Barred Rocks!!

[junebuggena]

Ordered 6 pullets at feed store at day old chicks. 6 weeks old now. This one has always made me wonder... ideas pullet or roo?

"Lighter" barring and a red comb already, mean that is a cockerel.

 

[Amelia Egghart]

So I just acquired these poor creatures and can't decide if they will get better looking or not: they came from a horrible hatchery who "overused them" and about a month ago didn't have much in the way of feathers. They still don't have tails and what is with the odd wing feathers? They also have bent over/crooked comb. I'm sure those won't straighten up but I'm hoping feathers will get better and they will fill out better. They are supposed to be 11 ish months old. Poor things, I just felt bad for them.

Overused at that young??? Oh dear, poor babies. great work taking them in, I'm sure they'll be great birds for you.

Which hatchery, if you don't mind saying?

Wing feathers take longer to replace and those don't look like they'll drop out until The Big Molt. If they were in tight, overcrowded conditions then you'll see damage/staining from that. With the right conditions, nutrition, good sleep and love, they should molt in a few months and you'll have a better idea then.

 

[elevatedruby]

Thats where we messed up then.we wanted to breed the best possible chicks we could as we want our daughter to have plenty of greats to show, then when it came time to cull, we have chicken to eat and sell along with all the eggs we collect. Making these mistakes is how we learn right?

 

[elevatedruby]

I meant they must throw any of the breed together. Like not picking the best looking and larger ones

 

[Amelia Egghart]

I meant they must throw any of the breed together. Like not picking the best looking and larger ones

That's exactly how hatcheries do it, unfortunately. You'd have better luck with breeders. These hatchery birds will give you eggs and companionship, but you don't know how closely related they are or anything about their lineage.

Luckily, BYC is full of people who have exactly what you need to know to get started! I am NOT one of those people, however sorry, zero breeding/culling/showing experience from me. But there's people on this forum and others who do have lots of those experiences! Best of luck!

 

[DesertChic]

well i was told by some more experienced people than I that they are barred rocks but heritage they are not. they have to be pure bred and supposedly at cackle they just throw hens with roosters and collect eggs. and i noticed my cockerel has very brights large bars too. i hope thats a good sign even though the hes faces look funny.

As a general rule, all hatchery birds will be mixed with something like White Leghorn to increase production, and will not qualify as heritage birds. If you every get a chance to see a true, pure heritage Barred Rock I guarantee you'll be impressed, and will most certainly see the difference. We have a local BR breeder with bloodlines that trace back to 1929 and her birds are GORGEOUS.

That said, my hatchery BR girls are some of my absolute favorites, are very heat tolerant to our AZ summers, and provide me with an abundance of eggs that seem too large to come from their little bodies. There's absolutely nothing wrong with a good hatchery bird for production, but if you want a heritage bird then you'll have to look beyond the hatcheries and find a good breeder.

 

[DesertChic]

Ordered 6 pullets at feed store at day old chicks. 6 weeks old now. This one has always made me wonder... ideas pullet or roo?

Definitely a cockerel.

 

[DesertChic]

Thats where we messed up then.we wanted to breed the best possible chicks we could as we want our daughter to have plenty of greats to show, then when it came time to cull, we have chicken to eat and sell along with all the eggs we collect. Making these mistakes is how we learn right?

If you're looking to breed for show, then I would strongly encourage you to at least purchase a copy of the Standards of Perfection (SOP) from the American Poultry Association (APA). It will tell you everything you need to work towards.

If you're starting with hatchery stock then you've definitely got your work cut out for you. At the very least you'll have to breed, hatch and cull very heavily...I'm talking hundreds of chicks per year just so you can select the best. To shorten the time required to get really good birds, you could introduce at least one good breeder quality bird into the flock, or even purchase a few chicks from a breeder. It all depends upon how much effort, expense and time you want to put into it.

 

[elevatedruby]

I have 13 BR hens for breeding and 9 RIR hens. I could buy a rooster or two from this guy I've been getting info from, and he does both breeds and they look magnificent compared to ours. Thank you for the help

 

[buzzkillkenzie]

Here is Fefe at 7 weeks...are we still thinking Pullet? I'm hoping so haha