What is the Breed Standard of the Barred Plymouth Rock?

[racertomtom]

Hmmm...this is an old thread but I wonder ...the 2 pics showing the rocks bred per the SOP; do they produce as well as the utility bred rocks? As much as I want to preserve the breed I would hope the 2 "types" will produce the same ....please say they will...I have 1 3-yr old barred rock hen and love her and her eggs... but now I ordered chicks from a reputable breeder whose lines come from the same as mentioned above but I'm not interested in showing so much as I am in its dual purpose..will show birds deliver ? Just wondering...thank you

As stated, the above birds are very young.
There are some SOP lines out there that haven’t been out-crossed in a long time and have issues with vigor, so laying/hatching could be way down. A good SOP breed BPR can’t quite keep up with a Leghorn or Australorp but can hold their own in the nest and whoop their butts in the fryer. Of course, that’s what they’re for.
Hatchery birds probably will lay a little better because most are bred for egg production and not the standard. Not only do those birds not look as good, most are not worth butchering.
I once had a SOP bred Australorp lay every day and 2 eggs about every third day. Top that hatcheries!

 

[alana124]

As stated, the above birds are very young.
There are some SOP lines out there that haven’t been out-crossed in a long time and have issues with vigor, so laying/hatching could be way down. A good SOP breed BPR can’t quite keep up with a Leghorn or Australorp but can hold their own in the nest and whoop their butts in the fryer. Of course, that’s what they’re for.
Hatchery birds probably will lay a little better because most are bred for egg production and not the standard. Not only do those birds not look as good, most are not worth butchering.
I once had a SOP bred Australorp lay every day and 2 eggs about every third day. Top that hatcheries!

Indeed; hence sticking with good lines / strains for breeding. I'm all for it. How does one out-cross a line?

 

[racertomtom]

Indeed; hence sticking with good lines / strains for breeding. I'm all for it. How does one out-cross a line?

By breeding it to an unrelated or distantly related line. Introduce new blood.

 

[rc50]

Hi hope all are good.... Question.... Do many breeders of Barred Plymouth Rocks still use the practice of Double Mating... ?


have a great one


Keith
SC
USA

 

[racertomtom]

Hi hope all are good.... Question.... Do many breeders of Barred Plymouth Rocks still use the practice of Double Mating... ?


have a great one


Keith
SC
USA

I only know of one.

 

[alana124]

By breeding it to an unrelated or distantly related line. Introduce new blood.

Oh! Okay, so would it be bad form to introduce blood from a hatchery BPR if it exhibited good traits? I was thinking, a mutt hen to a good blood lined roo.?

 

[BGMatt]

Oh! Okay, so would it be bad form to introduce blood from a hatchery BPR if it exhibited good traits? I was thinking, a mutt hen to a good blood lined roo.?

Breeding in a hatchery bird will have a huge negative impact on a breeding program, the loss of size & type would not be worth any gains that might or might not be said to exist.

The proper term is cock or cockerel depending on age for a male bird, FYI. You'll get better results from knowledgable folks when using proper vocabulary.

Best thing to do would be to buy the best young trio you can find and afford and breed from there, selecting for the traits you're looking for. For someone new to the breed staying within the same line prevents some of the problems an outcross can cause.

 

[Fred's Hens]

There are lines of Barred Rocks that would indeed benefit from being crossed to other good lines of Barred Rocks. Most breeders I know are already doing this. But this takes skill, a good eye, excellent records, patience, and a lot of work. Ask me how I know. LOL

Our Barred Rocks are a bit slow to get to laying, or least one of our lines is, but once they start, all of our birds are GREAT layers. Remember, these were never Leghorns or other heavy laying breeds, but they were and should be good to very good layers. I'm biased and I admit it. A Plymouth Rock should lay 200 eggs their pullet year or you've got some work to do as a breeder. I personally consider attributes of behavior and utility (inner attributes) to be as important as outward attributes. But again, I'm a farmer, so my perspective is mine.

I'd say ours are better than very good. We do track laying and we've many of the pullets lay 240 eggs their pullet year. For a gorgeous, true bred, heavy bird I'd say this is terrific laying as it averages almost 5 eggs per week, over a year's time. You cannot do much better than that from true, dual purpose bird. If you need 300+ eggs per year, the Rocks aren't the right breed for you.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Oh! Okay, so would it be bad form to introduce blood from a hatchery BPR if it exhibited good traits? I was thinking, a mutt hen to a good blood lined roo.?

There almost nothing to be gained, and almost everything to lose in these plans. Just as easy to breed a great bird to a great bird and move on down the road.

 

[alana124]

There are lines of Barred Rocks that would indeed benefit from being crossed to other good lines of Barred Rocks. Most breeders I know are already doing this. But this takes skill, a good eye, excellent records, patience, and a lot of work. Ask me how I know. LOL

Our Barred Rocks are a bit slow to get to laying, or least one of our lines is, but once they start, all of our birds are GREAT layers. Remember, these were never Leghorns or other heavy laying breeds, but they were and should be good to very good layers. I'm biased and I admit it. A Plymouth Rock should lay 200 eggs their pullet year or you've got some work to do as a breeder. I personally consider attributes of behavior and utility (inner attributes) to be as important as outward attributes. But again, I'm a farmer, so my perspective is mine.

I'd say ours are better than very good. We do track laying and we've many of the pullets lay 240 eggs their pullet year. For a gorgeous, true bred, heavy bird I'd say this is terrific laying as it averages almost 5 eggs per week, over a year's time. You cannot do much better than that from true, dual purpose bird. If you need 300+ eggs per year, the Rocks aren't the right breed for you.

Thank you

for your wonderful reply. My comment earlier was hypothetical in nature--sometimes, as with dogs, when you add a loose version of a purebred into the equation, it could help to improve health, temperament, and vigor (even if it introduces changes in the line in other ways). It seems that good breeding practices are few and far between with some dog breeds, because breeders don't control for problems before they develop in areas such as health, performance, and temperament, thus you see a lot of soup sandwiches in the inbred purebred world. Does this happen with chicken breeding too? I guess I wonder how one finds a very distant line of BPRs that's not related to your line/strain. It can feel like you're on an island!

I like the spiral breeding in chickens method, as it seems the best way to continue good blood lines without compromising their standard. By choosing the BPR, I know it's laying abilities will never meet a leghorn's production, but that's not what I'd strive for anyway. My current mutt BPR lays eggs the size of an ostrich's egg but she's 3 and it's not every day. But boy, when she gives us one, THANK YOU!

Currently I'm raising hatchery bought Buckeyes (some look like mutts, some loosely fit the standard). Of the 2 Buckeye COCKERELS (sheesh) I own, only 1 fits the standard by 90%--he looks good enough by would fail in the show ring with flaws such as shank color, sickle color, deformed spur. I hatched out 7 of his offspring from 3 Buckeye pullets; they're adorable, and I'll just use them for egg production. Eventually, I'll get a trio or chicks from a good Buckeye breeder and cull these guys.

Lastly, I'm not sure if you're familiar with Don Schrider, but he's a great source for information about chickens and breeding, and YOU Mr. Fred's Hens are a close second! Thank you, again.