The Plymouth Rock Breeders thread

[weavers rocks]

another shot of her she will make to the breeding pen next year I hope

 

[weavers rocks]

here's a young cockerl that has some finishing to do

 

[weavers rocks]

hers a young cockerl that needs some finishing

 

[weavers rocks]

hers a twenty week old pullet

 

[Fred's Hens]

Day 12 and all is well. Stay tuned.

 

[Beekissed]

Took Fred's earlier advice and spent some time with the 11 week old chicks this morning to measure and compare. Picked out some obvious culls and favorites from this group to watch going forward. Happy to see improved wings on all as compared to last year. A change in cock this season really helped there. I was also looking to improve length of back will be culling for that.

I found doing overhead side-by-side comparisons most striking and thought I'd share a few pics for educational purposes and feedback:

LOVE these pics and they are most educational! Thank you for posting them. Love the sturdy depth and the feathering of your birds!

 

[Fred's Hens]

Took Fred's earlier advice and spent some time with the 11 week old chicks this morning to measure and compare. Picked out some obvious culls and favorites from this group to watch going forward. Happy to see improved wings on all as compared to last year. A change in cock this season really helped there. I was also looking to improve length of back will be culling for that.

I found doing overhead side-by-side comparisons most striking and thought I'd share a few pics for educational purposes and feedback:

Just tickles me to watch folks growing in this hobby. That old photo plate goes back 75 or 80 years in the Standard, and yet? How better to understand it than to take that plate and "re-create it" by lining up birds over some scratch or the feed trough and look at them from above. These real life photos of Jill's do not lie. There it is, in real life. Skinny through the body. Cull to layer flock, local auction or freezer.

You could also pick those birds up and you'd see in handling them. The wide ones would be X number of centimeters between the hip bones points in front of the tail. The skinny birds would be 30% narrower in distance. You can do these checks at 12 weeks. It just doesn't happen for a skinny bird to suddenly go "wide" at that point of maturity.

Thanks so much for the pictoral, Jill. This stuff can be learned and seen and applied. It's all right there in front of us once we dial in our eyes to see these birds not for what we wish they were, but for what they really are. Don't go blind, look and see what's in front of you.

 

[Fred's Hens]

The bird on the right also has bad wings. I can see it from even this angle. The bird on the left is headed for the breeder pen next spring if all stays put together. Daylight to dark difference in those two birds.

 

[Happy Chooks]

The bird on the right also has bad wings. I can see it from even this angle. The bird on the left is headed for the breeder pen next spring if all stays put together. Daylight to dark difference in those two birds.

I'm trying to see the bad wings. Is it they are tucked in too high?

 

[Fred's Hens]

I'm trying to see the bad wings. Is it they are tucked in too high?

Yes, kelly.