White Rock birds

[garfieldGeorgia]

This is a question directed toward any of y'all who have or have had White Rocks, aka White Plymouth Rocks.
Right now I have two hens of that breed, and they are way fatter than any of my other birds - even my ROOSTERS of the RIR, Barred Rock, Buff O breeds. I couldn't find any record online where they're supposed to be that way.

Makes me wonder... if the hens have this much on them, how big are the roosters of that breed?? Is it typical that these birds get bigger?

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

I raised some White Rocks for about a year and have raised plenty of the Barred variety. Could you post a picture of yours?

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Makes me wonder... if the hens have this much on them, how big are the roosters of that breed?? Is it typical that these birds get bigger?

They *can* be pretty good sized.. they were one of the original commercial market meat breeds.. prior to and also part of the cornish rock cross that now exists the Rock for size and the Cornish for growth rate.. IIRC. Some folks have gotten CX mislabeled or mixed up mistakenly.. but it's usually identifiable WAY early (chick stage) by the size difference/growth rate..

Have you got an actual weight? What is their age?

Although the breed standard stays the same for Plymouth Rocks.. variation in size can be seen depending heavily upon variety.. partridge for example being on the light side and white on the heavy.. according to my research.

 

[Amer]

Sounds like you have hatchery birds, which are bred for quantity, not quality, therefore often nowhere near the Standard weights, though it sounds like your white Rock hens are.
Plymouth Rock cocks are a massive 9 1/2 lbs, and Plymouth Rock hens are 7 1/2 lbs. It is true that whites are often bigger than other patterns, that is because it is easier to breed a properly sized bird when you don’t have to worry about breeding a fussy pattern, however, the other varieties would be the same size in a perfect world. Also whites just appear bigger because white makes them look bigger. Old fashion advice: lighter colors, like white, can add pounds and give the illusion of a larger frame.
Rhode Island Red cocks are 8 1/2 lbs.
Orpington Cocks are the biggest, fattest, and the fluffiest, at 10 lbs.
I suspect the reason your white Rock hens are closer to the Standard is because they are a less popular hatchery variety, unlike the mass produced Orpingtons and Barred Rocks. Also, white Plymouth Rocks are one of the most easy to find and refined show quality varieties and it is possible the hatchery started out with quality stock.

 

[tlcmurphy]

Hmmm, that must be why my white pants make my butt look fat. I’m rehoming them tomorrow!

 

[garfieldGeorgia]

They *can* be pretty good sized.. they were one of the original commercial market meat breeds.. prior to and also part of the cornish rock cross that now exists the Rock for size and the Cornish for growth rate.. IIRC. Some folks have gotten CX mislabeled or mixed up mistakenly.. but it's usually identifiable WAY early (chick stage) by the size difference/growth rate..

Have you got an actual weight? What is their age?

Although the breed standard stays the same for Plymouth Rocks.. variation in size can be seen depending heavily upon variety.. partridge for example being on the light side and white on the heavy.. according to my research.

These two are laying really well, one even double yolkers on a regular basis.

They're about 9 months, and I've got barred rocks and rhode island reds from the exact same batch, even roosters, and none of them have the meat that these two have. I don't have an actual weight, but i'd guess around 10-12lbs.

 

[garfieldGeorgia]

Sounds like you have hatchery birds, which are bred for quantity, not quality, therefore often nowhere near the Standard weights, though it sounds like your white Rock hens are.
Plymouth Rock cocks are a massive 9 1/2 lbs, and Plymouth Rock hens are 7 1/2 lbs. It is true that whites are often bigger than other patterns, that is because it is easier to breed a properly sized bird when you don’t have to worry about breeding a fussy pattern, however, the other varieties would be the same size in a perfect world. Also whites just appear bigger because white makes them look bigger. Old fashion advice: lighter colors, like white, can add pounds and give the illusion of a larger frame.
Rhode Island Red cocks are 8 1/2 lbs.
Orpington Cocks are the biggest, fattest, and the fluffiest, at 10 lbs.
I suspect the reason your white Rock hens are closer to the Standard is because they are a less popular hatchery variety, unlike the mass produced Orpingtons and Barred Rocks. Also, white Plymouth Rocks are one of the most easy to find and refined show quality varieties and it is possible the hatchery started out with quality stock.

