The Plymouth Rock Breeders thread

[chickenlver2013]

that's pretty good. is that of the number eggs set. And the is over all six of my varieties.

I would love to have all of the Plymouth Rock varieties to be honest, but you only find Barred Rocks where I live at. I'm going to First Monday tomorrow so hopefully there will be some other Rocks. Hopefully.

 

[dreamofglory]

I would love to have all of the Plymouth Rock varieties to be honest, but you only find Barred Rocks where I live at. I'm going to First Monday tomorrow so hopefully there will be some other Rocks. Hopefully.

where are you from

 

[DMRippy]

Quote: You are not too farm from Johnson City.... TNBearChick ( I think that is right) has Silver Penciled Rock and someone out that way has Partridge. Both are Horstman lines originally.

 

[Wynette]

Hey, Clay - so, you detailed your breeding pens, but gave no comment on what you're hoping to achieve in each. Would love to hear your plans!

My first hatch for the year didn't go well at all. I've been fiddling with a homemade (made from a lab incubator) cabinet-type incubator, and split the eggs between that and my trusted Brinsea tabletop model. Neither did very well at all. I think it might just be too early in the season! So, I'll wait a few weeks and try again.

My goals this year are to increase size. I'm sticking with this as my only goal, while secretly hoping that the size increase will help with other things, also, such as the dreaded cushion in the females.

 

[Silver Rock]

Hey, Clay - so, you detailed your breeding pens, but gave no comment on what you're hoping to achieve in each.  Would love to hear your plans!

My first hatch for the year didn't go well at all.  I've been fiddling with a homemade (made from a lab incubator) cabinet-type incubator, and split the eggs between that and my trusted Brinsea tabletop model.  Neither did very well at all.  I think it might just be too early in the season!  So, I'll wait a few weeks and try again.    My goals this year are to increase size.  I'm sticking with this as my only goal, while secretly hoping that the size increase will help with other things, also, such as the dreaded cushion in the females.

I am sorry Wynette, I thought I had. My plan is to improve Type in my Silver Penciled Plymouth Rocks.

Clayton Grace

 

[Silver Rock]

Hi Wynette, this being my second year breeding the Silver Penciled Plymouth Rocks I expect or at least hope to see small improvements in Type from the Silver Penciled Plymouth Rock breeding pens I have put together.

You going into your 8 th year "I think" breeding this variety can you please tell me what improvements I should expect in the first few years of breeding this variety. And can you please tell me what improvements you have made in your Silver Penciled Plymouth Rocks over the years.

I know we are working with different lines of the same Plymouth Rock variety and yearly improvements will most likely be different between our Silver Penciled Plymouth Rocks but I would still like your opinion on what I should expect.

Clayton Grace

 

[chickenlver2013]

You are not too farm from Johnson City.... TNBearChick ( I think that is right) has Silver Penciled Rock and someone out that way has Partridge.  Both are Horstman lines originally.

Any way to contact her?

 

[Yard full o' rocks]

I'm gonna jump in here on the topic of TYPE

First, Clayton, you are very wise to focus on TYPE first....without it, the named breed is not the breed

Having started off in a similar situation a few years back, type MUST be the first focus. Keep in mind that type is made up of many different components. If you look at the scale of points used for judging, all of the following would fall into the general category of "type"

Symmetry
Weight/size
Comb
Beak
Skull/face
Eyes
Wattles
Earlobes
Neck
Back
Tail
Wings
Breast
Body and fluff
Legs and toes

So, its hard to simply work on overall TYPE. So as to have a means of measurement, I took 2 areas where I saw the greatest faults in my birds, and established those as the areas of TYPE that I would improve first.

For example, year one for me was tightening the feather (too much Brahma influence) and ridding the legs/feet of stubs. I set up breedings pens to accomplish improving these 2 areas by selecting birds that carried the least amounts of the defect I was trying to correct. Then, the offspring were culled vigorously against these 2 criteria. Any toe stubs, any over fluffy feather.....got sold off.

Each year following, I selected a category or two to work on. I made notes of the faults of my breeding stock and set up pens to try to improve those specific areas with the offspring of the breeding pens.

