Plymouth Rock thread!

[Steve234]

I got a Trio of Partridge Bantams they finally started to lay. My girlfriend posted them awhile ago. They are nice looking birds.

 

[Jessshan8]

I have a 5month barred roo who turned out to be a dwarf he stand about 7" tall and probably weighs a pound if that. Both his parents are full sized birds. Has anyone else experienced this? I will try to post a pick of him.

 

[speckledhen]

There are several types of dwarfism, all of which can happen spontaneously in any bloodline and never happen again or can be a pattern. I encountered the "good" kind in my hatchery BRs a few years ago. Steffpeck had one she hatched out of my Hawkeye she called Midge and he lived for several years before being taken by a predator with some others in her flock. He was just short legged with underdeveloped comb/wattles. There is a debilitating type I encountered in my Delaware lines, which affects the chicks differently with parrot beaks, short legs, Downs Syndrome-like appearance, crooked toes and a shortened lifespan.


Here is a thread about Midge: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/145882/meet-midgie-my-dwarf-barred-rock-roo

 

[r4eboxer]

I am looking for Plymoth Rocks to add as meat birds. I have 2 PR in my flock and they are bigger than most my other breeds. I don't want to do the typical CX due to many issues. So I am looking for a breeder of quality PR's.

Does anyone know of a breeder I can get chicks from? I don't have a bator. If I get a broody I could put eggs under her but right now I don't have one. I'm looking at getting some meat birds in April to raise up with my turkey poults.

I am also looking for Austrolorp, Turkens, and Delawares if you know of breeders for these as meat birds. I'd like to find a good bird for my meat production and want to see how these all compare by raising them up together.

TIA

 

[Jessshan8]

Here are the pics of my midget BR roo. My girls named him Chance.


Chance standing in an inch of snow.

Chance with one of his hatch mates a RIR pullet both are 5 months old.

 

[lucky123]

Are you sure chance is not a pullet?

 

[Jessshan8]

as sure as I can be BR's can be sexed by color when older males being far more gray than females due to the width of the gray/white barring vs black barring. him being a dwarf i do not expect him to develop any significant comb or waddle. The BR Roo in my avitar pick is his father.

 

[speckledhen]

I'm pretty sure Chance is a cockerel as well. They don't develop a normal comb/wattles if they're a dwarf and most that exhibit that trait seem to be the males.

 

[Jessshan8]

Whatever chance turns out to be one thing is for sure my girls have fallen in love with him and he will be with us for a long time ( hopefully, barring a premature death, I've read that they can have shorter lifespans due to complications in their deformity )

 

[RareBreedFancier]

I didn't know you could get dwarf chickens, very interesting to see him. I hope he's with you a long time too, he's a lucky boy to have a good home.