The Plymouth Rock Breeders thread

[Fred's Hens]

Thanks Matt.

Lefty26, you should really chat with Matt. You're not that far from area Matt knows very, very well and has a home field advantage to information on what's what.

 

[lefty26]

There are great birds closer to you.  I would certainly make it my business, if I were serious, to attend some of the Gulf Coast shows that are coming up over the next few months.  There will be great birds at those shows, for certain.

Wasn't the Florida Sunshine Classic just held?  

Yes i went to the sunshine classic a few weeks ago. They only had one pair of white rocks and I think only one barred rock lf. I will be attending all of the shows in the upcoming months.

 

[pathornton]

Hello everyone. Newbie here. On page 100 of this thread so far. Enjoying the comments and pics. Looking forward to asking for advice in the future





Paul

 

[Fentress]

I have lost 3 of 7 K's. 2 at 20 weeks and now a third at 28 Weeks. I work hard to provide a quality natural environment and this is something I am not use to. The stock came from only 150 miles away, so climate acclimation would not seem to explain it. Maybe they are use to living in pens and taking drugs? These are sudden deaths and I have seen a few before w/ the hatchery stock, but not to this degree. Could this be related to their large size? Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[pathornton]

Got a question and any help would be appreciated. Wanting to hatch out some barred rocks this spring. The cockerel i have has good shape and color as best as i can determine but two of my three pullets have a few black(beetle green) feathers mixed in on their backs and hackles. Mabe 3 or 4 small spots per bird. Of course one of these two pullets with the black feathers has the best shape and best tail. Should i stay away from the ones with black feathers for breeding or stick with the best shape and tail?

 

[Yard full o' rocks]

Got a question and any help would be appreciated. Wanting to hatch out some barred rocks this spring. The cockerel i have has good shape and color as best as i can determine but two of my three pullets have a few black(beetle green) feathers mixed in on their backs and hackles. Mabe 3 or 4 small spots per bird. Of course one of these two pullets with the black feathers has the best shape and best tail. Should i stay away from the ones with black feathers for breeding or stick with the best shape and tail?

Always TYPE first, then color. Build the barn THEN paint it

 

[pathornton]

Always TYPE first, then color. Build the barn THEN paint it

Thanks. Read up some more,and looked at some more pictures and dont think the paint is THAT bad anyway. Not any full feathers are black. Just a few spots. For some reason, what these br are supposed to look like is not coming very easy to me. Lol. Would love some honest opinions of what i have and some critiques so i would know whats right, if anything, and whats wrong, so i would have a better idea of which direction to go

 

[pathornton]

Just a side note. The k has lost quite a few tail feathers in the last several days. They're all molting tho not too bad.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Well Rock heads, the weather folks are declaring the return of the polar vortex tomorrow, how excited am I? Not much.

I know a lot of you have messaged and mentioned you're at your final culls now, as would be expected for November. Time to put those 5 and 6 pound Ks and 4 pound pullets and 6 pound hens into the freezer. They'll make nice pulled chicken and nice hot soup for the nasty weather days soon upon us.

I'll take my camera and my lousy photography skills out to the barn here in a bit. I've made my final choices and I'll be down to a breeding quad by week's end. If I can get a shot of the cockerel's hanging over the feed dish, you'll see their backs, which to me? Seeing width all the way through the bird and through the tail is the mark of a survivor. Those K's "pop" at this age and your "winners" sort of show themselves off suddenly. It's kinda dramatic sometimes and it sure was with this batch. The crown prince suddenly showed his stuff and stuff that is far and away the better of his yearly class. I love it when that happens. Stay tuned.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Managed to entice the K's to the feed bowl. No shock. They always crowd out the pullets, so they're just in this pen for the photo op. These type photos are almost identical to the photos used in the Standard for a century, to demonstrate the quality of the back width through the tail section. There is a third K in the background. He's the weakest link by far. In profile, you can see he dumps his tail and is rainy day. That he's a pound smaller is also no good.






In this photo, the small K has joined the feed dish. You can see in this back/top photo shot that he is the weakest of this trio of cockerels.




Miss Posing-I-wanna-go-the-Ohio National had to jump up into the photo. hahahaha