Plymouth Rock thread!

[Wynette]

The Barred Rock is a composite bird. They aren't species. They are an invention of talented breeders. Always have been. Composite breeds aren't pure anything. The phenotype determines the breed. To get that phenotype, the genotype has to be true and breed true. Hope I said that close to right. LOL

Yup, yup! Stated correctly. At the risk of bringing up the Silver Penciled variety again, the same goes for that lovely variety, as well. We who have been breeding these varieties for many years see the influence of the others making up the composite as we go along. It's all very interesting and educational, to be sure.

ETA: those of you with CUSHIONS in your female PR - I had an e-mail conversation with a noted APA judge just yesterday; I'd let him know that I see so awfully many silver penciled rock females with cushions, and here is his advice on working out the cushion for those interested:

Cushions: This is what I refer to as the cochin influence and is related to the length of back. To correct this problem you will need to select for longer backs. Many varieties suffer from backs that are too short today. Again using your hand to measure, place it flat and at a right angle to the back, how many hand widths do you get before you reach the tail bone? Don't just do this on females do it on males as well. If you have short backed females your males will have them too.

 

[aoxa]

Fred, this is my choice male I mentioned I had under lock and key. Of course taking pictures inside VS outside is very tricky for me. It really doesn't do him justice. He is 3 weeks younger than the half naked one. That makes him 10 weeks here. He is of great size compared to his brothers. I like that.. I also like how his barring is very neat and lined up. I did take a couple better pictures of him. The flash really lightened the legs. They are a nice yellow.

Of course at this age it is just too early to tell full potential, but he is my frontrunner. I really like him.

His wings do not look great, but I find it takes the males a while to get their feathers in order. I think his shape is nice. Please tell me if I'm totally out of line.

 

[Fred's Hens]

You've got some really nice birds from which to choose. I like the female above as well. That little guy is sharp. No reason not to like him right now. But as you say, the males take forever to come into their adult form. Keep on liking him. The real pain with keeping Barred Rocks is this.

Having to wait on and feed and wait some more, and more feed for these cockerels before culling. It's hard on folks.

That's why people like the hatchery stuff. They mature in half the time. But, the rewards that come with keeping these Standard bred BR males is the joy of seeing a good one in his adult splendor. The culls are often large enough to have substantial meat on them. It certainly isn't a particularly cost effective meat bird, but they are tasty, if prepared correctly. A wonderful, old timey, real chicken taste that's out of this world. We've had some cleaned carcasses go as high as 6-7 lbs. Not bad. Just wish it hadn't taken 11 months of feed to get there. LOL

 

[aoxa]

You've got some really nice birds from which to choose. I like the female above as well. That little guy is sharp. No reason not to like him right now. But as you say, the males take forever to come into their adult form. Keep on liking him. The real pain with keeping Barred Rocks is this.

Having to wait on and feed and wait some more, and more feed for these cockerels before culling. It's hard on folks.

That's why people like the hatchery stuff. They mature in half the time. But, the rewards that come with keeping these Standard bred BR males is the joy of seeing a good one in his adult splendor. The culls are often large enough to have substantial meat on them. It certainly isn't a particularly cost effective meat bird, but they are tasty, if prepared correctly. A wonderful, old timey, real chicken taste that's out of this world. We've had some cleaned carcasses go as high as 6-7 lbs. Not bad. Just wish it hadn't taken 11 months of feed to get there. LOL

This is why it is so important to me that he is much bigger than his brothers. I know to fully figure out their quality is tough, but if there are some boys that aren't all that I can eat them sooner (if they don't sell).

It sure makes it easier to free range for cost. I really don't feed all that much to be honest. Not going to help much in the winter, but we do have a local food bank that donates all the extra produce (greens and such) so that will help with feed cost in the winter.

It's hard choosing the keepers.


but this is not going to be one of them lol. His barring is very nice on his chest though. Shame that he's taking so darn long. I don't want to have kids from him developing the same way, so he won't be used.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Justine, If I had 4 good looking, sharp, fast growing males, those would be left alone to finish. I'd spend the money on the feed, hoping to get a winner and 3 nice meals from the runner ups.

If I had some runts, naked birds, legs knock kneed or other sober, "ain't never gonna overcome" faults at 9 weeks? I would peddle them or otherwise cull them. No sense in feeding such a bird to maturity, as it just takes too, too long.

I throw in such males with a pullet purchase as lagniappe. Full disclosure included.

 

[aoxa]

Justine, If I had 4 good looking, sharp, fast growing males, those would be left alone to finish. I'd spend the money on the feed, hoping to get a winner and 3 nice meals from the runner ups.

If I had some runts, naked birds, legs knock kneed or other sober, "ain't never gonna overcome" faults at 9 weeks? I would peddle them or otherwise cull them. No sense in feeding such a bird to maturity, as it just takes too, too long.

I throw in such males with a pullet purchase as lagniappe. Full disclosure included.

Thanks for the advice

I will wait for him to get a little more cover before selling him with a pullet. He seems to be feathering in better the past week. But really he's sad looking lol

 

[Silver Rock]

To All the Plymouth Rock Breeders.

I do truly admire the progress of the Plymouth Rock breeders on this thread. As they have posted pictures and information on the progressions of the variety they breed. To see what they started with and what they have now is truly amazing. Keep up the good work!

Clayton Grace "Silver Rock"

 

[speckledhen]

Lots of famous lines of various breeds had an injection of something else needed for size, clarifying a color or pattern, leg color, etc, etc. It has been done and is still being done. However, the introduction of a whole new passel of genes into the BR line of Marven Stukel birds will mean some culling will the in order. It may take a few generations to crowd out the influence of the NH that is in your boy. If you keep going back to the Stukel line, eventually the portion of the offspring that has NH is ever decreasing.

The genes of the Stukel birds are stable. They been stabilized by generations of common line breeding. The offspring are very predictable. An injection of outside blood creates a very wide palette possibility of genetic connection. But, breed it back, breed it back, breed it back and the genetic options stabilize again.

Yes, if they look like the breed and breed true to the breed, then they ARE that breed.

And if I continue to breed Indy back to his mother and aunts and his progeny to him and the current hens and so forth, I am working to restabilze those genes again. I like this line very much for several reasons, not just their appearance. This is the way to have them as well as keep Isaac's progeny continued here in a small way.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Actually, The offspring that are males must also be taken back to pure hens. But, the reality is that the offspring would have to surpass their sire. There may indeed be one cockerel that is even better than Indy. In fact, you hope there is.
This is what you want to happen. Your hope is that mating Indy to the pure Stukel hen will produce such a cockerel. Then, you take that cockerel back to the older Stukel hens.

Indy will breed the very best of his daughters. Make sense?

 

[Fred's Hens]

Let's not get too far ahead. First, breed your boy back to his mom and aunts. Let's see what he throws. That process will take a year.