Is my Barred Rock Rooster "show quality"????

[hugapug]

Both of the birds are beautiful! My BR was a last minute companion for my surprise Silkie. The girl at the feed store said that she was an Ameracauna, then an EE. As her coloring came through, I saw a post from another BYC member with a picture of her BR and the light bulb went off. For a $3.75 bird, she is gorgeous and full of spunk. And she is so attached to that little Silkie. What a pair they make!

 

[mtnviewfarms]

I incubate and sell 'utility quality' ( decendants from my 'hatchery' BRs ) and present them as such to potential buyers of
my stock. I do 'selectively' breed my BRs for health and vigor, high rate of egg production, SOP qualities, etc. and do select the 'best' of my birds and mate them but they will never get close to a 'real' BR.

As Speckled Hen's gorgeous BR Rooster shows - there is a WORLD of difference between utility and show birds but
for many of us 'homesteaders' and 'backyard hobbyists' the utility BR works just fine and give many years of great 'chicken TV', tons of large brown eggs and lots of adorable little 'white fluffy butted' chicks.

I started with BRs and love them but have added Welsummers and Blue Wheaton Ameraucana/Easter Eggers to my flock and my 'new' favorite breed is the inquisitive, looks like and moves like an eagle - adorable and sweet yet able to stand up for themselves in a mixed flock - EE/Ameraucana Hybrids.

Josh - Even though your BR 'guy' isn't show quality he's a very handsome boy and looks very much like my Roos when
they were very young. Wait until he fills out and gets his full plumage - he will be awesome like my 'boys'. One of
my BRs looked so good he won a weekly photo contest on the Real Time Farms Blog - here is the link if you want to
see him - scroll down a few pictures http:// blog.realtimefarms.com/2011/12/16/aw-snaps-2/ His name was Rocky Roo. Unfortunately Rocky had to be 'retired' to freezer camp last Spring as he became overly aggressive with my husband and we didn't want to pass that trait on to the chicks we hatch and sell.

 

[speckledhen]

As I said, I love Barred Rocks, period, no matter if they are from old 50 year-pure heritage lines like Rex came out of, or my good older hens who came from McMurray and Ideal hatchery parents.


I think the original poster's young male is very handsome, show quality or not. My very first rooster was a McMurray hatchery Barred Rock, the late great Hawkeye. He was battle scarred and malnourished but a finer gentleman you could never meet. He set the bar high here for rooster temperament for all those who came after him.


Rex went to live with my friend, Scott, as his breeding rooster or I'd show some older pictures of him for you. I still have his hens, plus one of their daughters, so you can see the fine barring on the pullets as well. This is a "teenage" pullet, Dru, a couple of weeks ago at about 15 weeks old. She's approaching 18 weeks now:

 

[Fred's Hens]

The pure bred, heritage line birds are not about showing for me. I've no interest in such things. Again, we'll never "show" them, so they are not "show" birds to my mind, although they could be. My hatchery BR birds have been awesome layers, healthy and fine birds to own and keep. We've bred them too, selecting for size, health and production. I doubt we'd never give up our production Barred Rocks.

The purebred, heritage birds are very different in foraging skills and other wonderful traits!!! They go broody. That's almost a lost trait, for example, in production birds. But they are very, very slow to mature and feather out. Goodness, at 7 weeks, our birds were still almost naked, LOL.

Too soon for us to judge the egg laying rates of the pure bred line. I would expect nothing less than good laying, but never the great laying of a production BR.

 

[speckledhen]

These sure still have the broody trait, at least, Dru's mama, Dottie does. She's broody for the second time this year already.


At this point, my heritage hens are still just over a year old and they lay very well. My 4 & 5 year old utility BR hens are still laying a few eggs each week at their ages. They all forage like champs.

 

[MaineGigi]

All of these BR's are gorgeous! I just purchased 4 br chicks, they are about 2 weeks old. Can't wait til they get bigger! They are awesome to look at! Thanks for posting pics!
~Cathy

 

[Oregon Blues]

If you want to show Plymouth Rocks, of any color, competition is intense. At least in my area, entries of Rocks is high. It's pretty closely split between the barred and the white Rocks, although there are 7 color varieties of Rocks recognized to show. . If you want to win, you have to be showing a top quality bird.

On the other hand, if you want to take your hatchery bird to the fair for fun and don't count on winning anything, go for it. If you enjoy showing, you can always purchase a show quality bird. Compared to other hobbies, a show bird is awfully cheap.

 

[maddylosier]

Hello! Are my roosters show quality?! Thanks!!

 

[maddylosier]

Here's another one. Show quality? Thinking 4H sorry not a great pic.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Hello! Are my roosters show quality?! Thanks!!

Here's another one. Show quality? Thinking 4H

sorry not a great pic.

Neither bird is exhibition quality. The top bird is a mixed, barred bird. (not a Barred Rock) The bottom bird is also a mix with some Leghorn in that mix. His comb is crumpled. If the showing is just about handling, they'd be fine, but if the show includes judging of the birds as to representing a breed, they'd both be DQ'd.