How to Get Started With Barred Rock Pedigree Chickens

By Robert Blosl

Secretary

 Plymonth Rock Fanciers Club

Since the article came out in the Back Yard Poultry Magazine last fall on the Heritage Breed Plymonth Rocks my phone and email box has been busy from folks who want to get started with the Barred Rock Large fowl and Bantams. Below I have a list of club members who have barred rock chickens and I will also post a few comments about these people. You can get their phone numbers by typing in on your computer Whitepages.com and you can get their home phone or ask your operator on your telephone for directory assistance and get the number that way. After you read this article and you still need help getting a start please contact  me by phone or email or mail me a letter and I will get to started  somehow in due time. One way to get started is to go to the breeder’s home and purchase a breeding trio or two pairs. Ask the breeder to put to gather a breeding pen for you for the purpose of breeding the size of barred rock that you want to have. One way to do this is breed the daughters back to the father and the sons back to the mother. You could do this for up to three to four years. There is another way and that is a line breeding method which I have three different types that you can use. But for the beginner, just get started and don’t worry about how you are going to mate your birds two and three years from now.

Chicks: Another great way to get started is in the spring and that is to have the breeder ship you ten stated chicks at about four weeks of age overnight express at the post office. The chicks can make the trip to your home easily in two days. Do not try to ship them two day priority mail as this has turned into a four day event with the post office and you will lose chicks this way. There are not many who can help you with Day Old Chicks as you have to have a minimum of twenty five chicks to make a trip. However, if the breeder has different colored rocks or other breeds that you may want or can share with friends, and this will work well very well. One thing you have to remember, is breeders who win big with their barred rocks at shows do not hatch large numbers of chicks per week so when you do get a box of twenty chicks the overall quality may not be as good as a small time breeder who could provide you chicks at say four weeks of age.

Eggs: This is a great way to get a start but the method to ship them is at an all time low with the post office. There are no regulations on how to ship hatching eggs by the post office and they will not write two paragraphs in their regulations on live birds or Live Embryos’ that the eggs need to be placed in the compartment with baby chicks or live birds. If they would, it would be a great way to get eggs from the breeder to your home. What happens today is at ten days in the incubator; your eggs will roll around and are clear which means the air cells are ruptured.  Another method which will work during the spring when it’s not too hot or too cold is ship the eggs UPS Ground. Mark Fragile on the box and pack them very well. This has worked a little for me in the past but I stopped shipping eggs and gone to the started chick method about ten years ago. The other way and it’s a great way is have someone bring you eggs to you by car. Sometimes, a breeder could bring you two or three dozen eggs to a show and a friend could pick them up for you and you could drive to their home to pick them up. Or, you make a trip and go to that person’s home and get the eggs. I did this twenty years ago when I lived in Wisconsin and got five dozen Rhode Island Red eggs from Gary Underwood and the four hundred mile round trip produced me 30 beautiful chicks.

Adult Birds:  One way is to have the breeder ship you by overnight mail a trio or two pair of birds which is a great way for bantams, but very expensive for large fowl because of the weight. One breeder got two trios of Buff Rock Large fowl last fall and all total for the boxes, birds and shipping was $550. But with bantams, you can have a trio shipped for about $60. And that is a good way to get started. Another way is to make a vacation to the breeder’s home by car and pick up the birds that way. Also, you can spend time with the breeder and learn how he breeds for type and color. When you go get you an old fashion tape recorder from Radio Shack and tape your conversation with the breeder as there is no way you can remember everything he or she tells you. Another way to get adult birds is have a friend who is going to a show pick the birds up for you and then you drive to his house to pick them up. Jim Volk got a trio of white rock large fowl from Shelby Harrington at the 2002 Ohio National and then a friend drove all the way back to Washington State and Jim picked them up at his house. This is what I call Net Working. People have been doing this for each other for years. Sometimes, you have to wait two or four months and then meet this person at a show and you pick them up at that show and you pay the friend for his time, gas and the feed to keep your birds.

List of Breeders: I have gone through the list of members in our Club on the web site and below I have what at this time is their names, address, email address, or phone numbers. I wish you the very best of luck in your search for large fowl barred rocks and bantams as they are a Varity of Rocks that need help to keep them from going on the way side. In the April issue of our newsletter, I have articles on how to breed the barred color pattern from some of our best breeders of the breed. The secret to breeding these rocks is like every other color pattern; GO SLOW, GO SMALL AND GO DOWN THE ROAD MIDDLE OF THE Road. Use only the very best birds for breeding. One male and no more than two females and hatch as many as you can afford. Have no more than two matting’s at first. Toe punch your chicks when they come out of the incubator to identify their family line  and take pictures or better yet get you a digital video camera and mail the video to you mentor for help in selecting your birds for next year.  With your bantams, the best size birds are hatched in March and April. For large fowl try to hatch them early between November and February to get the best size birds for show purposes using lights on timers for at least 15 hours of light per day. Within two to three years, you will have the inner eye for selection of what will produce a true to breed barred rock and you will also produce winners in the show room. There is nothing nicer than a clean neat barring barred rock with good rock type. The judges will place your birds on champion row as they realize how hard you had to work to produce a multicolored bird over say a white bird.

