Beekissed, thank you very much for the nice words. I have been blessed with very healthy chicks & adult birds in these Silver Penciled Plymouth Rocks over the last few years. My Silver Penciled Plymouth Rocks are a work in progress and I am very happy to be breeding this unique variety of the Plymouth Rocks.
Every time I see that variety, my mouth waters to have some and I have to remind myself to concentrate on the guy that brought me to the dance, my WRs.I love the SPPR's coloring and their mothering reputation. In your experience, are they a good, steady layer like the WRs and the PRs?
I know...and it's hard sometimes to resist when folks on here show such wonderful birds like yours. I have all I can do just to try and learn to do some real breeding on the WRs I have, though I wouldn't mind having some reliable broodies for just the purpose you will use them for...nothing more successful in hatching than a good broody. I had even contemplated getting some standard cochins for the job, but how much better to have a broody that lays well the rest of the year? I have two good ones now but they don't lay well at all the rest of the year, so I'm mainly feeding them for a once or twice a year performance.
No worries, I'm pretty good at this thing they all call chicken math....I understand how to subtract.I make it a policy to not add more than I can handle and to subtract yearly so I have room to improve those I have.
This black pullet is a product of a blue x blue mating, and is starting to show signs of the Rock type that I have been breeding for. She was hatched in September and was raised in an unheated, uninsulated barn in northern Vermont. Weight was 2 ounces shy of 6 lb at 4 months of age (pictured at 5 months). One thing that makes her particularly unique is that she has BOTH good yellow leg color and dark slate undercolor. It's almost too bad that the black variety is not recognized in large fowl.
Very icy today but still have power, at least so far I do. Chickens will be staying inside today where it is dry & warm.
What perfect icicles!!!So evenly spaced and mostly the same length....almost like you planned it that way. My flock were avoiding the 3 in. of fresh snow this morning also, though they've been coming out in this teens and single digit weather more and more lately to forage...what they are foraging I have no idea, as everything is frozen, but there seems to be a renewed interest in what is out there....tells me spring is on the way!
The deep litter gives them something to do indoors and I've also hidden different things under it to encourage their busy work. We are currently getting a heatwave of 28*, so I see a few out right now in the snow anyway...heads down and tails up..what in the world are they eating out there???