I've got barred rocks from the exact same batch, they're not this big, and buff orpingtons right around there, and you know how fluffy those are. It's like, i pick these two up, and the meat on those breasts is like something none of my roosters have, let alone other hens.

 

[Amer]

These two are laying really well, one even double yolkers on a regular basis.

They're about 9 months, and I've got barred rocks and rhode island reds from the exact same batch, even roosters, and none of them have the meat that these two have. I don't have an actual weight, but i'd guess around 10-12lbs.

We’ll see when you weigh them. Chickens feel like they weigh more than they do.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

They're about 9 months,

Post pics and get an actual weight.. If your statements are accurate (and I'm not discounting your assessment but real measurements tell a better story) then maybe you have a different breed.. My issue is that a 9 month old bird is still gonna be closer to pullet weight than hen weight, in my experience.. And *most* heritage breeds are gonna be slower growing reaching full weight later rather than sooner.. pointing more toward the possibility of it being a CornishX. Otherwise, I might wonder if it's a white Jersey Giant. You're correct.. none of my heritage breed hens or cocks weigh 10-12 pounds... Bielefelder were some of the largest with cockerels weighing in at 7-8# at 16 weeks.

But as stated by another poster.. with hatcheries chicken genetics are ALL over the place.. Even from the same hatchery.

While I like eating double yolkers.. I hate when my ladies lay them and DON'T consider that to be "good" layer.. it's a reproductive hiccup.. that can (and has) lead to binding and death if the egg gets too large to pass.

No amount of eggs would suffice for ME to support that large of hens.. Feed bills get pretty high.. Things were different though sometime back and it's nice if that doesn't need to be a factor for you!

What color and size are their eggs? What color are the ear lobes? What color is the skin under the feet or in the wing pit?

Thanks for sharing your mystery.. it's good fun entertainment to play guess the breed game.

 

[garfieldGeorgia]

Post pics and get an actual weight.. If your statements are accurate (and I'm not discounting your assessment but real measurements tell a better story) then maybe you have a different breed.. My issue is that a 9 month old bird is still gonna be closer to pullet weight than hen weight, in my experience.. And *most* heritage breeds are gonna be slower growing reaching full weight later rather than sooner.. pointing more toward the possibility of it being a CornishX. Otherwise, I might wonder if it's a white Jersey Giant. You're correct.. none of my heritage breed hens or cocks weigh 10-12 pounds... Bielefelder were some of the largest with cockerels weighing in at 7-8# at 16 weeks.

But as stated by another poster.. with hatcheries chicken genetics are ALL over the place.. Even from the same hatchery.

While I like eating double yolkers.. I hate when my ladies lay them and DON'T consider that to be "good" layer.. it's a reproductive hiccup.. that can (and has) lead to binding and death if the egg gets too large to pass.

No amount of eggs would suffice for ME to support that large of hens.. Feed bills get pretty high.. Things were different though sometime back and it's nice if that doesn't need to be a factor for you!

What color and size are their eggs? What color are the ear lobes? What color is the skin under the feet or in the wing pit?

Thanks for sharing your mystery.. it's good fun entertainment to play guess the breed game.

I'll be weighing them in the next couple days when time allows.

Yeah now that you mention it... I'm looking at breed facts and thinking... they may very well be Jersey Giants. I ordered them from Cackle Hatchery as White Rocks, but they may have substituted as they say they sometimes may have to. The breed facts show white rocks about the same size and weight as similar basic breeds, like RIR, Buff, Australorp, etc. Well, in the exact same batch as these white ones, I got rhode island reds, and barred rocks - hens, and roosters. None of them compare to these. I'll get weight in the next couple days, but being White Jersey Giants def makes way more sense.