The Plymouth Rock Breeders thread

[Beekissed]

My older group of WR juveniles are starting to get their "chicken" shapes....I always find that time exciting because you can start to see their body lines showing through. Some stand out more than others but this whole group are looking good right now. I'm really hoping for an outstanding male out of this batch.

 

[Fentress]

My roosts are about 4.5 - 5 foot tall. I lost a hen about 2 months ago and called Jamie Duckworth and he suggested that my roosts were too high for the size/weight of his birds. Did I do anything about it? Of course not. Yesterday another hen came up lame, similar to the last one, but maybe not as bad. I can't see anything really when I examine them. I isolated her and hopefully she will recover, but I am not very hopeful about it. Now the roosts have been lowered! Does anyone else have this issue? What is your roost height and do you have any suggestions. This is going to be a space issue later this year. Maybe I should install some elevators.

 

[Fred's Hens]

My roosts are about 4.5 - 5 foot tall. I lost a hen about 2 months ago and called Jamie Duckworth and he suggested that my roosts were too high for the size/weight of his birds. Did I do anything about it? Of course not. Yesterday another hen came up lame, similar to the last one, but maybe not as bad. I can't see anything really when I examine them. I isolated her and hopefully she will recover, but I am not very hopeful about it. Now the roosts have been lowered! Does anyone else have this issue? What is your roost height and do you have any suggestions. This is going to be a space issue later this year. Maybe I should install some elevators.

Preached it for years. The purebred, standard bred birds are much heavier than the hatchery wanna be's. The high roosts can indeed create issues. That's my experience, FWIW. The Rock isn't flighty and given to all that.

Rocks, the stone/mineral kind? They're found laying still on the ground. Falling rocks from high places ism't a normally seen as a good thing, with minerals or poultry.

 

[chicken pickin]

My roosts are about 4.5 - 5 foot tall. I lost a hen about 2 months ago and called Jamie Duckworth and he suggested that my roosts were too high for the size/weight of his birds. Did I do anything about it? Of course not. Yesterday another hen came up lame, similar to the last one, but maybe not as bad. I can't see anything really when I examine them. I isolated her and hopefully she will recover, but I am not very hopeful about it. Now the roosts have been lowered! Does anyone else have this issue? What is your roost height and do you have any suggestions. This is going to be a space issue later this year. Maybe I should install some elevators.

My roosts in all of my coops are about 2.5 feet up. I have also placed a small cut tree stump that is shorter than the roost in several of the coops to allow the heavier ones to jump to from the roost to the stump to the floor. Works well for my set up.

 

[Beekissed]

My roosts are about 4.5 - 5 foot tall. I lost a hen about 2 months ago and called Jamie Duckworth and he suggested that my roosts were too high for the size/weight of his birds. Did I do anything about it? Of course not. Yesterday another hen came up lame, similar to the last one, but maybe not as bad. I can't see anything really when I examine them. I isolated her and hopefully she will recover, but I am not very hopeful about it. Now the roosts have been lowered! Does anyone else have this issue? What is your roost height and do you have any suggestions. This is going to be a space issue later this year. Maybe I should install some elevators.

I always keep that high of roosts or higher and have never had an issue with it. Even with old, fat hens dismounting I've never had a Rock come up lame. Of course, I've mostly kept deep litter in my coops these many years so a soft landing spot may count for much.

 

[uphilljill]

Big Fat Heads:

Fred and others, when you have a minute, can you explain/illustrate what you look for in a big, fat head? Is it width across the back of the skull from eye to eye? The shape? Or depth from the eye to the top of the skull? All of the above/something else?

I think in this pic you said you like the head of the female on the right better? She looks more open in the face to me, but was wondering if it's something more specific. Thanks in advance!

 

[Fentress]

thanks for the comments. My landing area is thick pasture, which isn't that hard, but probably not as soft as deep litter. the skid that runs down the middle of the coop might be playing a role, as well. Anyway, I need to rethink the whole thing. At this rate I won't have any hens for next season. thanks again.

 

[Yard full o' rocks]

Big Fat Heads:

Fred and others, when you have a minute, can you explain/illustrate what you look for in a big, fat head? Is it width across the back of the skull from eye to eye? The shape? Or depth from the eye to the top of the skull? All of the above/something else?

I think in this pic you said you like the head of the female on the right better? She looks more open in the face to me, but was wondering if it's something more specific. Thanks in advance!

Jill

In my world I look at wide of skull, from the top. The distance from the comb to either side of the skull. Secondly, I look at the distance from the eye to the top of the head and from the eye to the start of the waddle

 

[Fred's Hens]

Jill

In my world I look at wide of skull, from the top. The distance from the comb to either side of the skull. Secondly, I look at the distance from the eye to the top of the head and from the eye to the start of the waddle

Yup. Rip Stavley (general licensed judge) did a short video, I think for the Marans group. Good, to the point, video. If you look down from on top, as Scott says, you should not see the eyes. The chick on the right in your photo is a classic freak big head. I bred these birds for that for 4 generations and if you lose it? Get back to work and get it back. There nothing worse than crow headed birds or skinny head birds. The "Book" has great illustrations as well.



Here's that link to Rip's video.

 

[Beekissed]

What a great vid! I'll be using this example to check on chicks from now on and will mark the skinnies to see how they develop later compared to the fat heads.