Plymouth Rock thread!

[CountryMom]

Justino,
Your Roast Beef looks like our Hickety Pickety. We love her to death. She is head Flock Mistress

But really in a gentle way. She is only mean to the up and coming roos....keeps them in line and makes them behave. I may get more of her just because she is so sweet and of course lays every day.

 

[CountryMom]

Cute pics HappyMtn. I have those colors in Orpingtons. They are so pretty!

 

[Justino]

Oh yeah Roast Beef definitely means business

She is the boss LOL

 

[cybercat]

Quote:
DuckTang I was actually refering to show birds not hatchery. I had friends years ago that showed and there Barrs were thicker back then not as narrow as they are now. It might have been a region thing but I did see some of that in other states too. I am not talking real big barring here just wider on the white and bars very defined. It just might have been that line of chickens I do not know but I do remember seeing it from more than one show breeder.

 

[cybercat]

Quote:
Thank You Ducktang I try to get this info out there. I work with ABLC and there web site is a dream for someone trying to improve there home flock that does not want to show. Most here on BYC fit that bill. I think with the economy the way it is more are getting into chickens and the Pylmouth Rocks have alot to offer. More so than alot of other breeds because they are so versitile. I can say for a fact I have known many people who bought BO only to sell or give them away and now have BRs instead or a mixed rock flock.

When I work our communtiy flock up North it was a mix of chickens. The ones that did best were the two rock mixes. That is why I bought them when I moved down here. I had worked with other breeds over the years just not them. Reason for that it was always someone else property we were working with chickens on so it was what they wanted. CSA are fun to be in and you learn alot about many things.

 

[Ducktang]

X2 on ALBC. I was involved with their Buckeye recovery and that is where I learned to become a breeder instead of a propagator. There assessment is great when trying to determine keepers. They compiled a bunch of info from those books I just cited in an earlier post to a form that is easily used on any breed. I just adapted it to Rocks. It helped to be a part of several of their classes where they taught the hands on approach and how to weigh the birds to determine rate of growth. Personally, I can't speak about other show birds, I don't do the circuit. I have noticed at the fair and what I see in poultry press and forums and personal emails that the type has been terrible. I think the barring is coming back around to the original birds. I am breeding my strain to these older birds. I feel like they are what the standard describes. Here are a few older photos I have:

Hen Feathers

Ralph Sturgeon ±mid1980's

Holterman Rocks 1920's

Sturgeon Hen 1947

EB Thompson Rooster 1920's

EB Thompson Rooster

EB Thompson Pen

This is my goal to have a flock that looks like these birds and performs with great fleshing and egg laying ability. Rock mixes are great for getting the hybrid vigor. Heck, that is the way the broiler industry today got started using Rocks. Today as it was in the past, Rocks are great birds and bring a lot to the table for versatility and ability. That is what they were originated for. I understand about working with birds on others property. If the customer doesn't like the way the bird looks or acts, then they will not care for it and allow it to reach its greatest potential. That is why there are so many breeds and colors. The issue I see is that with a dual purpose bird, especially a parti-colored one is you can only work on one issue at a time. Fix type and fleshing first, build the body get the structure correct. Then work on egg laying, while maintaining the body, then color it. If you get a flock of any breed that you are trying to fix, outcrossing and hatching enough to be able to select the best of the best is paramount. I hatched 200 from 2 trios to select hard enough to get to this point. Selection and culling is more important that mating and breeding my mentor once said.......

 

[halo]

Oh.....be still my heart....

 

[QuailHollow]

Beautiful birds, and a lot of great information. Thank you.

 

[TerriLaChicks]

WOW those are GORGEOUS!!!! Thank you so much for posting the pics, and esp. the links to the information!

 

[joletabey]

Even though I don't have rocks, I really enjoy this thread and am learning a lot! My neighbor had three hatchery rocks, but when I saw Speckledhen's,I was amazed. I remember thinking hers had much prettier barring, but had NO idea what it was all about. Thanks for all this info. . . .
*sigh* I NEED to stay off other breed threads. . . . . . I start WANTING them. Badly.