The Plymouth Rock Breeders thread

[juliechick]

Nice birds - both colors!

 

[PEI chicken]

Plenty of good stuff to see on your beautiful SP Rocks....namely, nice heads, yellow legs, body depth,tight wing carriage, good tail spread and overall balance/symmetry and type. Thanks for sharing

Thank you cbnovick for the comprehensive comments. I don't show my chickens, so it is great to get feedback on this website. Your buffs look really large for their age. Love that colour combination too. I chuckled when I saw the buff chicken with the ball. Do they kick it around? Kind regards, PEI Chicken

 

[cbnovick]

Thank you cbnovick for the comprehensive comments. I don't show my chickens, so it is great to get feedback on this website.

Your buffs look really large for their age. Love that colour combination too. I chuckled when I saw the buff chicken with the ball. Do they kick it around?

Kind regards,
PEI Chicken

Your SP Rocks are some of the nicest I've ever seen...truly.
That practice golf ball is one of the many 'artifacts' my 5 year old son's play time

...things can get strewn about at times of course...'chicken chasing' has also become a recent adventure of his...comes in handy when it's time for the birds to head for the coop of course. He has a large and realistic plastic T. Rex dinosaur that has given them 'cause for pause' when left outside near their grazing area. LOL He does 'help' me with chores alot though.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Hatched out four little Rockettes last night. LOL




This was some test matings. Last chance to figure some things out before making our pen assignments later this fall. Just snuck these in under the wire. They'll be 16 weeks on Christmas Day. They'll be just fine as winter sets in and should come into maturity in time to catch the end of the spring breeding season, should there be any of them make the cut.

1- pure GSBR/XW
3- F1 Crosses

 

[Fred's Hens]

Thought I'd post another photo, now that they're all awake and rowdy. LOL

 

[cbnovick]

Thought I'd post another photo, now that they're all awake and rowdy. LOL

Cuties...hardly anything matches a chick or duckling for cute factor.
It is always such a treat to have some chicks around...adore watching their antics and sleepy huddles...it does seem like every time I would go out to watch them, they'd wake up and start eating no matter the time of day or night...I would even sneak up on them--somehow they'd sense my presence and get activated once again. Have you noticed the same thing?
How many eggs did you set for this late hatch?
Gonna be interesting to watch these develop.

 

[Fred's Hens]

How many eggs did you set for this late hatch?
Gonna be interesting to watch these develop.

This was one final test mating. It isn't a new story, but we've had such difficulty with our GSBR hatching vigor. Over the past year, we'd tried just about every combination of male/female matchup, just to see if there were any combinations that "clicked". Sadly, no. We only put around 30 ringlet chicks on the ground this year. That number should have been twice or three times that.

I only set 4 of the GSBR/Maine line cross eggs and 3 out of 4 hatched out with vigor. Only one pure GSBR ringlet chick hatched out of 9 or 10 eggs set in spite of our best efforts. That chick is a bruiser, however.

This test mating did settle in my mind what we need to do this winter and that was the purpose of the trial.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Thought I'd update some photos of the F1 pullet I showed earlier. She's in a bit of an awkward stage at 14 weeks. Face is starting to redden up.

 

[Yard full o' rocks]

Thought I'd update some photos of the F1 pullet I showed earlier. She's in a bit of an awkward stage at 14 weeks. Face is starting to redden up.

WOW Fred.....I really like her length of back!!! Front end looks good too

 

[Fred's Hens]

She's changed so much and will continue to do so. I'm looking forward to her filling out in the tail and "being all that she can be" in a another couple months. She's got about 8 sisters who look like her, to varying degrees, some better actually. I'm only taking three of them through the winter.