Barred Rocks!!

[junebuggena]

Thank you for your response, that's fascinating. You don't happen to know where I could find any photos of female chicks hatched from a silver penciled over barred pairing do you. I have a beautiful silver pencilled rock cockerel and I'm considering having a little fun just for our laying pen .., until I find a nice bloodline or 2 and get him some unrelated pullets in a year or 2

I would love to see what they would look like I have a hard time picturing them for some reason. I love that someone knew the answer to my question by the way!!

Not the exact same cross, but similar. A bantam Barred Rock hen and a Silver Duckwing OEGB.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/946253/strange-cross-im-stumped/10

 

[DesertChic]

This is Baby, my sweet little BR hen whose personality is unbelievably loveable. As you can
see, she lost an eye as a chick, but she gets around just fine without it. In fact, it adds
to her charm that much more. I sure do adore my Baby!


Petra probably could be classified as a turkey, she's so large. This girl demands that I put
her up on the roost every single night before bed, and now it's become a ritual. What a spoiled
but sweet and amazing chicken. Both hens are strangely fond of biting me for attention; if they're
"talking" to me, and they feel I'm not listening intently enough, I have an ouchy red mark on an arm,
leg, or foot as a consequence. By far one of my favorite breeds of all time, and one I will never be
without.

-Alexandra33

Such pretty ladies! That biting for attention is a reinforced behavior. I realized that when one of my Bielefelders would bite me when he wanted me to pick him up. When I started ignoring him instead, and only picked him up when he stood quietly near me, the behavior pretty much ceased. It took a while to retrain him, but it was worth the effort.

BRs really are a wonderful breed. Before having to cull my BR rooster for being way too human aggressive, I bred him with my BR females, my Australorps and even my little Buff Silkie. The resulting offspring have been wonderful and incredibly affectionate. The girls are still much, much friendlier than the boys, but my one pure BR offspring is a cockerel and he's already magnificent at just 10 weeks old, and he's much sweeter and friendlier than his father was. I'm really hoping I can keep him around for future breeding projects and that he doesn't turn aggressive like his daddy did.

 

[calliescluckers]

Hens or roos?

 

[bpmcwill]

3
3 of my 6 hens.

This one is always looking for a handout. The last few days she has been playing in the nesting boxes. They are 21 weeks now. They are production hatchery birds, but I think they are still pretty.

 

[DesertChic]

3
3 of my 6 hens.

This one is always looking for a handout. The last few days she has been playing in the nesting boxes. They are 21 weeks now. They are production hatchery birds, but I think they are still pretty.

Nothing wrong with hatchery birds. My favorite BR girl is my best layer. Not only was she the first one to start laying at just 18 weeks, but her eggs are jumbo in size and she lays 6 out of 7 days. Oh....and her progeny are gorgeous! She and the hatchery BR cockerel that mated with her produced a BR cockerel that's even more beautiful than his father was and a thousand times sweeter.

 

[thumper362]

Hi everyone, I have a random question. Have any of you ever had a barred rock hen that didn't lay EVER? She is about 14 months old now, she is my only BR. She does squat like she is ready to lay, and I found her sitting in the nest last week, but we have never got an egg from her. Any ideas as to what her problem might be?

 

[DesertChic]

Hi everyone, I have a random question. Have any of you ever had a barred rock hen that didn't lay EVER? She is about 14 months old now, she is my only BR. She does squat like she is ready to lay, and I found her sitting in the nest last week, but we have never got an egg from her. Any ideas as to what her problem might be?

You're sure she hasn't laid any eggs someplace other than the nesting box?

Some chickens just aren't good layers. The book "The Call of the Hen" details this fact pretty explicitly and even offers explanations about how examination of the skeletal frame can help someone select a good layer vs a poor layer. If you've never read the book, here's a link to a free, online copy: http://www.archive.org/stream/callhenscience00hogarich#page/n3/mode/2up

 

[thumper362]

You're sure she hasn't laid any eggs someplace other than the nesting box? 

Some chickens just aren't good layers. The book "The Call of the Hen" details this fact pretty explicitly and even offers explanations about how examination of the skeletal frame can help someone select a good layer vs a poor layer. If you've never read the book, here's a link to a free, online copy: http://www.archive.org/stream/callhenscience00hogarich#page/n3/mode/2up

They are in a run all the time due to predators, so if she was laying we would know.

 

[Banaynaychicken]

This is my Pullet, Pollito. She is my favorite chicken. shh don't tell the other chickens!

 

[Banaynaychicken]

So, I need to start paying my parents back for buying my chickens, their coop, and feed, which equals up to about $700, and I think a good way to start on that is selling eggs, and once i can breed my chickens, baby chickens. I have a problem though, i don't want to rush into something a breed my chicken too soon. Could anyone give me an approximate time after my hen starts laying to breed her to a Roo? and would the time vary per breed of chicken> Ive got silkies and a Gold Laced Wynadotte as well, and they would probably sell better at the farmers market that the barred rock chicks, though they are all cute as babies just the same.