Barred Rocks Good Shepard Poulty Ranch

[Jwhip]

dragonfly130 don't worry about the black feathers unless they are in the wing feathers. One than one black feather in the primaries and secondaries is a DQ. I would cull the lighter male especially if he has "feather issues". I usually keep one lighter male but you should get a few with the darker male. Use your best male and keep a 2nd best male as a backup and hatch a bunch.

 

[DMRippy]

Is it different in BR? In cuckoos you WANT the lightest colored roos..... the dark ones usually only have one copy of the barring gene.

 

[dragonfly130]

Thanks for all the responses.

I'm not sure how I'm gonna set up for breeding yet other than the dark roo is #1.
I'm sure I'll be back with more questions.

 

[desertmarcy]

Hoping people will give me feedback on my GS cockerels. These are 9 months old now. I have 6 and want to keep the best 2. "Could" keep 3. The others I am planning to butcher this Friday---two days away, so please tell me if I'm making the wrong choices soon! These are my first heritage BRs, so I am still learning what to look for. I will comment on what I like and don't like about them. I have more photos if people want a different angle. First the ones I like best:

No. 38, my favorite: He might have two twisted secondary wing feathers. I'm not very good at ascertaining that, and I would like to see his wing angle more horizontal. His tail looks better than some of my others and I understand this line has tail issues.






No. 42 is my next favorite. Do you think he is too round/short in body? I like his head, but he has a thumbprint comb on the right side. He is one of my bigger ones.





No. 43 I like, but his comb tilts to the left quite a bit, is it within acceptable limits? AND I was told his top line is more like a RIR, too level. But I have seen others post photos of their BRs that look like this, so question, is he acceptable? Also, his tail feathers are wider than No. 38, which I was told is a good thing.







I'll post the ones that I think should definitely meet the knife in the next post. Thanks for all your help!

 

[ashandvine]

DesertMarcy, you've been holding out! What a nice bird and nice set up I might add. I just got a pair of BR lol Nice to see a familiar face in a new thread for me.

 

[desertmarcy]

OK, here are my 3 BR cockerels that I think should be culled. Do you all agree these are not as good as the ones in my previous post? Also, the profile on some of my BRs looks like a V. Where is the rounded chest? Will they still fill out? They are already 9 months old. Thanks for helping.

First, No. 36. His tail is all weird. He always holds his wings funny, looks like he has split wing but he doesn't.







Here is No. 39. He is smaller than the others and looks to be to short front to back. Also has tail feathers going every which way.




And lastly, No. 41. His legs are not centered in his body--more front than back. I don't like his tail, either.

 

[Fred's Hens]

The longer you can wait out these cockerels, the better. They are extremely slow to mature. Deciding prematurely is sometimes unwise. Keep your choices and favorites in mind, but allow for a late bloomer. It happens. There is not a pressing need, in my view, for what it is worth, to make a hard and fast decision until they are blow out the candle on their first birthday cake.

 

[kathyinmo]

The longer you can wait out these cockerels, the better. They are extremely slow to mature. Deciding prematurely is sometimes unwise. Keep your choices and favorites in mind, but allow for a late bloomer. It happens. There is not a pressing need, in my view, for what it is worth, to make a hard and fast decision until they are blow out the candle on their first birthday cake.

I was about to post the same thing.

 

[desertmarcy]

DesertMarcy, you've been holding out! What a nice bird and nice set up I might add. I just got a pair of BR lol Nice to see a familiar face in a new thread for me.

Thanks, it takes me forever to get photos, download to computer and finally post here. Waiting until 2 days before I want to butcher to get feedback is probably not too smart! I sent photos to the breeder also, but haven't heard back yet. Also had a local guy who is an APA judge look at them for me and that helped a lot. But doesn't hurt to get more opinions.

 

[desertmarcy]

I was about to post the same thing.

So you don't see any there that you would cull now? I have buyers for the processed birds now. At $5/pound, that helps out with my feed a lot. If I wait until they are a year, I'm feeding and feeding and they are getting tougher. That is my thinking on culling out some now. I only have 6 pullets in my starter flock and will probably not use them all for breeders. Kathy, I am impressed by the tails on your GS BRs on previous photos you've posted. I was told that is a weak point in this line. How many did you get with nice tails versus not?