Plymouth Rock thread!

[Happy Chooks]

Took pictures today and I thought this picture of my hatchery BR came out neat. Thought I'd share.

 

[Yard full o' rocks]

Quote:
Very nice looking for a hatchery bird! Nice, almost vertical striping...looks like she has some pretty good size to her too!! That's a trait I understand has been lost in the breeding...size.

 

[Happy Chooks]

Yard full o' rocks :

Quote:
Very nice looking for a hatchery bird! Nice, almost vertical striping...looks like she has some pretty good size to her too!! That's a trait I understand has been lost in the breeding...size.

Size is definitely not lost on her!

She's much larger than my brahma. The only chicken I have that's larger than her is my welsummer rooster. Her barring is not as sharp and crisp as breeder stock, I hatched 2 BR's from breeder stock, but they were both cockerals.

I'm moving over to breeder quality birds, but these girls were my first chickens, so they stay.​

 

[HHandbasket]

This is my first time keeping chickens. My barred rock pullet has wrapped her little wings around my heart and stolen it. I put this on another thread a few days ago, but thought I'd also post it here.

She is the sweetest, friendliest little bird.

We're becoming fast friends. All the girls are rather spoiled prefer to be hand-fed their treats, as opposed to putting down a plate with a pile of cucumbers and melon rind and spinach greens from the garden or whatever it is that is the treat that day.

 

[Yard full o' rocks]

Quote:
Very nice looking for a hatchery bird! Nice, almost vertical striping...looks like she has some pretty good size to her too!! That's a trait I understand has been lost in the breeding...size.

Size is definitely not lost on her!

She's much larger than my brahma. The only chicken I have that's larger than her is my welsummer rooster. Her barring is not as sharp and crisp as breeder stock, I hatched 2 BR's from breeder stock, but they were both cockerals.

I'm moving over to breeder quality birds, but these girls were my first chickens, so they stay.

I'm doing the same. I have 18 Columbian Rocks, 16 Barred rocks and 1 White Rock "youngsters" all from SQ parents. I was AMAZED at the size of the eggs these chicks came from. I would say that these would be EXTRA LARGE or Jumbo eggs.

Also, the barred rocks from SQ breeders look sooooo different. Tightly striped, mine are probably at most 1/4" between the black and white bars. They are sooooo pretty compared to the ones I have owned before. Also noticed that the better bred birds carry a slow feathering gene and they look really funny as they grow up. I have some 12 week olds that STILL lack feathers down the center of their backs.

 

[HBuehler]

He's going to have a few less of those beautiful Columbian Rocks this weekend..they are moving in with my blue rocks(barred and buff also)

I've been wanting some of these from the first time I saw a picture of them

 

[Yard full o' rocks]

Hey y'all....just got off the phone with a professor at the Illinios University Dept of Poultry Science. I had sent an email message to the manufacturer of the chick starter I use concerning my recent loss of chicks due to coccin and they had him contact me.

Gonna pass along some quick info so that perhaps y'all will avoid what I didn't.

1. Cocci becomes immune to coccidiostats (like aprolium) that are in chick starter over a period of time. He said amprolium is one of the oldest coccidiostats and that many cocci strains have developed an immunity to it.
2. It CAN be spread by any number of things outdoors....NOT just from contact with the ground. (insects, wild birds, flies, dust, etc, etc)
3. Periods of warm, humid weather cause cocci to grow much more rapidly

He suggested to me that I "switch" starter products and thus coccidiostats every 2 years. The starter I have been using contains Amprolium. He suggested a switch to a product with Coban (monensin) for 2 years. He said several different manufacturers use it, some in their wild bird starter. After 2 years, he said to switch back to amprolium, etc, etc

Said to keep Corid (aprolium concentrate) on hand for emergency use, but to use for emergencies only when using Coban.

Hope this was short enough to be understandable....

 

[chicken boy sam]

Quote:
My chickens are spoiled that way too.......

 

[Happy Chooks]

Handbasket.....she's beautiful. My light brahma is my cuddle bug. My BR prefers to not be handled. Of course mine prefer to be hand fed, which I do with overgrown fruit out of my garden, but sometimes they get the bowl put down and have to "rough it".

I have 2 kids, not always the time for hand feeding for me.

HBuehler.......I'm jealous! They are beautiful birds.

Rocks......Thanks for the information.

 

[Yard full o' rocks]

Morning all!!

Wooooo Hoooooo......got my first Columbian Rock egg this morning. Kinda small, but very dark brown with a few "freckles". It was laid where the silkies typically lay, but definitely a different egg. DW has camera so I can't take a pix. Oh well....

I should be able to offer hatching eggs by late summer/early fall. My cockerels are a few weeks away from close to "mature", but I have 2 of them that are looking to be fantastic. Great size, almost perfect coloring. Their legs aren't as "golden yellow" as I would like, but it seems the ones with better leg color are smaller and no where near the feather coloring.

Everything I have read about the Columbian pattern on Rocks says that the male imprints the color pattern so it is best to select for color first, then size. The females are supposed to be the ones to imprint "type".

Get your 'bators cleaned up and ready!!!