These were sold as BR's but I found this, after stumbling across a couple articles yesterday, here are the links I found, what do you all think???? http://www.themaransclub.co.uk/communities/1/004/008/087/671/images/4539280330.jpg This picture looks more like most of my pullets than the BR pictures do....I know they used the Dominiques in both the Cuckoo Marans and the Plymouth Barred Rocks breeding....so wondering if my birds have some Marans in them...Like I said, most of my pullets look exactly like this picture.... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marans Could they be crossed with the Cuckoo Marans??? Their "barring" has always looked really funny to me, as BR's...would love some input from you all....I bought them from a hatchery...Hoffman Hatchery in Penn last spring and had ordered BR's. I knew I would get mutts, but when they feathered out I didn't think they even were a close resemblance to a BR...am I way off or do you think the hatchery is mixing the breeds??? Thanks for any input or opinions!!!! Just curious to know what might possibly be the mutt mix of my chickens!
You have hatchery stock Barred Rocks. Hatcheries don't sell pure bred chickens rather have an excellent egg layer bred into lineage to produce a bird that looks mostly like the breed they are marketed as and still be excellent layers. The difference between Plymouth Rock and Marans is Rock have yellow legs and sking, Marans have white legs and skin. Not being heritage Rocks they can and many times do have a chuckoo pattern on feathers rather than the barred.
Yeah I know they are mutts...I used to raise the Plymouth Barred Rocks and am getting some of the Frank Reese ringlet line in the spring...but what breed makes them so "spotted"???? instead of barring? I am also getting some of the Heritage Dom's also in the spring...and they are more barred than mine... Was just curious what was in my mutts that made them look so "spotty" besides poor breeding I already know they "said" they were BR's Thanks for trying to answer my question! ETA Both breeders are from BYC so I KNOW they will be true to breed
So no guesses on what breeds they use, to get this kind of feathering in their "BR's" ? BTW, they started laying at 32 weeks. I know, the light is shorter, they take longer in the fall....but 32 weeks is wayyyyy longer....I don't know what this hatchery is doing...but I sure am NOT impressed!!!! Most of what I have read about hatchery chickens, is even off for what mine are doing and looking like Oh, I'm NOT saying these are Heritage or old breed chickens...just really curious what these hatcheries use to come up with a "BR" that looks like this. I can't wait till spring and the real chickens get here!!!! This was my first time with hatchery chickens...so was curious how on earth they got the breed, if you could call it that, so mixed up and what "breeds" they used....thought maybe some of you could give a guess????? Guess it's too much of a crap shoot to tell though, aye???? Thanks all, for confirming my mutts are mutts I'll put up pictures, next year, of my real chickens
I don't think it's necessarily another breed, but lack of selective breeding. I think even if you started with those gorgeous Reese birds, and just bred solely for production, did not cull at all for type or color, eventually you could wind up with this poor barring. It would take years and lots of chicks, but that's exactly what hatcheries have. That's why true breeders cull for type and have a SOP to guide them in their breeding goals.
Glad you are done with your chemo donrae...how you doing???? Yeah I know...I used to raise and breed the Plymouth Barred Rocks and showed them through 4H when a kid. I have a good handle on breeding, just not the propagating!!! Never done it before! I always bred to the SOP and am excited to be getting back into it again, next spring! Not going to show now though, with who knows what I might bring home that I didn't bring with me to a show, ya know? Just LOVE working with the Heritage Breeds, especially the Barred Plymouth Rocks. I had read, that the hatchery breeding stock will use all kinds of "breeds" to get a kinda looking BR but improve on the egg laying and other, customer wanted, qualities...so was wondering if anyone, by looking at these mutts, might be able to tell what might be this hatcheries breeding stock and kinds of chickens, I don't even know how to "say it' right, they might use, that would produce these kinds of birds. It was just curiosity...and I like to know things...that's why I do research and end up stumbling on some really neat and not so neat stuff I was the kid that drove my parents nuts with "WHY" I guess, even as and old person, I never lost that curiosity I had ordered this batch of chicks off a list on BYC, but chose a hatchery that listed themselves as a small, family run, farm...so was curious if they had tried something different, and if anyone could tell, if they did, what it was they did...does that make any sense at all???? For all I know, they are just a drop/ship operation???? I didn't learn about the drop/ship thing until after I got the chicks, as I said, this is my first time having hatchery chickens. Since curiosity killed the cat, I guess I better leave it alone Next spring can't get here soon enough though!!!! Anyways, no biggie...and thanks again everyone
