Plymouth Rock thread!

[Silver Rock]

Very much so.  I ended up keeping only two from my first hatch from PEI, a pair.  However, the pullet is EXTREMELY flighty.  So I may end up not using her.  I can't get pictures of her at all, she's afraid of everyone and everything, poor little gal.

The younger set I haven't gone through yet, and have decided I'll wait until spring to do so.  They are just now at about 19 weeks; I grow them slowly, so they're not huge...but I'm hoping that by spring, they'll really be in full bloom!  I'll be moving them to a new, larger pen (hopefully) this weekend, and will try to get some pics at that time.

Wynette,being that these are the only Canadian line SPPR chicks in the US "that I know of" I do hope you are able to get at least a few breeders out of them. I hate to hear that the pullet you hatched out of your first hatching may be of no use in your SPPR breeding. Can you please tell me how many eggs you successfully hatched out of your second hatching eggs from PEI Chickens.

 

[TNBEARCHICK]

TNBEARCHICK

If your SPRs are 9 1/2 months and not laying yet, you might need to add supplemental light or you may not get eggs until Spring when the days get longer

Are you free ranging TnBear? I agree they should be laying by now. Are you feeding a 20% protein feed? If so are you feeding extra things like scratch or goodies. If you are cut all that out and just feed the 20% layer only and lock them in the coop for a few days. If the have bright red combs they should be laying. I am thinking they are hiding the eggs on you.

They are in a chicken tractor with no supplemental light at all. We move the tracto 2-3 times a week. it is large(12 ft long and 5 ft wide at the base) even though I will be dividing them into to groups soon.

 

[Wynette]

Wynette,being that these are the only Canadian line SPPR chicks in the US "that I know of" I do hope you are able to get at least a few breeders out of them. I hate to hear that the pullet you hatched out of your first hatching may be of no use in your SPPR breeding. Can you please tell me how many eggs you successfully hatched out of your second hatching eggs from PEI Chickens.

Clayton, I don't have my records here in front of me (I'm at work), but I believe I have 8 pullets and 4 cockerels from that second hatch right now. I did lose two to Mareks, and one to a freak accident. So, I had hatched a total of 15, I believe, out of 24 eggs. I haven't counted that older pullet out yet, but the younger batch is more filled out & confident than she is, already. I think this poor pullet frets a lot, and is at the bottom of the pecking order. I do have two feeders in the pen she's in so that she doens't get run off from the feed, but there's only so much I can do. She's a cute little gal!

What I do see in them - and I am pleased as punch - is no cushions. On any of them. I'm thrilled about that, and hopefully my good fortune will continue with them. They really are lovely birds, and I will forever be indebted to Janet for allowing me to have them!

 

[Silver Rock]

Clayton, I don't have my records here in front of me (I'm at work), but I believe I have 8 pullets and 4 cockerels from that second hatch right now.  I did lose two to Mareks, and one to a freak accident.  So, I had hatched a total of 15, I believe, out of 24 eggs.  I haven't counted that older pullet out yet, but the younger batch is more filled out & confident than she is, already.  I think this poor pullet frets a lot, and is at the bottom of the pecking order.  I do have two feeders in the pen she's in so that she doens't get run off from the feed, but there's only so much I can do.  She's a cute little gal!

What I do see in them - and I am pleased as punch - is no cushions.  On any of them.  I'm thrilled about that, and hopefully my good fortune will continue with them.  They really are lovely birds, and I will forever be indebted to Janet for allowing me to have them!

Sounds great, looking forward to soon seeing a few pictures of them and then later more pictures of them as they completely fill out.

 

[Wynette]

Sounds great, looking forward to soon seeing a few pictures of them and then later more pictures of them as they completely fill out.

Thanks, me too! Having been breeding the SPR for close to 8 years now, it's VERY exciting for me to get a completely different line in, and watch them mature. I was worried that these may have been a line that came from the U.S., but I really do not think that could be since so many here have the cushion in the females, and none of the PEI birds do. That is even more exciting! I have all sorts of breeding matches down on paper at home. It will be an interesting couple of years and we move forward!

