The Omega Rocks: The Last & Ultimate Barred Plymouth Rock Flock

[speckledhen]

I did not know some of this so I'm quoting here for your edification. I sent Jamie pics of the original Marvin Stukel cockerel pictured in my avatar at the moment. Our late Bob Blosl saw that picture and a couple others and said that he was one of the best cockerels he had seen in a decade. So, I asked Jamie his own opinion of Rex #1 (Atlas's sire was Rex #2) because I wanted to maybe use him as a model to compare and judge this group by, being so seared into my memory; to me, the first flaw I saw on Rex was his slightly droopy wing carriage and I mentioned that to Jamie. This statement in comparison with that Bob said goes to show that even experts can vary a bit in their opinions.
Here is what Jamie said that applies to all Barred Rocks and Rex in particular:

His wing carriage is better than most. It's not up like the standard shows/states, but barred rocks have some traits inherently against them compared to the other varieties. Barreds are noted to being on the smaller side size wise, but weight wise good. The hens do tend to be short backed. The barring gene also works in their tail feathers making them shorter. These photos show an above average male in my opinion.

I had no idea about the barring gene influencing size compared to other Rock varieties. Good to know! And also good to know that Rex's is even better than most. These youngsters do not seem to have that issue so far.

These are some of the pics I sent. He was still young so he would have matured a lot more.

 

[1muttsfan]

Argh! The test patterns are hurting my eyes!

 

[1muttsfan]

I imagine he meant an average show quality male, Not an actual average male which would be far poorer than that beautiful bird

 

[speckledhen]

Argh! The test patterns are hurting my eyes!

Haha, someone who came once to buy that cockerel's sons said that exact same thing. He'd never seen that before.

I imagine he meant an average show quality male, Not an actual average male which would be far poorer than that beautiful bird

Could very well be! He's used to seeing great looking Rocks, for sure. But, Bob Blosl was, too, wrote articles about the best Rocks and that's where I found Jamie's name mentioned. And Bob was very impressed with Rex#1. If I get anything close to that guy, I'll be very fortunate, but it's not luck for sure. It's attention to details and ruthless culling of less than stellar examples of the breed. I can't be that ruthless, but I do want to follow the prescription to the best I can with my current life circumstance...and learn as I go.

The Omega Rocks are in their new, larger pen, with access to the 5x8 back pen until I need to separate males into it.

 

[speckledhen]

Adding that the guy Lisa called Tank is crowing his heart out every morning. And it's a good one, too! I remember when I heard Hector crow for the first time...I counted the syllables, about nine, and proclaimed that was a yodel, not a crow! He crowed like that his entire life. Could never mistake him for anyone else.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Argh! The test patterns are hurting my eyes!

They do move when scrolling.

 

[speckledhen]

Hope everyone is having a great holiday weekend so far. I have to say that I am so smitten with these chicksters. You know we use a 16% protein 14 grain gamecock conditioner as our scratch mix and keep it in peanut butter jars so we can shake it to call the birds home from free ranging. So I let the kids out, went and sat own in a chair with the jar of scratch and within seconds, I was surrounded by most of the cockerels eating out of my hand. Even the Yellow Band Standoffish Brothers tried to dart in quickly to get some. They do tend to push the girls aside a bit, there are so many of them. Then, I felt a tug on my sleeve and one of the pullets had jumped up on the little table beside me and was begging me for her share. Surrounded by those young males who are pretty darn big made me happy that, so far, they're not aggressive at all.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Hope everyone is having a great holiday weekend so far. I have to say that I am so smitten with these chicksters. You know we use a 16% protein 14 grain gamecock conditioner as our scratch mix and keep it in peanut butter jars so we can shake it to call the birds home from free ranging. So I let the kids out, went and sat own in a chair with the jar of scratch and within seconds, I was surrounded by most of the cockerels eating out of my hand. Even the Yellow Band Standoffish Brothers tried to dart in quickly to get some. They do tend to push the girls aside a bit, there are so many of them. Then, I felt a tug on my sleeve and one of the pullets had jumped up on the little table beside me and was begging me for her share. Surrounded by those young males who are pretty darn big made me happy that, so far, they're not aggressive at all.

I like it when they mature enough to not be so skiddish and are smart enough to know where their food is coming from.

 

[speckledhen]

I see some smarts developing in that bunch. Your Tank is my favorite, always looking to see if I have something for him. They've been allowed to leave the pen and go explore into the larger areas of grass in recent days. They are not too difficult to get to go back into the pen, either, but I can't leave them out there on their own until they become more familiar with the lay of the land. They were introduced to blueberries a few days ago when I threw some from the bushes over the fence....BIG fans, LOL.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Wish I got enough blueberries to share. I do like tossing extra tomatoes once I start getting some. Brings chickens running.

I like how he's my Tank. I feel like I should come visit him now. Like I'm his godmother.