Thinking of trying an experiment.

[Folly's place]

She's very pretty! Mary

 

[bobbi-j]

Here is the answer I got from the "What Breed or Gender is This?" section.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1120589/can-someone-tell-me-what-breed-this-is#post_17272056

 

[bobbi-j]

She's very pretty! Mary

I think so. She has a look about her that I like.

 

[bobbi-j]

So tonight I got ahold of the SLW cockerel, the NN and the largest Rock. The SLW has nothing to him at all, the NN has some obvious meat around his keel bone but not much weight, and the Rock is definitely larger and heavier than the other two. They weren't quite settled in yet, and I was raising a ruckus, so I decided to wait with the rest for another time.

 

[Mini Meat]

That silver penciled girl is very pretty. I'm jealous. Your going to have quite a colorful flock in a few years.

I love seeing how the unique colors and patterns of mixed breed birds develop. My daughter's little banty hatched out the some beautiful blue & red incomplete partridge pullets and red Colombian cockerels with blue tails. It was a surprise sex link.

I know color is not your goal but it still adds to the fun.

 

[aart]

Good call, Aart! I googled Silver Penciled something or others, and got images of SP Rock and SP Wyandotte. I'm guessing Rock, judging by her general shape compared to the images I found. I'm happy to change that guess if someone who actually knows what they're talking about would like to correct me.

I was familiar from researching one of my first birds.....
....they told me Dark Brahma, feathered feet but she had a black head,
so a mix(like most all of my starter flock-which is was fine, just first lesson in chicken 'breeds').

She was pretty, the head hen, but a lousy layer, mean enough to be dubbed 'The B!tch'......and was delicious when retired.

 

[lazy gardener]

I just moved 8 pullets and 1 cockrel (13 weeks old) in with the adults. I am pleased to do a size comparison. Several of the pullets are as big as the 1 year old hens. I'm expecting that each successive generation will improve. All of the youngsters survived their first night well, and are enjoying the extra space. Minimal issues with pecking order.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

These are my Silver Penciled Plymouth Rocks from last fall as juveniles. This is the only breed currently working with. The difference of Wyandotte and Rock is comb; single comb- Plymouth Rock, rose comb- Wyandotte. The other breeds of this variety are Silver Dorking- looks like small Plymouth Rock (bases of some strains for this variety), Dark Brahma- feathered legs and pea comb, and Cochin- big poofy bird, single comb.

This is my grow out/breeder coop:


The small pen is only closed when chicks and mornings I'm doing weights, otherwise they have 6,000 square feet to roam and lilac bushes to dig holes under.



Believe it or not there was a broody hen I was busting and breeding cock bird in this coop at time of photo. Since then the hen broke from brood but have another moved in to bust brood and have moved out five 10 week old pullets to the layer coop. Silver Penciled are so well behaved there are very few problems even with this kind of coop stocking density. They put themselves to coop each night. The breeding cock will be moved out this week. Nobody in my family excepting myself likes old birds even in my kickin' gumbo. Lucked out and met a Chinese family with two boys who will take all cocks I have. They use the entire bird for broth as "animal medicine". You know, virility and strength from the animal. Want nothing to do with young birds only mature cocks. Could I find a better family that lives 30 minutes away?

Waiting for another "How many birds can fit in this coop?" thread to post some photos.

 

[Mrs. K]

Earlier in the thread, I was asked where I got my bielefelder rooster. A fellow chicken lady here in SD found a lady who likes playing with new breeds, more as a breeder, than as a food source. Anyway, this gal spent the money ordered a dozen of these eggs from Greenfire. Only got 4 to hatch, all of them roosters.

I love his color, and he is very laid back. The grandchildren do not bother him, but I am always very careful with them. He crows a bit in the morning, but not too early. He does well with broody/chicks. I am pretty happy with him. Last year I hatched 11 for me, got 3 pullets. But I do like their coloring. Then came into lay this spring, and one of them is very consistent daily layer, but the other two, a little less. A problem getting the balance between good egg layers, and a sizable carcass. One of the pullets has gone broody for me.

