The Plymouth Rock Breeders thread

[uphilljill]

Thanks for sharing your eye, Fred. It was a good exercise to have them all out in pens next to each other for more direct comparisons.

 

[Fred's Hens]

You really have 2 nice males, Jill. Plus, you have a 3rd youngster who, when mature, may also be a terrific bird. You have two males that will taste good. Gold/Red leakage is highly discouraging and we rid our flocks of this aspect through relentless culling.

The super fluff on the thighs is also a very unattractive feature that we culled for heavily and rid our flock of it's preponderance, but it still shows now and then and we'll continue to be watched.

Short bodied males will make short bodied, dumpy, over fluffed and cushioned females. You have to own your own breeding and culling decisions, but I would certainly encourage you with the idea that you have some pretty darn good males, worthy of keeping around until February or March for final decisions on matings. Honestly? I'm seeing far better males than I expected. Good job and keep at it.

 

[Yard full o' rocks]

Jill

Fred has already given you the best advise. One thing to also watch on the cockerels is width. Be careful with any that narrow down beyond the hips. He should carry his width from shoulders to past the hips

 

[Fred's Hens]

Judging width through the tail is easy. Just stand over birds when they're eating. You'll see it. The Standard has always had the overhead view as a teaching drawing. The first 40 pages of the Standard remain some of the most invaluable reading to poultry enthusiasts. It's a pity that more folks seem to forget this resource is there.

 

[Yard full o' rocks]

Fred

That is freaky and hilarious. I was thinking of that exact pix of your whites as I typed that message!!

I DO see a lot of rock males ( and I've had some) that narrow at the hips. Tends to cause females with narrow or pinched tails

 

[Fred's Hens]

Longer is better, as long as the Standard is honored and we don't see that overly long Rocks. We're more used to seeing pinched tailed, stubby bodied and the dreaded cushioned backs. Yuk.

We also struggle with Rocks with hatched front ends too.

Focusing on those things, pinched tails, cushions, short bodies with excess fluff, and notched front ends. The Rock breeders curses and the starting place of getting to work.

 

[Fred's Hens]

I wanna go back to that female I got 5 years ago, from whence all these good looking females everybody have sprung. She was very long bodied, but her greatest attribute was tight feathering. She was a GSBR/XW female I got from Kathy Bonham.

We're on our 4 th generation of her daughters and they just keep rolling. Unless you mess up this line with bad breeding choices, there will be those nifty, tight feathered females hatched. I adore them. I would rather set 40 eggs over two months from one such, tight feathered female than fuss around with excess fluffy females in the breeding pens. Less is more. Less females in the pens, but more high quality feathered birds. That's almost always been my thought process whatever breed or variety I'm working with.

I guess B. Blosl put it this way. "Start small, go slow, and shoot down the middle". Great line and one to remember.

 

[speckledhen]

I am not really "breeding" much, per se, but I do have some quality stock so if I do reproduce them, I have to work with what I have here after Scott and I lost the original Stukel male to a snake- I was going to get hatching eggs back from him at some point, but of course, that plan tanked. What a bummer that was!

The hen I feel is probably my best Stukel BR hen, or at least, she's the largest, has finally finished her molt and gotten her weight back. Ida is the mother of my single factor barred male, Rex #2, who was sired by my Delaware rooster. That male is the head of the laying flock and has produced a double barred male with his aunt, Ida's sister, Wynette.

Big Ida, with her 1/2 Dellie son in the background (ignore the splash Rock hen). These Stukel hens will be 4 years old in April.



And in this photo, Wynette is on the right, the mother of the cockerel below, Atlas, the one I have to work with and when I am ready to hatch something, will be breeding back to Dottie and maybe her pure Stukel Rock daughter, Dru. Dottie is in there now.




Atlas, out of Rex #2 and Wynette. Back's a little short, tail a tad high, I feel, but he's huge and bulky, lots of daylight between the legs, regal head, super temperament (which I will not compromise on, no matter how "SOP" he is). Naturally, the barring is not up to par. I have his pure Stukel Rock aunt, Dottie, in with him and two of Dottie's daughters who were sired by Rex #2.

I may add Druscilla to his group, too, the hen who is Dottie's daughter with the original Stukel male (Rex #1), but not 100% sure yet since Rex #2 is already down to 8 hens. Maybe I could trade two Stukels out of Rex's group for the two pullets; this is all from a breeding "prescription" from Bob Blosl (thank you, Bob, we all miss you)

Bred back to Dottie, do you think I'll get better barred birds? I mean, this 31 week old cockerel is 1/4 Delaware and comes from a single barred male, so if he looks like this, I'd hope to get even better barred ones from him with the pure Stukel hens. His two half sisters truly ought to be in the laying flock, IMO, and the Stukels should be with him, but I'm not sure I can do that right now. I sort of hate to do it at the beginning of winter when I don't want to hatch chicks anyway. Ida may mop up the floor with him, LOL. She's a bit of a pitbull.









Dottie and one of her daughters with Rex #2. Dottie is still underweight from two back-to-back chick raising sessions-she raised Atlas and his half sisters, actually, and a second batch right away who are now 14 weeks old.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Taking Delaware back to BR is a three generation process. I would prefer, always prefer using a pure BR cockbird over the project female. That way, I have a strong double barring gene in the mix, as the pure BR male will carry that double barring gene.

It just all comes down to what one's goals are. Outcrossing in a BR breeding program is not that uncommon, but the cross of choice is usually the White Rock for the purposes of gaining size and tails on males. Working your group back to Barred Rock wouldn't be that difficult, but i would prefer a pure cockbird in this program. Putting that Delaware/BR hybrid male back over a tightly barred female Stukel might get you something of interest, Cyn. But again, it all depend on what your goals are.
Got nothing to lose by trying. The Stukel females aren't going to be around forever.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Getting ready for Knoxville. Gonna take this little and I mean little, pullet. The grandson is gonna show her in the juniors. Gotta get more of these setup and soon. Time is slipping away.. Sigh.