Plymouth Rock thread!

[Fred's Hens]

I hope everyone read my response with all the qualifiers I put in those paragraphs. LOL

Speckledhen is right. Your risk is low. It isn't as if you have a flock of birds and breeding flocks to concerned about. It doesn't matter how nice or how honest you perceive the sellers to be, keep your eyes open when you look at the flock. Look for signs of quality management and husbandry. Look at the birds and look for health and vigor. Look for clear eyes and general good health. Walk away if you see signs that concern you.

The reality is, as I stated earlier, that all the various diseases are in our world. They just are. We cannot dodge them all. We need resistance in our flocks, good care, good feed, good living conditions. I know flock keepers with whom I would never, ever exchange birds. I have a whole bunch of flock keepers that I work with and I know their flocks well. Some of them have my birds, Some of them get 100% of their birds from me and now, some assist in our breeding as partners. Yes, we exchange birds and I have no concerns. Hope that helps understand the balance in these matters. I hope you get a great Barred Rock or two or three. LOL

 

[Mr MKK FARMS]

Quote: Yeah she is. Thanks!

 

[PEI chicken]

Hey PEI

You and Wynette have the best Silver Penciled I've seen.  I've so much respect for you folks who are working with such challenging variety and do such fantastic work.

Am I right in thinking you have Barred Rocks?  I'd like to chat you up on PM if you wish, or right out here in public, if you wish.

I've got two strains.  The Reese/JWhip line and a small number of the Maine line.  

Fred

Hi Fred

Thank you for your kind comments. Raising silver pencilled plymouth rocks is a great hobby for me; I`m looking forward to retiring in a few years and may have more time to spend on them. Looking forward to have the time to go to a few shows and find other sppr breeders in Canada.

I just have the spprs and one easter egger hen, no barred rocks. Please don`t tempt me with your barred rocks. The buff and columbian and partridge rocks that I see on this site are beautiful too. I don`t have the winter accommodations to keep more poultry I will soon need to cull down to a reasonable amount for the winter. Probably 10-12 hens and two cocks will be the limit.

God has blessed me with my chickens. I love to watch them at every opportunity. It`s great to have a few minutes to spend looking through the forums on BYC too. I do this often.

Bye for now.

 

[Silver Rock]

Hi All
A few pictures of my Silver Penciled Plymouth Rocks at 3 1/2 months old.

 

[Mr MKK FARMS]

Beautiful!

 

[Yard full o' rocks]

Hi All
A few pictures of my Silver Penciled Plymouth Rocks at 3 1/2 months old.

K in second pix looks very nice!!!

 

[PEI chicken]

Hi Silver Rock

Thanks for posting pics of your spprs. The pullets' pencilling is developing beautifully. And look at those very yellow legs! I'm envious

 

[rancher hicks]

Rancher, since Kathy got these birds from Jeremy, I do believe, and Jeremy got them from Frank Reese, some of your concerns are to be expected. Frank, as I understand it, bred consistently with an eye toward meat.

To turn this strain toward another direction will simply take time. Selecting for quicker feathering (as quick feathering is normally associated with increased and improved egg laying) will eventually improve these things in the egg department. The Rock is certainly capable of going both directions as it is a quintessential dual purpose bird, but decades of breeding in one direction can and will take a toll upon the other direction. It's all about what you want out of your birds, I guess. We are (and will be) pushing the egg direction in our breeding as we are now in the second go round. We also want to select for vitality and vigor, something that keepers of this line need to keep a sharp eye, in my humble opinion, and I do mean humble opinion.

Well now I do understand that this line is just so so at laying, but that's okay with me. They are a fine size and my only concerned right now is fertility of the eggs I do get. I foolishly only kept the one roo. My hope is next spring he will kick in. I have seen him breed but not sure how well that went. I keep meaning to trim the skirts on these girls as they are heavy. Once I get another good roo to add to the flock I'll be a happy camper.

They do seem a strong line too. I breed all my birds for hardiness. I don't coddle nor keep weak/sick birds and I don't breed them. I've no time to deal with such things.

 

[aoxa]

Rock Chicks (Barred) are 4 weeks old, and the Silver Pencilled are 5 weeks.





PEI Chicken, the chicks are doing very well! Both of the Easter Eggers I hatched out of your eggs are girls, so I am happy about that One looks just like her mother.

 

[Yard full o' rocks]

Here are a few shots of one of my keeper cockerels showing width of back, head shot, leg color