The Plymouth Rock Breeders thread

[Fred's Hens]

In addition to the Standard of Perfection, The Plymouth Rock Standard and Breed Book is a must have, and is available for free download at https://archive.org/details/plymouthrockstan00amerrich

This. Read and re-read.

If I remember my statistics and permutations stuff from a lifetime ago in university, TF has two different males and two distinctly different females. This gives her Four distinctive breeding pens. If she hatches 24 chicks from each of the Four matings, does a good job with punching and record keeping, it would be fascinating to look at the outcome come late September.

 

[chicken pickin]

Funny thing is? I might well WANT to test mate her. I'd want to see what comes of it. There's nothing wrong with it, per se, and might, might, maybe, give you a better bird, especially if she throws some male chicks. Those young male chicks might pick up her lighter color and be stunning!!!

Just my mind whirring, that's all. hahahahah

Not to get anyone all confused, but there are male lines and females lines, ie, lines that produce better pullets and lines that produce showier males. My line is currently a pullet dominated line and I wouldn't mind working on a side project to make some showier males. She might be right at the top of my list, if I had an itch to make some flashy males.

It is very interesting to hear you say that within the Barred Rock lines there are male and female lines. Do many of you keep such lines, both male and female lines to work with as you move forward or only work within one line and concentrate on that one gender line only? I can imagine the time and space it might take to keep male and female lines.

This is a topic that has been recently discussed within the Cream Legbar threads, it has been mentioned many times now that Cream Legbar keepers/breeders(yes I know that Cream Legbar currently aren't an accepted breed

) may need to have both male and female lines to get good results in both genders, though we don't have enough records, information or consensus to confirm it either way just yet.

 

[Tumbleweed Farm]

Thus, if one is seeking a lighter, flashier male, that light pullet in question, might be worth a test mating. I wouldn't discard her, as was suggested by Tumbleweed Farms, simply because she is too light. She might, may, perhaps have some value to one's project, used in a specific way and a test mating might well reveal those possibilities. My response was merely to the statement that TF didn't want to use the light female. Given that she only has the two females, limiting oneself to the sole female seemed overly conservative in approach, depending on what one's goals were in hatching to begin with.

I'm keeping her Fred. I'll let you know how her breeding goes--her hopefully male and female chicks. When offspring are about 5-6 months old I should have a fair idea of how they look.

 

[Tumbleweed Farm]

Quote:
OK Emenheiser--thanks, I'll dowload it.

 

[NeilsHamburgs]

I printed the whole book at work a couple of years ago . Didn't cost me a dime to have a paper copy.

 

[Yard full o' rocks]

Ok...it's that time of year

Finished selecting breeders today based on goals for next year as well as by lineage

I selected 2 Ks and 6 females (2Hs/4Ps) to move forward with. I'll be using 3 breeding pens so to use all 6 matchups will take a bit of time. Hoping to start setting eggs next weekend

Happy New Year y'all

 

[DuckBoy]

my roo from weaver.

 

[Yard full o' rocks]

my roo from weaver.

Duckboy

That is a nice male for sure. If his tail will lift as it should he'll be a good one for sure.

Also, please keep in mind we try to use proper terminology here so he is most likely a "cockerel" but not a "roo"

Have a great day

 

[Fred's Hens]

I can pretty much tell you his breeding strain. He's a very nice cockerel. His front end is better than most and will only continue to improve. His back line is fine. Give him time to pick that tail up. An overhead shot of him eating off the ground is a great way to show his width from front to back. If you hatched him from eggs, what day was that? We also need to know a bird's age when presented for review.

 

[Beekissed]

Thinking of building a few on the cheap breeding pens this spring and browsing through band styles, wondering which is easier to use, lasts the longest, is more comfortable, etc.

What sort of bands do you all prefer to use and why? Do you have a certain system you use with the bands?