Anyone show Barred Rocks?

[Pinenot]

Here are mine: Our roo in the back(his comb and waddles are really dry from the cold), then our hen and our roo baby. I couldn't get the baby girls. I will take pictures of the girls tomorrow. I was on what little juice I got off a quick charge, with my camera.

 

[Kanchii]

Pinenot you have some VERY nice barred rocks! Do you sell eggs by any chance?

 

[SloCrevs]

You mention # of points on the comb...Let me grab my chicken bible real quick....The American Standard of Perfection states that " Single Comb: A moderately thin, fleshy formation of smooth soft surface texture, firm attached from the beak along the top of skull with a strong base, the top portion showing five or six rather deep serrations or distinct points, the middle points being higher than the anterior or posterior, forming a semi-oval when viewed in profile. The comb always erect and much larger and thicker in male than female; may be lopped or erect in female, depending on breed. The comb is divided into three sections, the front or anterior, the middle, and that extending past the rear base of the skull, the posterior or blade(p.6)"

The description of a single comb in general

The specific description for that of a Male Plymouth Rock:
"Comb: Single, medium in size, set firmly on the head; thick at base, straight and upright, with five well defined and serrated points, those in front and rear shorter than those in the middle. Blade not conforming too closely to shape of head. (p.41)"

The female is essentially the same w/ the exception being "(see pg. 33 females in production(p.42)". Which, if you do not have a standard handy, pm me and I can always give you that definition as well!

I love my standard!

BTW...I'm using the 2001 hardcover, color edition for page references.

-Sarah

PS. I'm sure you already know this since you're breeding quality, but a standard will answer nearly any question you have on specific breed information. After all, at a show, that's what your bird is being compared to!

 

[kstaven]

Remember one thing folks. All those birds you have posted pics of have potential, if mated to the right partner bird. That is the real trick.

EG. Hens to dark. Breed back to a VERY light cock bird. One with thin black and well defined barring.

Most of the top birds in the shows are from hatches of hundreds of chicks and years of trial and error breeding. Even the odd SQ bird pops out of hatchery stock. Rarer than with a dedicated breeding program but it does happen.

Barred chickens have lost a LOT over the years. Look at really old poultry pictures and you will find their regular everyday Barred Rocks would equal most of our SQ birds today. We have a long way to go to reclaim what has been lost in many breeds of chicken. Not only in look but in true dual purpose characteristics that once existed in that SQ bird.

 

[tx_dane_mom]

I simply LOVE that I brought this up

So glad SO many ppl seem to care & know about this topic

Ok, so...with my guys, in particular, I do not want to breed a blurry bird, but I could start out with birds whose barring isn't perfect, as long as I breed 'opposites' or birds who are 'close.' More or less that compliment each other.
Just basically NO black and NO blurr.....is that right? Also, keep the number of points on the mature comb into consideration...and that number should be 5-6.
Is that all correct?
Kristi

 

[speckledhen]

Pretty much. The crisper and more even the barring, the better. No solid black or solid white on the bird and the correct number of comb points. There are so few SQ Barred Rocks in this country, but most people are so used to the Utility grade BRs, they really don't see them as the same bird, so to speak. I myself do not show birds and never will. I may some day get hatching eggs from a good breeder of quality BRs to improve the lines, but I also do not want to sacrifice egglaying ability, my primary reason for having them. Often, breed conformation is touted over egglaying ability, when you look to improve the lines and egg production is lost.

 

[DoctorGoose]

I learned from greyfields this summer that most poultry judges are really quite picky on the barring of BRs--anything less than straight and they are dubbed "cuckoo". That being said, apparently, bantam BRs have better barring than their standard counterparts. "Chevron" bars are not acceptable--here is a picture of a bantam BR at the WA state fair:

 

[speckledhen]

I did notice that, that the best ones are the bantams. I'd love to see more of it in LF, but as I said, I won't sacrifice my egglaying traits for show conformation. Sure would be nice to have both in the same bird, wouldn't it?

 

[Pinenot]

Production layers lay almost everyday...mine are laying everyother day at most. You do loose the egg production. We chose to use them for show and knew we wouldn't get eggs everyday. If you want them for eggs, get the ones from a hatchery. They are breed for that. If you show, search out the best looking.

All my BR are bantum.

Here are a couple of more pictures. Mine are not perfect by any means at all. They're as close to standard as I can get.

My hen that won reserve hen

Here is one of her baby girls

 

[speckledhen]

I don't do bantams, but I do want my Barred Rocks to at least be somewhat close to the standard; as close as possible without sacrificing the egglaying capability. They may never win a show, but I don't care about that. It's quite the tightrope walk, trying to have both, to any degree.