Barred Rocks Good Shepard Poulty Ranch

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I hatched three. Would be nice if I get two hens and a roo.

I was wondering if anyone has had any hens from this line go broody? I don't think I've read of any... Maybe the opposite. I read that EB Thompson only used broody hens, no incubators, so I assume that this would be in their blood. But I am yet to hear of any setting.

Nick

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The first thing a rookie chicken person wants to do is get a five point comb on there chickens. They kill all the birds with good color and type and keep the culls that have five point on thier comb then they wonder what happern . If a good type gravey bowl rock has four or seven points that is ok. You breed a four point good bird to a six or seven point bird to compensate thier weakness. The point cut for a extra point or lack of one is a half a point.. Judges dont worry that much for points on a comb unless they are eight or nice.. bob

I agree with that entirely. I was just noticing it and commented on it. My own Delaware rooster has an extra pesky half point, but his comb is one of the best I've ever seen and no way I'd ditch him for that. He and his hens have produced chicks with perfect five pointers over and over again, though I no longer breed them.

I have two Barred Rock cockerels to choose from, one from EB Thompson lines and one from Marvin Stukel lines. They are going on 4 weeks old, which I realize is quite early to judge anything, but already, I see the the Stukel cockerel has finer, more precise barring and will most likely have a better comb. He's also a calmer bird at this point, which I realize may change when the hormones begin raging. How early can you really pick the best of two cockerels? Temperament matters to me-no matter how perfect looking the rooster is, if he's a flogger, he leaves here, one way or another. All the pullets are from Stukel lines.

If the pullets are from the Stukel line, I would be inclined to keep the cockerel from that line as well. Mixing lines causes a lot more problems than remedies, from what I read.

I guess really though, it depends on what your plans are. Breeder or hobbyist? There would be different things to consider.

Kathy, I'm no breeder. I just love my BRs and wanted some that looked better than the ones I had. As you know, I have always had a BR rooster as head of my flock till recently and I miss having one, plus my own BR hens are aging rapidly. I don't want to be without BRs in my flock so while adding some new blood, why not add some better looking Rocks? I'd be mixing lines if I breed my new BR rooster with my older BR hens, yes, but I can't see adding better Rocks as being a bad thing. Beats going down the same old road of breeding hatchery stock with my few-generations-removed-from-hatchery stock. A hobbyist can have great looking Rocks, too, can't she?

Cyn, are you going to hatch eggs from your new BR over your older hens? I read that these lines have never been crossed. What's the point to it, if you are going to have better dams? How many EB pullets do you have?

I have no EB Thompson pullets, Nick, only Stukel pullets. Yes, I plan to use my two best BR hens along with the new pullets when time comes to hatch BRs again.

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Sorry that you didn't get any to hatch. Bummer.

Actually, I did, but had to put her down due to a severely twisted hock joint. Them's the breaks, though. I have two cockerels to choose from (actually, I have another EB Thompson cockerel, but he is extremely small) and some pullets, so it's all good.

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d d d d d d d d d d dwarf....

Okay. Glad you're happy with whatcha got.