White Plymouth Rocks?

[Arosie]

We are thinking of buying White PR to raise for meat. Any experience here? We’ve butchered a few unwanted males at around 14-16 weeks, of dual purpose breeds. But these PR would be purchased for the specific purpose of butchering around 15-16 weeks.

We usually raise a batch of Cornish cross in the fall to butcher later Oct. so, we are familiar with both Cornish cross and dual purpose carcass. We have heard that White Plymouth Rocks are a good breed for meat.

Just looking for input from those with experience with White PR males fit nest.

I was wondering the same thing. I've butchered Cornish X before but never did a batch of heritage breeds so I was thinking about WPRs too. Thanks for sharing your supplier!

 

[rbc-bow-chicka]

Thanks!!

I placed an order for 20 males ($0.80 each) and 4 females ($2.50 each) of their White Plymouth Rocks.

The website indicates that “many generations of selection have evolved these large bodied hens into an excellent dual-purpose strain”. I called and asked about the males for meat and was told that they are a good choice for meat.

So, we will see how they do come August!

How did it go for you with your meat chickens? We are pondering doing as you are as we would like to grow a meaty type bird that can reproduce on its own rather than buying chicks twice a year. Looking at white rocks and dark cornish.

 

[Acre4Me]

How did it go for you with your meat chickens? We are pondering doing as you are as we would like to grow a meaty type bird that can reproduce on its own rather than buying chicks twice a year. Looking at white rocks and dark cornish.

Decent. We kept one male and 3 females, which now live together in a pen.

We raised the batch to a certain point and separated the females so they would not get terribly harassed. Since they were raised in a pen, and despite not being with or seeing any females, there was some fighting. Also, we had one feed location, meaning to add a second, but we never did. When we butchered them, it was clear that a couple had been kept from food by the more dominant males. Also, they crowed a lot (not to the extent of male leghorns or male Marans, which have been out loudest and most annoying males ever), but loud and noisy - more than we enjoyed, they got annoying.

Once butchered, the well fed males had a nice carcass. Nothing like a Cornish x, but good amount of meat. We butchered at 16 weeks. Overall, we will stick with Cornish cross bc they are so efficient, and we butcher at 7.5 weeks. Last week we butchered the cornish cross we raised and they were split in half, bc a half gives my family about 2 full meals and some leftovers. Also, we don’t have the space to free range or to pen in a larger setup. So the Cornish work better for us.

 

[rbc-bow-chicka]

I am just seeing this now. Wanted to thank you for your response.

I have Dark Cornish roo over White Rock hen eggs..... and White Rock roo over Dark Cornish hen eggs (say that 10 times fast) in the incubator as of yesterday.

I need to noodle through how to proceed after hatch/maturity to see where I need to try to go with breeding.

 

[fleur_d'lis]

I am just seeing this now. Wanted to thank you for your response.

I have Dark Cornish roo over White Rock hen eggs..... and White Rock roo over Dark Cornish hen eggs (say that 10 times fast) in the incubator as of yesterday.

I need to noodle through how to proceed after hatch/maturity to see where I need to try to go with breeding.

I just put three WPR hens in with a white cornish rooster. I hate doing this as he is an absolute THUG and they are so elegant! Will start incubating as soon as I start cracking fertile eggs to see how they grow out.

 

[rbc-bow-chicka]

I just put three WPR hens in with a white cornish rooster. I hate doing this as he is an absolute THUG and they are so elegant! Will start incubating as soon as I start cracking fertile eggs to see how they grow out.

Where did you find a white cornish? Would love to see a pic. The guy who i gave my cornish ×white rock and white rock × cornish chicks to sent me a pic of the 21 day old chicks.

 

[fleur_d'lis]

Where did you find a white cornish? Would love to see a pic. The guy who i gave my cornish ×white rock and white rock × cornish chicks to sent me a pic of the 21 day old chicks.

I bought a dozen large fowl white cornish eggs from a show exhibitor last year and hatched the eggs. Prices were MUCH more reasonable last year for hatching eggs..
Horrible hatch rate, which the seller also indicated he was having. True cornish have difficulty natural breeding.
I'll try to get a picture of "The Thug" and post it. He is MEAN and ugly which is what slowed me putting my lovely rock girls in with him.

 

[fleur_d'lis]

Where did you find a white cornish? Would love to see a pic. The guy who i gave my cornish ×white rock and white rock × cornish chicks to sent me a pic of the 21 day old chicks.

These look decent sized for 21-day old chicks. I hope they continue to track the size so we can determine how this works out.

BTW: probably lost my eggs last night. Tornado caused lengthy power outage.

 

[rbc-bow-chicka]

These look decent sized for 21-day old chicks. I hope they continue to track the size so we can determine how this works out.

BTW: probably lost my eggs last night. Tornado caused lengthy power outage.

Oh my gosh. Wow. How far along are they?

I remember this podcast interview with the head of murray McMurray and he was discussing the idea that temperatures affect hatching males vs females. They had had some power outages while incubating.... I cannot recall how long he said... but they wound up hatching more males than females.

With any luck, all hope is not lost and I would be curious how things go.

We have a small yearly chicken show by us... and it didn't occur to me to try to score interesting eggs down there. I will make a note to mark my calendar and consider going down!!!

 

[rbc-bow-chicka]

I bought a dozen large fowl white cornish eggs from a show exhibitor last year and hatched the eggs. Prices were MUCH more reasonable last year for hatching eggs..
Horrible hatch rate, which the seller also indicated he was having. True cornish have difficulty natural breeding.
I'll try to get a picture of "The Thug" and post it. He is MEAN and ugly which is what slowed me putting my lovely rock girls in with him.

Oh! So horrible hatch rate. Interesting.

My dark cornish run at a 57% fertility rate. Last summer, I hatched full DC and was stunned at the fertility rate. Granted.... I have 3 hens and a roo... so I figured it was all in the numbers.

So.... a couple of weeks ago, I candled my DC/WR mixes at day 8. My DC roo plus 7 WR hens had an 83% fertility rate and my WR roo × DC hens had...57%!

It is such a small sample, but I wonder if it is something w the hens? It is just weird..... 57% from those girls.