Backyard Poultry Forum

Please look over these birds and give me a honest opinion of their quality, the birds are nearing 12 months old. They are a bit agitated with me in the corner with the camera.
Just need some guidance.

Thanks peterock

Need to have pics of them on the ground before can make a reasonable assessment of their type.

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denisL

The photo is the best I can do at the moment.

peterock

well, I think they look awsome, but saying that, I know not much about Plymoth Rock standards.

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The majestic Campine.
Should be classed as a game bird.

I don't know a lot about Rocks and Denis is correct - type (their shape) needs to be assessed standing on the ground - but to my eye, the barring is excellent - very regular and consistent and forms a clear "line" around the bird.

The rooster's type seems good - they're meant to be large round solid birds, as I recall, but not fluffy like Australorps or Orpingtons. The wing obstructs his chest - is it a bit cut away there, or just the angle of the photo?

I'd like to hear from experts, and maybe see some more photos over the next few days, but I reckon they're pretty good representatives of the breed.

Thanks infoaddict for your encouraging comments,

I have been breeding DB Rocks as a hobby for 20 years starting off with an old line from (deceased breeder) and added Kuys blood soon after, I have stayed with that line selecting what I thought were the best but without much guidance. Last year for Xmas I received a copy of Les Dowdle's Plymouth Rock book and have read it from cover to cover many times and it certainly contains a lot of advice and information.
My biggest frustration is achieving good barring in the wings and consistent yellow legs in the hens, now I assume my fowls must be from the cockerel breeding line as nearly all the cockerels have good yellow legs and excellent barring.
Any suggestions as to how to improve the hens with what type of cockerel to use would be appreciated as like Les Dowdle would say "if all you had to do was breed a champion rooster with a champion hen to get a pen full of champions, it would be easy", I just need some guidance from someone who's done it before.

I will post more photos later on, but I'm off up North till after Xmas.

Thanks peterock

I'd like to hear from experts, and maybe see some more photos over the next few days, but I reckon they're pretty good representatives of the breed.

I agree with infoaddict. ( sorry, I stuffed up the quote )

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The majestic Campine.
Should be classed as a game bird.

The barring looks beautiful to me.

I have 4 pictures of my Rocks in my gallery that I still can't upload for some odd reason.
If someone can throw em up for me they are a good comparison to judge off.

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Mick

Nope lol. Someone helped out.
Ok, these are fair birds n I can't take credit for the original line. They are a fair representation of the breed. Nice type. Good barring. Strong leg color.
Size in Rocks is all important n these are big. Courses of brick behind them show that. Good bone n super meaty to handle.
Peter I like your birds mate. The barring looks good n they are fair type. Leg color in my line gets better with age. They start out almost black, then green n finally bright yellow.
If you pm me ill give you a couple of numbers of guys that will help you out with your breeding.
Honestly mate they are some of the better Rocks I've seen. Good ones are very hard to find.

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Mick

Peterock and Micki - they're all excellent barred rocks

A little bit jealous! Why don't mine look like that!

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8 DB plymouth rocks and 2 wyandottes

You don't have to know much about a breed to be able to pick a good line, You have achieved interest and success, congrats
peterock 8)

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The majestic Campine.
Should be classed as a game bird.

Back from up North about to go down South,

Thanks for the feedback, I will try to post some more photos of older birds (the breed stock) although they are starting to look be-bedraggled after the breeding season.
Its good to know that my type is OK and I just need to work on some finer points (size, barring, leg and beak colour) sounds easy !!. At least I have some good starting blocks to build with, why can't they breed like mice and get multiple generations a year to speed up things a little.

peterock

Hi all,

New to the site.
Some of the best Rocks I’ve seen in awhile.
Does anyone sell eggs please for incubation.

Cheers
Wal

these look pretty good to me Peterock, similar to my own, I am also in mid north SA and looking for new genetics if you have anything.