 

[cybercat]

They are in a chicken tractor with no supplemental light at all. We move the tracto 2-3 times a week. it is large(12 ft long and 5 ft wide at the base) even though I will be dividing them into to groups soon.

I am not supplementing light at all and mine are laying like crazy. I have increased feeding now too since ground is frozen. I am feeding a 22% layer with my own grain mix and shell corn. My second batch of pullets is just starting to lay now. I still have tow more batches to go before they are all laying.

So I would look into their feed for sure at this point. Unless the tractor is in the shade all the time light should not be an issue. Even then the feed will over ride that a bit. You could also have egg eaters and they will leave no evidence of it. Let's hope it is not that though.

 

[Silver Rock]

Thanks, me too!  Having been breeding the SPR for close to 8 years now, it's VERY exciting for me to get a completely different line in, and watch them mature.  I was worried that these may have been a line that came from the U.S., but I really do not think that could be since so many here have the cushion in the females, and none of the PEI birds do.  That is even more exciting!  I have all sorts of breeding matches down on paper at home.  It will be an interesting couple of years and we move forward!

Wynette,are you sure PEI Chickens has never had a problem with the cushion in her SPPRs. Janet is a very nice lady and has a very, very nice line of SPPRs. But to say her line has never had a cushion problem in my opinion is not correct. Here is a link to explain what I am getting at. "post # 172"
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/811228/the-plymouth-rock-breeders-thread/170#post_11809469

 

[BGMatt]

Wynette,are you sure PEI Chickens has never had a problem with the cushion in her SPPRs. Janet is a very nice lady and has a very, very nice line of SPPRs. But to say her line has never had a cushion problem in my opinion is not correct. Here is a link to explain what I am getting at. "post # 172"
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/811228/the-plymouth-rock-breeders-thread/170#post_11809469

Forgive me for just stepping in, but no line is perfect. If anyone ever tries to tell you they never have any faults in their line, do not walk, but RUN away as fast as you can. Due to the breeds used to develop the Silver Pencilled Plymouth Rock I'm fairly confident you will never totally eradicate the issue, however getting the majority of the birds hatched to not have a specific issue is doable. That's why we as breeders hatch a ton and cull hard. If we could totally eliminate a fault in a line, there'd soon be no reason ever to cull.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Wynette,are you sure PEI Chickens has never had a problem with the cushion in her SPPRs. Janet is a very nice lady and has a very, very nice line of SPPRs. But to say her line has never had a cushion problem in my opinion is not correct. Here is a link to explain what I am getting at. "post # 172"
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/811228/the-plymouth-rock-breeders-thread/170#post_11809469

Syntax in sentence structure is a funny thing. I read that merely as Wynette simply meaning the PEI juvies she has have not shown any cushion, that's all. She commented on another occasion, and on two posts above, that same thing. This is simply a hopeful, excited, positive statement about the juveniles she has, not a sweeping statement about the PEI line over-all. But as always, she can follow up tomorrow or whenever she gets back on line.

 

[Wynette]

Wynette,are you sure PEI Chickens has never had a problem with the cushion in her SPPRs. Janet is a very nice lady and has a very, very nice line of SPPRs. But to say her line has never had a cushion problem in my opinion is not correct. Here is a link to explain what I am getting at. "post # 172"
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/811228/the-plymouth-rock-breeders-thread/170#post_11809469

Clayton, I don't believe those to be cushions. These are immature pullets that haven't finished maturing into their toplines. A cushion in a female has a very distinct break in the back - see here:



Do you see the visual line in front of the cushion? It's as if the front part of the back, at th base of the neck, is flat, and then suddenly makes almost a right angle up and tends to look rounded out. I'm not good at describing, but hopefully you can see what I mean.

Here is a young pullet from my line (the hen above is not from my line) - she's not standing at a side view, but you can sort of see how her tail raises up. She was 18 weeks here, and hadn't finished maturing into her topline yet. By about 24 weeks, she didn't have this little hitch in her topline.