Plymouth Rock thread!

[Turk Raphael]

Nervous today as I culled the last four cockerels to two. Nothing to do now but wait for the season and start hatching! Got it down to best two of two lines. Now it's one of each line. I know many bad things can happen crossing lines but the cock birds in one line have such size I have to try a test mating to see if anything good can come from it. Other line is much better overall and obviously continuing that.



Lost a pullet to racoon months ago and didn't have the heart to see if it was my prize girl. Checked today and she's still there so will be hatching every egg from this girl. Photo is back in October.

Oh, what heart break is brought upon us when we fall in love with our best birds and I know this from experience. I have a young hen that will have to be culled soon (this afternoon) due to an accident. Naturally she's one of my favorite gas and I could have accepted the help of a friend to handle the execution but alas, I'm just about off to do the deed...clearly it's my job to do but it will cause my tears to be shed.

I'm too old for this kind of sentiment but I suspect if I live another 75 years, my heart will never harden enough to make this sort of deed comfortable.

 

[GOTchickens1978]

Hi everyone-

I have 4 BR pullets about 28 weeks (from Cackle Hatchery if that's important). 3 of them started laying 2 weeks ago, cute medium sized eggs. Yesterday, I got 1 jumbo egg from 1 of them! My questions are: Is that common for 1 of the girls to not lay yet, when the other 3 laid within day of each other? Actually 2 of them started laying on the same day. Also, will the eggs get bigger in time? And if so, how long will it take for that to happen? We're up here in Michigan and for the last 5 days I got 3 eggs daily and only 2 yesterday. Do most people's BR's lay everyday or nearly everyday?

Thanks in advance. This is my first batch of chicks and I'll probably always have a BR. I think theyre pretty cool and hardy!

 

[kat salamon]

Barred rock rooster question. How loud do they get? I know each bird has its own personality. My city won't allow roosters. I hatched some eggs and got a rooster. I know some hens will crow if there is no rooster, so I am wondering how much more do the roosters crow? The city across the street allows them, so I am thinking maybe I can "hide" mine. Not a lot of cities allow them and many that do around here use them to cock fight so I am afraid to give him away. He is about 8 weeks and hasn't started to crow yet. Thoughts? Experiences? Thanks!

 

[Beekissed]

Barred rock rooster question. How loud do they get? I know each bird has its own personality. My city won't allow roosters. I hatched some eggs and got a rooster. I know some hens will crow if there is no rooster, so I am wondering how much more do the roosters crow? The city across the street allows them, so I am thinking maybe I can "hide" mine. Not a lot of cities allow them and many that do around here use them to cock fight so I am afraid to give him away. He is about 8 weeks and hasn't started to crow yet. Thoughts? Experiences? Thanks!

When he matures, it will be LOUD. He may not start to crow until 5-6 mo. of age.

 

[Ducktang]

Some,females hanging around the feeder.

 

[Kemical Fenix]

Hey fellow Rock lovers, I recently read an article(will post link below) that said White Rocks have an issue with their bodies growing to fast for their cardiovascular system & legs to keep up, causing "tip over" disease & short life span. Would like to know if anyone here has experienced these issues with their WR's? I don't have any but would like to get some. http://www.buzzle.com/articles/facts-about-the-plymouth-rock-chicken.html

 

[Kemical Fenix]

I'm also curious about the Blue Rocks, from all the pictures I've seen, they seem to have shorter stance & appear squattier/thicker. Was wondering if anyone knew what breed they were crossed with to get the blue gene?

 

[Ducktang]

Joe Emenheiser was working on blue rocks bout 5 years ago. Look him up. He also works with sheep, which may help find him.

 

[Turk Raphael]

Hey fellow Rock lovers, I recently read an article(will post link below) that said White Rocks have an issue with their bodies growing to fast for their cardiovascular system & legs to keep up, causing "tip over" disease & short life span. Would like to know if anyone here has experienced these issues with their WR's? I don't have any but would like to get some. http://www.buzzle.com/articles/facts-about-the-plymouth-rock-chicken.html

Very interesting read. I try to keep up on the White Rock because I have plans for them in my meat bird program. This is the first time I've ever heard of such.

In my reading (sorry, no links) I've come to believe the WRs have no real genetic factors in common with the other color phases. I'll dig through my files and try to find the information to that effect.

Aaron

 

[Beekissed]

Hey fellow Rock lovers, I recently read an article(will post link below) that said White Rocks have an issue with their bodies growing to fast for their cardiovascular system & legs to keep up, causing "tip over" disease & short life span. Would like to know if anyone here has experienced these issues with their WR's? I don't have any but would like to get some. http://www.buzzle.com/articles/facts-about-the-plymouth-rock-chicken.html

I'd say this is a case of a writer who knows absolutely nothing about their subject but are just writing anyway. I think they are confusing White Rocks with Cornish Rock cross birds...the bird they have in the picture in that article is NOT a Plymouth White Rock...if it is, someone has done some scary things to it. Looks like a CX to me and what they are describing is typical of the CX birds, but not even a little true about the Plymouth White Rock breed.

Standard White Plymouth Rocks don't grow too fast...on the contrary, they are more known for a slow growth and maturity....my cockerels don't even start crowing until around 7 mo., if that, and don't start putting on their true weight and size until MUCH older than that. Most of my pullets will come to POL at 6 mo. but some have reported theirs will not come to maturity until 7-8 mo. They have an amazingly slow metabolism, which is one reason I love this breed...they can get heavy and stay heavy on less feed than birds half their size, even while out free ranging all day. They burn fuel at a very efficient rate, which makes them feed thrifty as all get out, so even if it takes them longer to put on the size and weight than a CX, they eat soooooo much less feed to get there and are extremely hardy birds.

Articles like that make me want to pummel the author with a CX until she can know the difference between that bird and the Plymouth White Rock.