The Plymouth Rock Breeders thread

[Dahlisgrams]

Lookin' good, Fred.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Nice straight barring AND fast feathering......what a great combination! Fred, I think you've hit a home run with this hatch

Oh, how I wish we had faster feathering. Not so much on this one. This chick is now 5 and 1/2 weeks. You just cannot rush tight barring, it seems. We'll keep plugging away at it. One step at a time. I did get a fast feathering female out of this test batch. I want to wait to judge her until she's a bit more "put together"; kinda raggedy Ann right now. I'll wait on her coming out party.

 

[Wynette]

I don't feel like 5 1/2 weeks for what I see in the pic is slow at all, Fred. From what I've read, many breeds don't get their first hard feathers until a full 8, and this chick appears to be quite close!

 

[Fred's Hens]

You're right, Wyn. Everybody talks about how slow the Barred Rocks are to feather and it's true, they are. But, we have some Nelson Reds that set no speed record either. They are just as slow to feather in. Mind you, my chicks are brooded in very cool temps and fed 24% GameBird starter and still………..

 

[Dahlisgrams]

There are a few XW chicks here that are several weeks older than yours and they have a lot less feathers than that. Yours are definitely faster feathering than these. Are these that lag far behind the others generally considered culls?

I have a question about families. Both groups of birds that I'm growing out are technically from the same line. Some are from Fred's Hens and the others are from Jeremy. Is there any value in keeping the groups separate? Are they related enough that they should be grouped together for evaluation or can they be kept as two families to begin with?

 

[Yard full o' rocks]

You're right, Wyn. Everybody talks about how slow the Barred Rocks are to feather and it's true, they are. But, we have some Nelson Reds that set no speed record either. They are just as slow to feather in. Mind you, my chicks are brooded in very cool temps and fed 24% GameBird starter and still………..

Fred.....as the old Chiffon margarine commercial used to say "Its not NICE to fool Mother Nature"....

 

[Yard full o' rocks]

There are a few XW chicks here that are several weeks older than yours and they have a lot less feathers than that. Yours are definitely faster feathering than these. Are these that lag far behind the others generally considered culls?

I have a question about families. Both groups of birds that I'm growing out are technically from the same line. Some are from Fred's Hens and the others are from Jeremy. Is there any value in keeping the groups separate? Are they related enough that they should be grouped together for evaluation or can they be kept as two families to begin with?

Do you have them toe punched or somehow identified as to origin?? If so, I would think you could take the best K from one group and put him over the best pullets from the other group, and vice versa (since you truly have 2 family lines started)....toe punch the chicks accordingly to the pen # so you can keep up with which matings yielded you the best results.

Personally, I would go that route before chancing brother/sister matings, especially on a line that has been so tightly bred anyway

JMHO

 

[Fred's Hens]

If I had a bunch from Jeremy directly and a bunch from me, yes, I'd keep them separate. Yes, they are the "same" but not likely to be the "same". Just enough, slightly different breeding groups and that is a very good thing. They've been apart of almost 4 years now and that too is a good thing. They are accumulating slightly different gene emphasis, from a common parent, approximately 5 generations back.

There would be GREAT value in marking them as separate families.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Do you have them toe punched or somehow identified as to origin?? If so, I would think you could take the best K from one group and put him over the best pullets from the other group, and vice versa (since you truly have 2 family lines started)....toe punch the chicks accordingly to the pen # so you can keep up with which matings yielded you the best results.

Personally, I would go that route before chancing brother/sister matings, especially on a line that has been so tightly bred anyway

JMHO

Good points here. No no on chancing the brother sister mating. There's no need to do that.

 

[Dahlisgrams]

Quote: Yes. The Fred group are leg banded and once the XW group get a little more size they'll be banded as well. The cockerels from both groups are together in their own pen and at this stage there is no mistaking the groups even without the bands simply due to sheer size. The long term plan is to toe punch by pen and wing band the offspring at hatch and then use color coded leg bands to further differentiate the birds later on. I sense the need for a larger spreadsheet.. lol.