The Plymouth Rock Breeders thread

[Beekissed]

Thank you, they can't see each other. There is a divider between the 2 breeding pens.

Duh!

I didn't even see that! Some days I wonder where I left my head....

 

[Silver Rock]

Thank you, they can't see each other. There is a divider between the 2 breeding pens.

Duh!    I didn't even see that!  Some days I wonder where I left my head....

Well they are poor quality pictures and the wire I have on the outside runs now is just temporary. Each breeding pen is 8' x 8' enclosed & 8' x 10' outside covered run. Once I get the new wire up on the outside runs I will also have three doors up "one going into each side of the outside runs and one in the middle". Each pens outside run door will give that pen access to their own very large fenced grassy area. I plan to get the new wire and doors up soon.

 

[Beekissed]

That's an awful nice big space for breeding pens! I like that. I hate the thought of penning my free rangers into small breeding situations when they are so used to ranging...they just pace when they are confined for long. I'm hoping to make small, lightweight hoop coop mobile breeding pens so I can give them fresh grass each day but it will still feel like a prison to them, I know.

I like the idea of just flock breeding for now until I can wrap my mind around small penning these wild and woolly birds.

 

[Silver Rock]

That's an awful nice big space for breeding pens!  I like that.  I hate the thought of penning my free rangers into small breeding situations when they are so used to ranging...they just pace when they are confined for long.  I'm hoping to make small, lightweight hoop coop mobile breeding pens so I can give them fresh grass each day but it will still feel like a prison to them, I know. 

I like the idea of just flock breeding for now until I can wrap my mind around small penning these wild and woolly birds. 

I also will just be flock breeding for now. My plan is over the next couple years of flock breeding I will see what direction my Silver Penciled Plymouth Rocks are moving in and in what areas they will be needing the most help. I can definitely see things in them I want to improve on now but before I go into single mating breeding pens I first want to get good numbers on the ground.

 

[DMRippy]

Quote:
I am glad you started to breed them sooner rather than later. I think in the long run you will be glad you did that.

 

[Silver Rock]

Not to confuse anyone as some time in the future I do plan to improve the penciling/coloring in my Silver Penciled Plymouth Rocks by using the "Double Mating System" but this will only be done after I have achieved the "Type" that I am looking for in my Silver Penciled Plymouth Rocks. I will first flock breed my birds to get a good number of birds on the ground to work with. In a couple years I plan to start narrowing the breed pens down to many single breeding pens to improve "Type" as much as possible. I do expect that working on the Type will be a long process so it will most likely be many years before I start using the "Double Mating System" in my Silver Penciled Plymouth Rocks.

 

[Silver Rock]

 

That's an awful nice big space for breeding pens!  I like that.  I hate the thought of penning my free rangers into small breeding situations when they are so used to ranging...they just pace when they are confined for long.  I'm hoping to make small, lightweight hoop coop mobile breeding pens so I can give them fresh grass each day but it will still feel like a prison to them, I know. 


I like the idea of just flock breeding for now until I can wrap my mind around small penning these wild and woolly birds. 

I also will just be flock breeding for now. My plan is over the next couple years of flock breeding I will see what direction my Silver Penciled Plymouth Rocks are moving in and in what areas they will be needing the most help. I can definitely see things in them I want to improve on now but before I go into single mating breeding pens I first want to get good numbers on the ground.

I am glad you started to breed them sooner rather than later.  I think in the long run you will be glad you did that. 

Hi Donna, yes I am very grateful for the advice and help from poultry breeders with far more knowledge on poultry breeding than I do.

 

[Fred's Hens]

For those who are homesteading, shall we say, with bred to Standard fowl, the breeding pen idea does may sound a bit constraining. Perhaps it would help if you consider that the birds only need to be confined during egg collecting and hatching season. This is only a smaller portion of the year. This is done is ensure purity and to be selective about which cockbird mates with which female to advance your selective breeding goals. Without selective breeding, one could own some of the finest birds on the planet and entropy or degrading would take place at an amazing pace and soon, one would own a rather shabby, ordinary flock of birds. This isn't breeding but mere propagation.


I may also be helpful to arrange for a breeding area where space is more abundant more to your sensibilities.

All this becomes much, much easier when the breeder hunkers down and focuses on only one breed. With each breed added, these space and pens and coops issues magnify.

 

[Yard full o' rocks]

Again, I apologize for slowly creeping thought the entire thread. For the record, this is the first time I have seen a large fowl Columbian win Best of Breed in an open show... EVER!
GREAT JOB GUYS!!! Anything other than a White is rare.

Thanks Tom

Holly has done a great job conditioning these birds for show. She also showed a few at Newnan this yr as well but we did not fair the same at that show.

Still a lot of work to be done with them as color has never been a focus yet and there are some fine tuning tweaks that need to be addressed, but they are a far cry better than where I started. Its been a very fun road and nice to see progress from year to year.

 

[Fentress]

For those who are homesteading, shall we say, with bred to Standard fowl, the breeding pen idea does may sound a bit constraining. Perhaps it would help if you consider that the birds only need to be confined during egg collecting and hatching season. This is only a smaller portion of the year. This is done is ensure purity and to be selective about which cockbird mates with which female to advance your selective breeding goals. Without selective breeding, one could own some of the finest birds on the planet and entropy or degrading would take place at an amazing pace and soon, one would own a rather shabby, ordinary flock of birds. This isn't breeding but mere propagation.


I may also be helpful to arrange for a breeding area where space is more abundant more to your sensibilities.

All this becomes much, much easier when the breeder hunkers down and focuses on only one breed. With each breed added, these space and pens and coops issues magnify.

I don't have a problem with pulling breeders out of the flock. I have enough electro-net that they can have their own little pasture as long as they honor the fence and don't fly out and rejoin the flock. I don't think a breeding group would do that? I am not so sure about a cockerel grow out pasture, if the boys are within earshot/eyesight of the pullets. I see cockerel/cock management as the big issue. Most breeders separate the boy from the girls at an early age and they stay separated, except when they meet up at the breeding pen. I'm not going to do that because I am not going to keep a row of cock pens. So, let's say I pull a cock from the flock, he goes to a breeding area for 2-3 months. Can he can be reintroduced to a flock that has a cock in it? At night, maybe? Or, maybe he just gets culled. Also, I reallly see the advantages of a cockerel grow out area, but you have the same reintroduction issues. This is why I am committed to breeding just one breed and trying to get by with just two cocks. Maybe I can make that work. If not, I can live with that. I am committed to grass and I won't give that up for nothing. If you see one of my birds standing on dirt, it's because they chose to, not because they have to.