The Plymouth Rock Breeders thread

[desertmarcy]

Ok, a few things come to mind

1. Like Cyn said, I won't deal with an aggressive cock(erel) and I seriously doubt Jamie does either! He has younger kids

2. Does the K get any free range/outdoor time? How large an enclosure is he in?

3. How many females is he with?

4. I've seen my cockbird limp around after getting his butt kicked by his son. I think he'll survive that part.

5. I think I'd wait and see how he responds after today's events. Maybe he learned who "alpha" was....if not, get the chicks you need outta him and move him along. No sense keeping trouble. Expensive? Yup, but not worth human injury. Don't rush to judgement. I keep a 4' section of 1" PVC pipe in the chicken yard and outside in the food plot exclusively for "attitude adjusent". Everyone at my place knows how to put one in their place if need be....I bet it's been over 2 yrs since any of us used it, BUT, some birds (even females) need to get knocked down a notch in the pecking order occasionally

1. Agreed, and I had emailed him about the fact that he was attacking my partner. He never said anything like, 'yes I have had some like that'
2. No, I have too many predators here---bobcats being the biggest problem, and I have seen them in the daytime. He has a large pen, about 18' X 10', part is under a roof, the rest is open with welded wire top and shade cloth on that (very hot with intense sun here).
3. He has 6 pullets with him.
4. I hope you are right.
5. Should I just ask the 2 people being bothered by him to just stay out of that pen for now? Or see if it made a difference in his attitude towards the caretaker? If it didn't, I think I should just tell her I'll deal with that pen. There is plenty of other work around here for her to do

 

[Fred's Hens]

Don't feel bad. Adrenalin kicks in and sometimes you're rougher with them than necessary, but on the other hand, folks who aren't used to this sort of thing can't be faulted. She might of just offed him right there. It's been done.

Yes, these birds do read people. There's no doubt. This K's life was turned upside down, what with shipping and all. This time of healing up will frankly do him some good, more than likely.

 

[Yard full o' rocks]

My cockbird (Jack) I raised from a chick. He is a little over 2 now and is a tad over 12lbs. Never has he been aggressive toward me...never, until a few weeks ago. I got in between him and his girls and for some reason he took exception to that and tried flogging the back of my legs. Now, I'm not a big man, 5' 9" on a good day and 165lbs. But I've yet to see a 12lb bird that can hurt me. One swift "kick" across the pen and he hasn't tried it again. I guess somehow I threatened his hens and he was just being protective. Perhaps the caretaker did something likewise??? A cockbird by nature will protect the females....from just about anything including humans

 

[speckledhen]

Just to clarify what I said in my previous post, I was speaking generally, not about Jamie since I don't know him or his birds at all and would never say anything about that. I've had what most here would consider someone who knows his stuff to tell me that a cockbird that is not a little aggressive is not a good breeder. I know that is hogwash, but that was the voice I had in my head when I was speaking to breeding for temperament.

Could be your male just got a bit of a sprain from being manhandled by someone who doesn't really know what he/she is doing. Give him a few days, like Scott said, and let him rest. Hopefully, he'll be fine and calm down around the other folks as well.

To add to that, Isaac, my Delaware rooster, has handled and kept fertile up to 25 hens all by himself, but he's never been the least bit aggressive to me, no matter what I did to his hens. He's just an intelligent male, IMO, and I am of the opinion that intelligence plays a part in a rooster knowing who is and who would never be a threat to him and his hens. Some are just not as bright, much like people, LOL.

 

[Yard full o' rocks]

....in the meantime I would certainly be setting every egg I could from this K as sire. You paid a pretty penny for him. He'll likely fix the vigor issue and you can pick and chose from his offspring

 

[Fred's Hens]

This is K2B code name Bruce. He is a male, third generation, from our patriarchal male we got from Good Shepherd to XW Poultry Ranch to KathyinMO to us. I've set my quota, over three dozen eggs, from "Bruce" and they're hatching pretty well. Not like the popcorn that is our Reds, but much better than in years past. K2 Bruce x F1 females from our project line.

I'm done now with K2B so a friend and neighbor from the next county over came over with his wife to pick him last weekend. It was about dusk and as we went into the barn, the birds were settling in on the roost. I told Gary to just go pick him off there. Not a sound. No fuss, no trouble. Gary was really impressed and grateful to get him. Then, as we went back to the barn to get them a female, I went over got that female that had a black arch mark on her beak. Some of these marks are like finger prints and help you pick out the right one, As I handed that 11 month old pullet to Gary, he exclaimed, "Whoa!!! What does she weigh?" "Oh, right at 8 pounds I reckon" I said.

"She doesn't look anywhere near big enough to be this heavy" said Gary.

I had to laugh a little. These birds are dense like rocks. Yeah, that's it. Like ROCKS. We had a good chuckle but as we walked that female out to Gary's truck. If you've gotten used to picking up little light laying birds, it can catch you off guard just how much these birds weigh, even those they may not look it. They're not all skin and bones.


Edit to add: OH, and they paid me in beef. Range fed, grass fed beef. We made that package of beef the other night, Gary, and my was it tasty. Thank you very much.

 

[Fred's Hens]

....in the meantime I would certainly be setting every egg I could from this K as sire. You paid a pretty penny for him. He'll likely fix the vigor issue and you can pick and chose from his offspring

Yup yup yup.

 

[speckledhen]

Quote: Gotta love barter. Scott filled my freezer with venison when he came to get Rex. Gee, Scott, when you coming back to visit us again, my pal?

 

[racertomtom]

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.

+1

The hatcheries all use large pen or flock breeding and I’m not too impressed with their results. The goal is to improve your flock towards the description in the Standard. To do this you use the strengths of one bird to offset the weaknesses of its mate. For example, if I notice the backs on the males getting shorter and the tail feathers bending down and starting that awful bunny tail, both too common in Rocks, I’ll look for a female with an extra long back and wide tail feathers. Unfortunately, this also creates culls. For every male we improved there’s probably a female with narrow feathers and a short back. We’ll name these Nugget, Dumpling and Dinner. Seldom will you breed show birds by breeding show birds. (yes I meant to say that)
If you’re looking to greatly increase the size of your flock, breed longer. I’ve put nearly 200 birds on the ground in 8 weeks using only 2 trios. Choose wisely.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Bob Blosl would repeat his favorite stories so many times, one came to believe in them, even if they were fables. In the end, it didn't matter. Here's a short version of Bob's story of compensatory mating by E. B. Thompson, the master himself.
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This is what Mr. E B Thompson use to do write down all the good points and the poor points then go out in the chicken yard and look for a female that could compensate for his faults. If he found one he would put her next to the male in his conditioning house and go out and look for another one. If he did not find one he said the matting was complete and would move on to the next male. He had as many as 50 mat tings per year when he was breeding in the old days of 1910 to 1920.