The Plymouth Rock Breeders thread

[aoxa]

I open the pophole every day, and NONE go out. I do see them poke their heads out on occasion, and look around...but they pull them right back in!

Mine will go out. They love to eat the snow. If it is packed down and not too chilly, they will hang out all around the barn.

I have some roosters in the baby barn, and their door is open every day regardless of weather. They are always out .

 

[colburg]

I see nothing glaringly wrong with any of these Ps.

I think (if they were mine), I'd run K2 over all 4 of these girls....give them a rest and then run K4 over all 4 of them as well. If you can, mate them individually and toe punch accordingly

I wouldn't worry too much about the relation between them

I concur. Good plan.

Thanks for the replies. Your "mentorship" has helped us with some of the confidence of getting this project started(with direction). Without y'alls help, we'd be flying blind.

Is this plan just avoiding a couple of faults in the K's, or is this improving something(working towards a goal)? If there's a goal, what is it?

While I can single mate and track them this year, next year won't be so easy. I would like to K.I.S.S. Is this mating plan going to help me keep the project simple in the future when I'm trying to hatch several hundred/yr?

BTW, the light is up and comes on at 5am. With the days getting longer, I don't think I'll have to adjust it at all this yr. Just wean em off of it later in the spring.

 

[Yard full o' rocks]

Thanks for the replies. Your "mentorship" has helped us with some of the confidence of getting this project started(with direction). Without y'alls help, we'd be flying blind.

Is this plan just avoiding a couple of faults in the K's, or is this improving something(working towards a goal)? If there's a goal, what is it?

While I can single mate and track them this year, next year won't be so easy. I would like to K.I.S.S. Is this mating plan going to help me keep the project simple in the future when I'm trying to hatch several hundred/yr?

BTW, the light is up and comes on at 5am. With the days getting longer, I don't think I'll have to adjust it at all this yr. Just wean em off of it later in the spring.

The plan as I outlined it will give you many options to choose from in 2014 for keepers. You'll need to toe punch by pen so you know where the offspring came from.

I think only you can establish the "goals" for the year as its difficult to do from pix. What do YOU see as a major area needing improvement? Size? Feather quality? Tails? Back length? Heads? Etc

Pick one, maybe two and let those areas be your compass for what you keep to breed with/to for the next season. To give you an example, I raised roughly 100 chicks last year. My breeding pens are made up of the following

The cockbird/sire of 2013 hatched chicks and 2 hens(mothers) from LAST season, 1 cockerel from 2013 hatch, 2 pullet from 2013 hatch (6 total birds), that's it. Only way to keep it simple

Hope that helps

 

[Yard full o' rocks]

Dodged the bullet here....had 3.5" of snow Tues, 1" of sleet/ice Wed and 8.3" of snow overnight.....and NO power failure. PRAISE GLORY

Just put hatch #2 into the hatcher....have 5 chicks due from 2 pens on Saturday (maybe they will hatch while I'm at the Newnan show, and I won't constantly watch the hatcher, LOL)

 

[Silver Rock]

Dodged the bullet here....had 3.5" of snow Tues, 1" of sleet/ice Wed and 8.3" of snow overnight.....and NO power failure.  PRAISE GLORY

Just put hatch #2 into the hatcher....have 5 chicks due from 2 pens on Saturday (maybe they will hatch while I'm at the Newnan show, and I won't constantly watch the hatcher, LOL)

I hear ya Scott, on hatch day I am a nervous wreck so I try my best to be out the house. I had planned to be at the Newnan show but unfortunately I won't be able to make it. Please let us know how the American class "Plymouth Rocks in particular" do at the show.

 

[Yard full o' rocks]

I hear ya Scott, on hatch day I am a nervous wreck so I try my best to be out the house. I had planned to be at the Newnan show but unfortunately I won't be able to make it. Please let us know how the American class "Plymouth Rocks in particular" do at the show.