We are cattle ranchers, and with those 8 cockerals, I applied a bit of cattle feeding to them. I put them in a bachelor pen/coop set up, and did not free range them. So that does mean I supplied all their feed, but the less running around, produced a more tender carcass. I did not butcher until close to 5 months, but that was because I was waiting on a drill mounted feather picker, (which worked very well, ideal for my set up).

this is a very interesting thread! My experiment this year, is Ohio Buckeye. I have 10 eggs that are being brooded. Not quite sure what I will do, but it is always fun to try something new.

Mrs K

 

[bobbi-j]

I know color is not your goal but it still adds to the fun.

Exactly! I love a colorful flock!

She was pretty, the head hen, but a lousy layer, mean enough to be dubbed 'The B!tch'......and was delicious when retired.

I'll admit - I don't keep very good track as to who is laying better than whom, but if she turns mean, I'll just name her Dumplin' and put her in a jar.

These are my Silver Penciled Plymouth Rocks from last fall as juveniles.

The small pen is only closed when chicks and mornings I'm doing weights, otherwise they have 6,000 square feet to roam and lilac bushes to dig holes under.



Believe it or not there was a broody hen I was busting and breeding cock bird in this coop at time of photo. Since then the hen broke from brood but have another moved in to bust brood and have moved out five 10 week old pullets to the layer coop. Silver Penciled are so well behaved there are very few problems even with this kind of coop stocking density. They put themselves to coop each night. The breeding cock will be moved out this week. Nobody in my family excepting myself likes old birds even in my kickin' gumbo. Lucked out and met a Chinese family with two boys who will take all cocks I have. They use the entire bird for broth as "animal medicine". You know, virility and strength from the animal. Want nothing to do with young birds only mature cocks. Could I find a better family that lives 30 minutes away?

Waiting for another "How many birds can fit in this coop?" thread to post some photos.

Beautiful birds - I'll have to admit to some "Rooster Envy" here! He's gorgeous!

That's a whole lotta birds in that coop!

Earlier in the thread, I was asked where I got my bielefelder rooster. A fellow chicken lady here in SD found a lady who likes playing with new breeds, more as a breeder, than as a food source. Anyway, this gal spent the money ordered a dozen of these eggs from Greenfire. Only got 4 to hatch, all of them roosters.

I love his color, and he is very laid back. The grandchildren do not bother him, but I am always very careful with them. He crows a bit in the morning, but not too early. He does well with broody/chicks. I am pretty happy with him. Last year I hatched 11 for me, got 3 pullets. But I do like their coloring. Then came into lay this spring, and one of them is very consistent daily layer, but the other two, a little less. A problem getting the balance between good egg layers, and a sizable carcass. One of the pullets has gone broody for me.

We are cattle ranchers, and with those 8 cockerals, I applied a bit of cattle feeding to them. I put them in a bachelor pen/coop set up, and did not free range them. So that does mean I supplied all their feed, but the less running around, produced a more tender carcass. I did not butcher until close to 5 months, but that was because I was waiting on a drill mounted feather picker, (which worked very well, ideal for my set up).

this is a very interesting thread! My experiment this year, is Ohio Buckeye. I have 10 eggs that are being brooded. Not quite sure what I will do, but it is always fun to try something new.

Mrs K

I tried Buckeyes a few years ago, but... well, let's just say I didn't want to pay the exorbitant prices that a big-time breeder in our state charges, so went with someone else in my state who was just starting out and claimed to have Buckeyes from the big-time breeder's line. Got less than a dozen, was contacted a couple of weeks later stating that when my source's chicks hit 4-5 months old, they developed a "head droop". So they suggested I not breed the ones I got from them. They did suggest that I breed my Buckeye pullets to a Dark Cornish because "they look the same and no one would know the difference." That may be true, but I also wanted to stay true to the breed. After further discussion, they went on to say that they were starting to develop their own line of Buckeyes, but after the Dark Cornish discussion I wondered if they would be "true". So, that was my experience with Buckeyes. We processed all the cockerels. They dressed out pretty nicely. The pullets laid medium brown eggs. I'll be interested in knowing how your Buckeyes turn out for you. I wish you were on the other side of South Dakota - I'm right on the MN/SD border - I'd love to get some from you if they worked out well.