So take small steps each year by identifying a specific area you want to improve. Wyn - your goal of SIZE is a great one. We know the SPRs are too small and you can measure your current birds, set up pens to breed the largest, then measure the resulting offspring over time. This is a very measurable improvement to type.

If we take the overall view and look at type it makes it difficult to measure success (or failure....I've had both) from year to year as there is far too much to look at.

Hope that makes some sense

 

[Wynette]

Hi Wynette, this being my second year breeding the Silver Penciled Plymouth Rocks I expect or at least hope to see small improvements in Type from the Silver Penciled Plymouth Rock breeding pens I have put together.

You going into your 8 th year "I think" breeding this variety can you please tell me what improvements I should expect in the first few years of breeding this variety. And can you please tell me what improvements you have made in your Silver Penciled Plymouth Rocks over the years.

I know we are working with different lines of the same Plymouth Rock variety and yearly improvements will most likely be different between our Silver Penciled Plymouth Rocks but I would still like your opinion on what I should expect.

Clayton Grace

Clay, you need to decide what's most important to you. This is always a tough decision - I've tried to base my goals on the things that weigh heaviest when birds are being judged at a show. I have several judges and longtime breeders that I consult with on questions like this, because I'm never quite sure just WHICH item is the msot important, which should be worked on in what order or if that matters, etc. Also, some things, when worked on and success is shown, fix other things as well, as previously noted.

You have several years under your belt of breeding to SOP in other breeds, so you can pull on that experience to look at your flock and make these types of decisions. Also, it depends on whether you plan to show, or are wanting to simply preserve this lovely variety, or if you are working on the production aspects of the heritage breed...thus, I can't really give any sort of recommendation to you in regard to what you ought to be working on, but I think you've mentioned some things previously that you'd like to work one, I think one being the cushion in the females.

In my starter flock, I only had a pair that I felt were even close to good enough to work with, and so my first 2 years were mostly about putting numbers on the ground. Looking back, I probably wouldn't have culled so heavily, as it slowed my progress down a bit, I think. The next couple of years, I worked my butt of trying to find another line that I thought would cross well into mine, but I was not successful. In the meantime, my birds were dwindling as they were getting older. So I began hatching off quite a bit again. Then, I happened upon the Canadian line - I have high hopes they will cross well into my line.

Over the years, I've worked to increase size, focusing on SOP type, and also on color/pattern and feather quality than anything. I'm stuck on the silver penciling, and to me, a hen that has crisp penciling, with pattern all the way around the front of her neck & up to her head is a lovely sight to see!

 

[Wynette]

I'm gonna jump in here on the topic of TYPE

First, Clayton, you are very wise to focus on TYPE first....without it, the named breed is not the breed

Having started off in a similar situation a few years back, type MUST be the first focus. Keep in mind that type is made up of many different components. If you look at the scale of points used for judging, all of the following would fall into the general category of "type"

Symmetry
Weight/size
Comb
Beak
Skull/face
Eyes
Wattles
Earlobes
Neck
Back
Tail
Wings
Breast
Body and fluff
Legs and toes

So, its hard to simply work on overall TYPE. So as to have a means of measurement, I took 2 areas where I saw the greatest faults in my birds, and established those as the areas of TYPE that I would improve first.

For example, year one for me was tightening the feather (too much Brahma influence) and ridding the legs/feet of stubs. I set up breedings pens to accomplish improving these 2 areas by selecting birds that carried the least amounts of the defect I was trying to correct. Then, the offspring were culled vigorously against these 2 criteria. Any toe stubs, any over fluffy feather.....got sold off.

Each year following, I selected a category or two to work on. I made notes of the faults of my breeding stock and set up pens to try to improve those specific areas with the offspring of the breeding pens.

So take small steps each year by identifying a specific area you want to improve. Wyn - your goal of SIZE is a great one. We know the SPRs are too small and you can measure your current birds, set up pens to breed the largest, then measure the resulting offspring over time. This is a very measurable improvement to type.

If we take the overall view and look at type it makes it difficult to measure success (or failure....I've had both) from year to year as there is far too much to look at.

Hope that makes some sense

Of course, Scott beat me to the punch. I swear, that guy types like 150 WAM or something. Also, his explanation is much better than mine!