Planning to meet up with a lot of folks....I'll take plenty of pix and will be in the tent housing the American class mostly

 

[beausonge]

I don't know but comparing the Partridge pullets to my SPPR pullet there is a big size difference. I had a partridge roo and he was good size. I didn't have any pullets for him but used him for a project that I HOPE will be complete this year. He gave me 2 generations before he died.

These pics are OLD. They are pinking up in their combs and should start laying anytime. The partridge now are just bigger than the SPPR.








This was my only roo. I got some hatching eggs from someone down your way.... I can't think of her user name on here.... Diana or something. Meet up with her at Newnan. She had Horstman birds and she had a judge tell her her birds were as good as he had seen. I was so sad when I found him dead. Glad I had been hatching all those pullets eggs. If not I would have had to have feed those girls for about a year before I could have started back up.




Wow! He was a really, really nice rooster!









Very nice birds. What a shame about your rooster. He was very nice. Do have any side pictures of these youngsters? Especially that cockerel standing behind the pullet in the last youngster photo?

 

[Silver Rock]

Planning to meet up with a lot of folks....I'll take plenty of pix and will be in the tent housing the American class mostly

That sounds great Scott, I see that Bob Gilbert will be one of the judges at the show. Mr Gilbert is a very nice gentleman with a great amount of knowledge on poultry and someone that I would really like to meet in person. If you get a chance to speak to Mr Gilbert ask him has he received any old poultry magazines here lately. A few months ago I was looking through some of my older poultry books & magazines and came across a 1960's Berry's Poultry Book catalog that had a picture of Robert "Bob" Gilbert in it. Well I am friends with Mr Gilbert on Facebook so I got in contact with him to confirm it was a picture of him. It turn out to be a picture of him when he was around 16 years old. After talking with him I decided the book should be in his hands, the next day I mailed it to him. A couple days later I got a very nice massage from him letting me know that the book had made it to him.

Clayton

 

[Fred's Hens]

Hello everyone.

Well drove down to KY Wednesday morning through horrid pre dawn temperatures in N. Ohio. −21 actual. 11 Birds in the back of my pickup, under a tonneau cover. Was I concerned? You bet.

Pulled them from the boxes and the body heat poured out the travel boxes and the birds were warm to the touch. Believe me, these birds create body heat.

Two days doing nothing but teaching, doing Show and Tells to young folks and few older would be breeders as well. Good times. Two days of doing nothing but picking up birds, critiquing birds, choosing freezer candidates, and handling some spectacular birds, "grand daughters" and "grandsons" of birds I gave some folks 2 or 3 years ago. They've done a super job. Left all my birds in the care of a 17 year young man in breeding pens.

Now, my Valentine of 42 years and I are off to New Orleans for a week's vacation. Behave yourselves and keep teaching, sharing, dreaming and braggin' on these marvelous Rocks. Check with you all later.

Fred

 

[DMRippy]

Hello everyone.

Well drove down to KY Wednesday morning through horrid pre dawn temperatures in N. Ohio. −21 actual. 11 Birds in the back of my pickup, under a tonneau cover. Was I concerned? You bet.

Pulled them from the boxes and the body heat poured out the travel boxes and the birds were warm to the touch. Believe me, these birds create body heat.

Two days doing nothing but teaching, doing Show and Tells to young folks and few older would be breeders as well. Good times. Two days of doing nothing but picking up birds, critiquing birds, choosing freezer candidates, and handling some spectacular birds, "grand daughters" and "grandsons" of birds I gave some folks 2 or 3 years ago. They've done a super job. Left all my birds in the care of a 17 year young man in breeding pens.

Now, my Valentine of 42 years and I are off to New Orleans for a week's vacation. Behave yourselves and keep teaching, sharing, dreaming and braggin' on these marvelous Rocks. Check with you all later.

Fred

Have a good trip! You know it snowed down here right???? LOL