barred rock imperfection?

@Fred's Hens , your birds are truly stunning!

@elevatedruby , the ratio of Roosters to hens that you are considering is much too high unless you're keeping your Roosters separated from your hens entirely. The typical recommended ratio is 1:10. Some roosters need more ladies and others do alright with fewer, it depends on the Rooster.

i planned on oing that ratio, i figured since i saw male with one to 4 hens but didnt see any, maybe one that was rmissing feathers. but that makes me happy that i need all to one. what would be a good number of females to breed to BR roo and RIR roo if different from 10:1

i see what you mean, they are way more barred and feather quality is much higher. Are there grades to the birds like grade A and so on? if so what could you tell me about my flocks grade. im not going to be upset about what they are. not god genes, know that so far. but if i was to breed them would they even be good enough to use for eggs and meat birds. eggs yes obviously but i want to toy around with throwing some game breed in there for size. any comments

First of all, in the poultry fancy, the dreaded "roo" word is never used. The birds are cockerels and pullets when young, and even males and females is just fine.

The reality is this. Most of the birds that people have they likely got from swaps, auctions, bins at farm supply stores, or ordered from hatcheries. They're birds far below the standards for the breeds they are said to be.

True bred birds, birds bred to be true representatives of the breed standards are only bred by fanciers who wish to presever and/or exhibit the birds. That is honestly the only source for such birds.

Unless you got birds from such a breeder, the overwhelming odds are you have far less than standard bred birds. They are still chickens, maybe even good layers and pleasant birds and that's just fine, but standard bred poultry they are not. This section on BYC is designed for discussion of standard bred birds.

ok i know im still learning all the lingo and correct words to say in the chicken world. ive got a helmet with no pads when it comes to most of this, my wife and i both want our daughter to start getting into ffa and showing stuff and since all her family shows is pigs and goats, i figured wth well be the black chick and show chickens. i wanted show quality birds for my daughter to have great birds from our own home by the time it came to show them. and after they are done showing we planned on butchering the chickens to sell. we already have a plan for when we have too many meat birds in the freezer. donate to the local care center and when i have extras on eggs i can give he oldest ones i keep(3 weeks) to them as well. and secondary plan of using the extra birds and eggs to host a charity BBQ and donate proceeds to the boys and girls club. we want to make more than a business. we want to make an impact on helping thse birds thrive. and we already found our critically endangered birds we want to breed as well. yokohama and spanish whites. we are just starting and on a shoestring budget. have to start somewhere

You keep saying you're wanting to cross the Rocks with the game birds for the size. What size are you looking for? Most game birds are smaller and leaner than Rocks. Are you looking for a smaller bird, or are your game birds larger? Do you just want a barred game bird, not a Rock?

im one of the people that want to try many but keep the best. like my bully. hes breeding to an undomesticated so they will make hybrids, larger bully or mastiff for hieght and a smaller bully for the stockiness. out of what is produced determines my decision in what i want tto do. just like this, i plan on having many different crosses and pures, when i get the quality birds that are better than mine for the pures. im going to be breeding BR to bruner roundheads hopefully they either get taller or wider. another combo i was wondering about hw a bnner would mix with RIR, say RIR cock with aBrunner roundheadhead hen. black stars of course sine i have the BR and the RIR. and pure bred brunner. . looking into buying some cocks from freds hens for both BR and RIR to shorten my time for of breeding til show quality. im new to the breeding thing but hopefully i can juggle. lol

They're beautiful!!! Just had to say
Sorry ,referring to your barred and reds Fred,the colors are so pretty and deep.

This is what I am looking for in Barred Rocks! Where are you "up North"? Would you please PM me with the details?