The Plymouth Rock Breeders thread

[Tumbleweed Farm]

This is my first year breeding towards SOP.This is my 8 mo. old male. Dennis

Are they Light Sussex or Delaware Dennis. Where did you get them?

 

[chicken pickin]

Are they Light Sussex or Delaware Dennis. Where did you get them?

I believe they are Columbian Rocks.

 

[SilverRockFarm]

I need to get the SOP, that's for sure....been dragging my feet on it.  Did manage to get my hands on the Call of the Hen recently and am over the moon about that!  Can't wait to start evaluating my laying hens with those specs and see how it all pans out. 

The Standard of Perfection is a must & has been in my hands & head before I can remember. I wore out my Dad's 1969 edition Standard of Perfection growing up. I now have that 1969 edition Standard plus the 1905, 1910, 1915, 1924, 1945, 1989 & 2010 editions. lol

Missed one, I have the 1966 edition also.

 

[denn1948]

Are they Light Sussex or Delaware Dennis. Where did you get them?

Columbian Plymouth Rocks

 

[denn1948]

Hatching eggs from Yard full of rocks.Scott Dennis

 

[Beekissed]

The Standard of Perfection is a must & has been in my hands & head before I can remember. I wore out my Dad's 1969 edition Standard of Perfection growing up. I now have that 1969 edition Standard plus the 1905, 1910, 1915, 1924, 1945, 1989 & 2010 editions. lol

Wow! Now, I'm going to ask a newbie question here...but does the standard change so often that they have to put out new editions of it each year or is it just the same material available for a new generation? If it has changed, can you tell us the biggest changes you see from your 1905 to your 2010 edition?

 

[Tumbleweed Farm]

Yup--I got some from Scott--hatched out about 6. I ended up giving them to my son as I had way too many breeds to be a successful breeder--down to one now--Barred Rocks. Scott's birds were fun--had them about 3 months.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Wow! Now, I'm going to ask a newbie question here...but does the standard change so often that they have to put out new editions of it each year or is it just the same material available for a new generation? If it has changed, can you tell us the biggest changes you see from your 1905 to your 2010 edition?

It doesn't.

The Standard for Plymouth Rocks, AND CORRECT ME, ANYONE, IF I MISSED SOMETHING, has only changed in two aspects in over a century.

1. First the tail angles on the Rocks shown in that 1909 poster shown above would be considered 5-10 degrees too high by the standard of today.

2. The barring percentage has also been re-defined and clarified as to black and white proportions.

3. There hasn't been a new variety of Plymouth Rock admitted in quite some time. (not sure there is a pressing need of any new varieties).

That's about it. The Standard for the Barred Rock has not changed, substantively in well over a century. The APA re-releases and updates the SOP because there are new printings. Also, and this is perhaps the major reason, that the varieties and new breeds accepted since the last printing are then included.

So, basically, the Standard of 10 or 20 years ago, should you find a used one somewhere, would be just fine for the Rock breed, but wouldn't include any recently admitted breeds, such as the Marans for example. Hope that helps.

 

[SilverRockFarm]

The text hasn't changed that much over the years. From 1905 to 2010 more breeds/varieties have been added into the Standard. The illustrations has changed over the years also, below are a few Silver Penciled Plymouth Rock examples.

Out of the 1910 American Standard of Perfection - 1910 illustration by I. W. Burgess

Out of the 1945 American Standard of Perfection - 1929 illustration by A. O. Schilling

Out of the 1989 & 2010 American Standard of Perfection - 1982 color illustration by Diane M. Jackey

 

[Fred's Hens]

Hey Dennis, nice to see your birds. Enjoy this 2015 breeding season. Hope to meet up with you during cooping in next year at Knoxville. Gonna try really hard to make a return trip again this year.

Take care of them and enjoy making a whole bunch more. Take care.