboy, White Rocks are typically recessive white, BUT, can be hiding ANYTHING, including barring, under the white. The genetics can be quite illusive until you outcross at which time the other genes will tend to surface
If you get one to go broody, take some from the incubator and put those under her.....that way, she'll raise the ones you wanted to hatch, and not just a random group of eggs
Beekissed, stick to your plan, cull those that don't meet your goals and you will be off to the races
As my daddy used to preach "if you fail to plan, you plan to fail".
Sounds to me like you have a firm plan in place!!
Good luck
Beekissed keep us informed on your progress PLEASE. My LF rocks don't lay until 36 weeks +/- drives me nuts
There is definitely a "breeding plan" to your comments. Good on you
Are these barred birds?
Keep in mind comb size can be affected by local climate. Since it aids in the regulation of heat it is quite common for birds in the south to have combs larger than their northern counterparts
Ok Tumbleweed....take a deep breath and relax
First, a few solid black feathers ARE allowed per the standard. Ideally we don't want any... But it happens.
The only DQ for solid black is 2 or more primaries, secondaries or tail feathers
The hump you refer to is probably a cushion. A nightmare...
The likelihood of finding exhibition quality birds this time of yr is slight, BUT, in your area, if you can find and contact Walt Leonard he would know if there might be any to be had