Barred Rocks Good Shepard Poulty Ranch

[tigercreek]

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Not green, but they do have a light grey wash down the front as Speckeledhen says. Seems to show up more in pen raised than freerange birds. These are pen raised. Also, I used a flash because it was getting a little dark. ......stan

 

[kathyinmo]

They look great, Stan! Congrats on the eggs!

Are you gonna start hatching soon?

Here are a few of my girls today.....

 

[kathyinmo]

I really do love these birds!

 

[mississippifarmboy]

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[tigercreek]

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Hey Kathy, I know about loving these girls! I never get tired of sitting and watching them. My plan is to start hatching in the middle of Janurary? These pullets should be laying plenty of full sized eggs, and the hens should be back up to full laying too. I plan to put a splash rock from Halo on these girls to get blue sex links, and keep the orginal 4 hens with their barred rooster for more of this strain. I want to try to keep them all hatching together so I don't have 20 brooders going at once. If I did that, I'd never have time to watch the girls! Are you going to be able to start before March in that cold weather?? .....stan

 

[ninabeast]

I'm new to all this, and I am gobsmacked at how different these well-bred birds look from my hatchery Rocks. (Not that I don't love you and think y'all are gorgeous girls, cuz you know I do...) The difference is stunning. Not only are the colourings different, but I can't get over the difference in comb size! My girls' combs are HUGE, so much so that two out of three of them fold over. I am concerned for them come the real cold.

Anyway, thank you for posting these pics. Helps a newb like me see the difference between hatchery birds and breeder birds...

 

[tigercreek]

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Thanks Ninabeast! Your comments are true for all breeds, there is a huge difference in hatchery stock and SOP lines. You should see them live!! When people see mine they want to know what I feed them. They are huge and people think I have a secret feed formula. They won't believe that my birds are raised on Purina from the same place that they get their's! Of coarse, I waited 36 weeks for my first egg, and would not think of processing a rooster before 30 weeks, so there are some drawbacks. ...........stan

 

[CC1892]

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Thanks Ninabeast! Your comments are true for all breeds, there is a huge difference in hatchery stock and SOP lines. You should see them live!! When people see mine they want to know what I feed them. They are huge and people think I have a secret feed formula. They won't believe that my birds are raised on Purina from the same place that they get their's! Of coarse, I waited 36 weeks for my first egg, and would not think of processing a rooster before 30 weeks, so there are some drawbacks. ...........stan

They are spectacular birds.
... this is why I love the Heritage breeds, there is nothing better !
I can hardly wait till January to order my hatching eggs.

 

[jettgirl24]

They really are so impressive. It's sad because hatchery Barred Rocks are so common and really well bred heritage stock seem to be extremely rare. I took my hatchery birds to the fair this year for fun and to my shock one of my girls won best of breed! Don't get me wrong, I love her and she's a decent looking hatchery bird but best of breed? I discovered this thread just prior to the fair and that experience made me really want to start a flock of these birds. It makes me a bit sad that out of all of the BRs at that show, not one was a quality heritage BR from a breeder... There's something really wrong with that in my eyes and I can't wait to have a flock of these guys. I hope I can take a couple next year so people can see what this beautiful breed is really supposed to look like!

 

[CC1892]

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I think people just don't know the facts. They go to a farm store and pick up a few peeps and believe they are the real mccoy.
My guess is that hatchery birds are a stock product to satisfy the desire of raising hens for eggs, and as pets-satisfy a market. My bad experience happened when
I asked for Rhode Island Reds but received Production Reds. I knew the difference but it didn't matter to the clerk- she said they were all the same.
So I emailed the hatchery in Ohio- they had the same attitude. I love my birds, but my flock will eventually expand and be replaced.

It is sad, but there is a the market for hatchery birds. The Heritage Barred Rocks have a treasured history that is fascinating and fun to read, enjoy your new discovery!
I think its cute that your hatchery girl won best of breed - she must be a beauty.