The Plymouth Rock Breeders thread

[desertmarcy]

Anybody interested in Buff Rocks? I am hatching chicks for sale, here is the link to the ad
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...rocks-barred-and-buff-rhode-island-red-marans

Also hatching extra Good Shepard line Barred Rocks. I am going to concentrate on the cross I posted above this year for myself.




Pullet number 73:



Pullet number 74:

 

[Lacy Blues]

I have two more I want to introduce, but they were with a Good Shepard cockerel. Their 8 eggs laid 3/3-3/9 were all infertile, but 7 eggs laid 3/10-3/16, one was fertile.

I'd be checking him for lice/mites... everywhere. One year I had a cockerel that kept going down hill. I'd checked him for bugs many times and just could not figure it out. Come to find out, they weren't concentrated at his vent at all, they were at his crop area and it was bad. He had started to smell awful. Got that taken care of and he was fine but it taught me to check their whole body instead of just the vent area.

 

[desertmarcy]

I'd be checking him for lice/mites... everywhere. One year I had a cockerel that kept going down hill. I'd checked him for bugs many times and just could not figure it out. Come to find out, they weren't concentrated at his vent at all, they were at his crop area and it was bad. He had started to smell awful. Got that taken care of and he was fine but it taught me to check their whole body instead of just the vent area.

Good point. He has been Sevin dusted but sure doesn't hurt to look him over good and redo the dusting.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Here's the new cockerel I got from Jamie D. to cross over my Good Shepard Barreds. I just have him in with two pullets right now. I have two more I want to introduce, but they were with a Good Shepard cockerel. Their 8 eggs laid 3/3-3/9 were all infertile, but 7 eggs laid 3/10-3/16, one was fertile. Do you think it safe to go ahead and put them in with him? I want to make sure any chicks are from this cross so I don't have any confusion, but I don't want to wait too long to hatch, either. Maybe set one more batch and check fertility again?

In the meantime, I took the other Good Shepard cockerel out from my hen pen, 4 of my original hens. I am still collecting their eggs and will wait until fertility is zero before I breed the new one to them. Last year, that took 3 weeks.

Hi DessertMarcy, I know that was a tough decision to make and a large financial investment to make in shipping that K out to AZ from the east coast, but personally? I applaud your courageous decision and believe it was a quality decision. You were already in deep with the time, effort and investment in your Barred Rocks and didn't want to miss this breeding season. Congratulations. The young fella will hopefully do the job for you and you ought to see a genuine jump in all aspects of breeding and hatching vigor.

 

[desertmarcy]

Hi DessertMarcy, I know that was a tough decision to make and a large financial investment to make in shipping that K out to AZ from the east coast, but personally? I applaud your courageous decision and believe it was a quality decision. You were already in deep with the time, effort and investment in your Barred Rocks and didn't want to miss this breeding season. Congratulations. The young fella will hopefully do the job for you and you ought to see a genuine jump in all aspects of breeding and hatching vigor.

OMG, Fred, I called Gene last night to tell him I got this new male because he said he was going to be on the lookout for me. I had not heard back for some time, so I figured Marvin had already disposed of all his extras. So he says, I'm bringing one out to you tomorrow! If you don't like him, he says, you can eat him. He should be here in a half hour or so with the bird. This is one from Marvin Stukel's line, so now I will have 2 different outcrosses to work with and suddenly am feeling extremely overwhelmed.

 

[Fred's Hens]

I wouldn't be overwhelmed. I'd just smile broadly. Having two males working sure beats having none.

Take some time to watch them and see what's what with each of them. It is going to take a bit of record keeping, but I know you're up to it. Rotate them over the females and mark the offspring and see which you prefer. Then, eat one of them for New Year's Day. hahahahaha

(It will take that long to decide on the offspring, of course.)

 

[Lacy Blues]

OMG, Fred, I called Gene last night to tell him I got this new male because he said he was going to be on the lookout for me. I had not heard back for some time, so I figured Marvin had already disposed of all his extras. So he says, I'm bringing one out to you tomorrow! If you don't like him, he says, you can eat him. He should be here in a half hour or so with the bird. This is one from Marvin Stukel's line, so now I will have 2 different outcrosses to work with and suddenly am feeling extremely overwhelmed.

That is excellent news! I hope the best to you on that venture!

 

[desertmarcy]

Thanks. I just got done with the birds, came in to eat lunch. The Stukel male Gene brought over is a nicer bird than the other one, but who knows which one will niche better in the matings to the Good Shepard line, so yes I plan to use both and keep good records. I am glad I bought those wing bands last year, I am going to need them

The other thing is, I need to cut down on the number of breeds I am working with if I am going to do justice to this project. I think the Buff Rocks are the first to go, they need more work than I can put into them. I have 2 pair, both came directly from Tom Roebuck via Cindy Novick. She gave me the best of the ones she hatched out. I recently posted photos of the trio I am breeding. I also have chicks hatched out and some eggs still in the incubator. If no one wants them, I may just cut the incubation short on those

I'll get an ad up for these, but in the meantime, if anybody is interested in the adults, started chicks or newborn chicks, PM me.

 

[dreamofglory]

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[/IMG][/IMG][/IMG][/IMG]. Thought I would share some pic from the show today the barred bantam was champion bantam?

 

[dreamofglory]