Heritage Large Fowl - Phase II

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chicken pickin said:
I have 4 Barred Plymouth Rock cockerels, nearly 7 months old, as options to use when moving forward. I started with 9 males, culled down to 4 and now hope to cull down to the top two. If there are any knowledgeable Plymouth Rock people here, I would love feedback and opinions on these males.

These 2 males are who I am currently planning on using

Male num19

700



And male num18. I didn't get many good pictures of him in a good profile stance or above shot etc. I can take better pics if anyone would like,




Click to expand...

I am far from qualified to give advice on this breed but I will be interested to see what those with profound knowledge of the breed has to say. I do personally like #19. lol
 
hellbender said:
I am far from qualified to give advice on this breed but I will be interested to see what those with profound knowledge of the breed has to say. I do personally like #19. lol
Click to expand...
19 has been my top pick all along, since he was about 10 or so weeks old he seemed to have the best shape to him, his body type I feel was better than all the other males I raised up. I am knew to Plymouth Rocks so Im just learning.

18 is being held on to moving forward because he is a pure line where as the other males, as well as my females, are of crossed (related) lines. The pure male may come in handy when going forward with my breeding plans. He is a nice looking male, he doesn't photograph well. He isn't as wide as I would like, but Im happy with him.

The other 2 males I have are nice as well but when I look at them I see more faults than I do in the 2 males above. So I am fairly certain of my choices, though it is helpful to get others view points, Im sure many of you see things in these males Im not noticing, so please point out faults and flaws etc.
 
As you probably know, I'm not a big fan of choosing birds by internet photos. You're gonna have to trust your own eyes. The only way to judge a bird is to see them in person, handle them, maybe have a licensed judge compare/contrast them not only against a top field of birds of the same breed/variety set up right next to each other, side by side. and judged against the objective written word of the Standard of Perfection for effective peer review. Your birds against the best in the land.

Which is exactly why we have poultry shows.

I would only say this. You have excellent birds. Since I likely bred their grandsires and grand dams, rest assured they have the "right stuff".

Keep 3 males. If you only keep two, the coons or Yotes will get 'em. Law of the universe, I guess. Breed them in rotation and keep ccpious notes. Toe punch the chicks and track them faithfully. In spite of which K you choose as your alpha, you might be surprised as to which one actually throws the best chicks. This is why we test breed and keep careful records.

If you don't want one of those males, you can always box him up and send him to me.

(a few little tips?) I don't like thigh fluff. Not a big fan. I love big, round breasts and wide hips/butts. I like a high stationed, wide stationed male. I love to see definition of thigh in a cockbird. I also like round heads and the proper points on a fault free comb. Ignore barring. Ignore barring, Ignore barring. Breed for conformation and type. Pick 'em up, Pickin' and handle them. The one that feels like a ton of bricks in your hands? That's a bird not to be ignored.

OK, lots to do. Gotta get birds and everything else ready for a long trip. Carry on.
 
They are good looking Rocks. You have good birds, but you know that.

I will second the reluctance to make judgments on these pictures. I would comment with qualification if there was some good profile shots. "In action" photos can be complimentary or they can be the opposite.

Good profile shots help concerning making comments.
 
Here's a couple of photos of the top 2 Barred Rock cockerels I took to the Tucson show this past weekend. They were both ones I liked, so I'm glad the judge concurred. They are both a mix of Good Shepard and Stukel lines, a mix I've been working on the past two years. Last year, something dug under my cockerel grow out pen and killed all but 3 out of 33. So I didn't have much to choose from. This year was to remedy that situation, so I raised up over 100, no easy feat with no free range. I've got 13 cockerels left and a few are pretty good. I still have to go through the pullets with a fine tooth comb. There's about 40 of those left and they are laying well, nice big eggs.
 
desertmarcy said:
Here's a couple of photos of the top 2 Barred Rock cockerels I took to the Tucson show this past weekend. They were both ones I liked, so I'm glad the judge concurred. They are both a mix of Good Shepard and Stukel lines, a mix I've been working on the past two years. Last year, something dug under my cockerel grow out pen and killed all but 3 out of 33. So I didn't have much to choose from. This year was to remedy that situation, so I raised up over 100, no easy feat with no free range. I've got 13 cockerels left and a few are pretty good. I still have to go through the pullets with a fine tooth comb. There's about 40 of those left and they are laying well, nice big eggs.
Click to expand...

Sorry to hear about your 30 bird loss .Very nice looking birds Marcy - Wish you would have had that kinda success with the Delawares too.
 

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