Blue Plymouth Rock...is he great quality?

[BlackHackle]

I need all you Plymouth Rock fanciers and breeders to come together and tell me how this guy is turning out. Blue Rocks are very hard to find and I want to be sure this guy is great before I go spend $400+ on getting him flown across the country in the fall. He will be use in my Blue Partridge Plymouth Rock project.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

At this age and poor lighting all I can tell is it's blue.

He needs to grow out more for any real evaluation. Tail hasn't even started yet. At this point I've two concerns- leg color and lack of lacing. Legs look really pale when they should be yellow and the brighter the yellow the better. A blue bird should have lacing. The wider the outer edge lace is and quantity of feathers laced the better.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Are you making Blue Partridge or Blue Silver? In that it's a project I'm unsure of the need for best quality. Might be easier to obtain a Blue Orpington that's not the fluffed out english type and use that to introduce blue to your other birds.

 

[BlackHackle]

At this age and poor lighting all I can tell is it's blue.

He needs to grow out more for any real evaluation. Tail hasn't even started yet. At this point I've two concerns- leg color and lack of lacing. Legs look really pale when they should be yellow and the brighter the yellow the better. A blue bird should have lacing. The wider the outer edge lace is and quantity of feathers laced the better.

Gotcha. Yea, I definately need more lacing in the blue to be able to get perfect Blue Partridge lacing from it. I agree with you on the leg color. I need a bird with bright yellow shanks to counteract the paler colored legs in my Partridge Rock hens

 

[BlackHackle]

Are you making Blue Partridge or Blue Silver? In that it's a project I'm unsure of the need for best quality. Might be easier to obtain a Blue Orpington that's not the fluffed out english type and use that to introduce blue to your other birds.

I am making Blue Partridge (which is just blue patterned partridge). I need the best quality because we are intending to get our variety of plymouth rock recognized in around 15 years of working on it

 

[Egghead_Jr]

The quality of Blue variety is lacking. Most of the fancier varieties of Plymouth Rock are in need of a lot of work. So much so it almost doesn't matter where you get the blue from. I think the Partridge is in more need of work than Silver Pencilled. If yellow legs are already a problem maybe using a blue Wyandotte that lacks Wyandotte body type. The Wyandotte have much better lacing than Orp. or Rock. Back when I had Blue Rocks we'd found a Blue "Orpington" that had yellow legs. Yeah, I know. So he was perfect to use. Lost that flock during my separation, only thing I regret about it.

 

[BlackHackle]

The quality of Blue variety is lacking. Most of the fancier varieties of Plymouth Rock are in need of a lot of work. So much so it almost doesn't matter where you get the blue from. I think the Partridge is in more need of work than Silver Pencilled. If yellow legs are already a problem maybe using a blue Wyandotte that lacks Wyandotte body type. The Wyandotte have much better lacing than Orp. or Rock. Back when I had Blue Rocks we'd found a Blue "Orpington" that had yellow legs. Yeah, I know. So he was perfect to use. Lost that flock during my separation, only thing I regret about it.

So using Blue Wyandottes will do the trick better. A lot of Wyandottes have the perfect yellow shanks. Besides, Wyandottes are probably the most related breed to rocks, they can almost be called Rose Combed Plymouth Rocks. Do you think adding in Blue Double Laced Barnevelder to the mix will improve the Partridge lacing after it gets mixed with blue wyandottes?

 

[BlackHackle]

Barnevelders also have incredibly yellow shanks

 

[Egghead_Jr]

True that. The only issue with Barny is they are smaller. It's almost like it would be easiest to start from scratch and make a Plymouth Rock. Use the large Blue Orp over a Blue Double Laced Barnevelder and pick the best Rock type to breed F2 generation.

Edit to add- I'd hold onto the Blue double laced Barny in case you need to back cross for the double lacing. Chance you'll catch it with F1 or F2 generation if the Orp is well laced.

Wyandotte were once very close to Plymouth Rock. They've since moved more round in profile and definitely have more fluff. But that was what I was hinting at. Find a Wyandotte with good lacing and bright yellow legs that doesn't meet the Wyandotte body type standard. You'd be getting a reject that is to your benefit.

 

[BlackHackle]

True that. The only issue with Barny is they are smaller. It's almost like it would be easiest to start from scratch and make a Plymouth Rock. Use the large Blue Orp over a Blue Double Laced Barnevelder and pick the best Rock type to breed F2 generation.

Yea, Bany's are pretty small compared to rocks...my rock hens weigh around 9 pounds and my barns weigh around 6ish. That actually sounds like a better idea to start from scratch. I got chicks lined up for both those breeds (barns and orps) with a breeder so I think I'll start at that and select the best rock type offspring