Plymouth Rock thread!

[kathyinmo]

Why would my hatchlings beaks be red? Just not good genes?

Did they come from a hatchery or a breeder?

 

[ChickenLeg]

Hatchery lol I wasnt worried in quality as much for my barred rocks since I'm going to use most of them for meat!

 

[kathyinmo]

Hatchery lol I wasnt worried in quality as much for my barred rocks since I'm going to use most of them for meat!

Well, often times, hatcheries add other breeds into their mix. That may be the reason you are seeing this. Just a guess on my part.

 

[catdaddyfro]

Why do barred rock chicks have such red beaks? Are they just as red when they are adults?

If you're referring to the one in that previous picture its just a bad photo looks like a cell phone photo but no BRs are supposed to have yellow beaks they may look a little orange-ish as do the feet when first hatched but should turn win a short amount of time.

Jeff

 

[ChickenLeg]

Oh no I was talking about my baby chicks! I just got 6 barred rocks last week!

If you're referring to the one in that previous picture its just a bad photo looks like a cell phone photo but no BRs are supposed to have yellow beaks they may look a little orange-ish as do the feet when first hatched but should turn win a short amount of time.

Jeff

Yeah I was thinking something like that must of happened, I know they usually dont breed for SOP but I'm sure they'll taste just as good

Well, often times, hatcheries add other breeds into their mix. That may be the reason you are seeing this. Just a guess on my part.

 

[Hennypen]

Excuse me if I have already posted this picture. I was going through iphone photos and found this one today. It was taken about a month ago.

This is my Blue Colombian Plymouth Rock. I hatched the egg purchased from "Yard full o' rocks" so I can't take credit for the breeding.

I think she's a very pretty girl but I still can't for the life of me figure out the color. The parents were both black colombian rocks. So is it a sport of a White Rock who carried a recessive blue from a few generations back or is it some sort of dilute mutation? (or is that the same as a sport?) Is Blue Colombian rock the right term? (her tail is still growing out but the feathers are a gorgeous blue color)

 

[tadkerson]

You can do test mating with the bird to determine the genetics behind the diluted hackles. If you purchased the bird from a breeder and the breeder never has produced a coronation/blue columbian then it could be a sport. Test breeding will help determine the genotype of the bird.

Cross the diluted columbian female with a columbian male= F1

Then do an F1 cross ( a sibling cross) = F2

You will have to hatch 20 or more chicks each time and keep track of the number of diluted columbian and standard columbian offspring that are produced in each cross.

This will give you information concerning the nature of the gene; dominant, recessive or incompletely dominant

you would also want to cross the diluted female with a blue male = if the dilution is due to blue then you will get the ratios associated with blue in the offspring = 1 black: 2 blue: 1 splash

cross the diluted female to a lavender male = all diluted then it is lavender, if half are diluted and half are black it could be blue

Tim

 

[3LilBirds]

My new babies. So excited I had to share! I went to the feed store just for pine shavings. The guy mentioned he had sexed pullets. Oooh really??? So I had to get 3. LOL

 

[halo]

I need to post some updates for speckled hen from the chicks I hatched from her eggs. These are her babies by Rex and his girls. There's 2 batches here, about 2 weeks apart. Seems quite a difference in size as they are growing. Maybe some are just slower in growing than the others. It will be interesting to see if they all end up the same size.

Cyn, I think I see a baby boy!

 

[speckledhen]

Kathy, those last two small ones look male and the one before those is a very pretty pullet. It always amazes me how awkward these appear as little babies and how gorgeous they turn out in the end. These are definitely harder to sex than hatchery Rocks!! The pullets are lighter and the males can seem darker for awhile than what we were used to in the past.