Production Plymonth Rocks: I have to mention this type of chicken so there is no confusion on this article as when you go to feed stores, get chicks from mail order hatcheries ect, do not be confused with what this article is all about. You have asked me for the names of breeders who will help you get started with Standard Barred Plymonth Rocks. Standard Rocks means breed to the American Poultry Association or American Bantam Association standards for breed type and color. Hatchery Plymonth Rocks are breed for egg laying and for meat and they are in the business to hatch a chick out of every egg that they can to stay in business and get people started with chickens. All of us got started with hatchery birds and I do not condemn these birds, but they are not what our memb3ers of our club raise. I you ever go to a fair or poultry show and see these birds you will see right away what I am talking about.

List of Breeders: Below I have the list of breeders and I will update the list as I find out they have birds that they will share with you.

Dick Horsman 5 W. Kings Creek Road, Burgettstown, PA 15021  Phone number 1-724-729-3701 dickhorstman@comcast.net   The reason I placed Dick first on the list is he has not only large fowl barred rocks, but a good strain of barred bantams. Also, Dick can put twenty five day old chicks in a box and get you started this way. Dick also has many of the popular varieties of rocks in large fowl and bantams that you could raise or share with others who want good poultry. Dick would be a great source for 4H and FFA leaders to get their kids started in a poultry project as has been doing this for so many years. Dick also goes to many shows around the country to show and judge and can get you started this way. Of all the members of our club who is willing to share his good birds with you Dick is geared the best to help you get going.

Jamie Duckworth 2363 Junior Rd Kenly North Carolina 27542 919-915-5789 dualsprings@yahoo.com   Jamie was a person about two or three years ago who wanted to get started in large fowl Barred Rocks to try to help preserve the breed. He has studied so many great breeders and has used a method for producing the large frame first that will give you quick feathering type birds. Also, the color has not been sacrificed to get these his birds up to the standard for showing. Jamie also has a web site where you can see pictures of his birds and I like what I saw.

Joel Gilman 12187 Cherning Road Glen Allen, Virginia   23059. Joel provides a service very much like Dick Horsman as he has many breeds of large fowl and Joel can put twenty five chicks in a box and get you started as he has a lot of the rare colored varieties of large fowl to make your order complete. Give him a call and see what he can do to help you. He helped Jamie Duckworth get started a few years ago and w will do the same for you. You can also see Joel’s ad in the poultry press each month and get his phone number that way.

Robert Coulter 3170 81^st ST SW Owatonna, Minnesota   gcoulter@myclearwave.net Bob is a master breeder of large fowl and is known for his outstanding Buff Orpingtons. Bob got started with large fowl barred rocks about two years ago and has a fine line going. He may be able to get you started in some manner or you may live close enough to his home to drive their to get birds, chicks or eggs.

Clay and Laura Mills7780 Hill Rd   Ashley Michigan 48806 phone number (989) 847-4423. Clay and his wife went down to Georgia and purchase all of Paul Hardy’s Barred Rock Large Fowl adult breeders one year and got started that way. Paul had some great birds and Clay may be able to help you if you live in his region. He is not geared up to sell chicks or eggs, but he has the gene pool there to get you going with nice large fowl Barred Rocks.

Tom Corey 68 Old 14 Road, Columbiana, Ohio 44408 rockchamp@sbcglobal.net   (330) 482-1408Tom has been raising good bared rock large fowl for many years crossing on a white rock bird to get correct type. He has gotten his color back and would be a great strain if you lived in this region to get started with. I have not been in contact with Tom in a while, but he sent me some eggs of his birds a few years ago and they were very nice type and colored birds. Tom also helped Jamie Duckworth out a few years ago as well. He is a swell guy and a great booster of our club.

Chris Choate 217 Alexander, New York 14005 cchoate@excite.com . Chris is a swell guy and is a master breeder of Call Ducks and just an all around great poultry man. He has a nice strain of large fowl Barred Rocks and if you contact him he may be able to help you get started. Chis does not advertise his birds as he is very busy working and may not be geared to giving you eggs or chicks, but if you live near him or could buy some of his adult birds  at a show I think you would be very happy.

Frank Reese 730 Smoky Valley Road LIndsorg Kansas 67456. Frank is a life time member of this club and has a strain that I myself would love to have. His line was obtained thirty years ago from Ralph Sturgeon of Ohio a great old time breeder of Plymonth Rocks and Ralph got his start from the Greatest Barred Rock breeder in history E B Thompson of New York in the 1920s. Mr. Thompson was nearly unstoppable at Madison Square Garden in that time frame and raised and sold over 4,000 birds per year in his full time poultry business. Frank may be able to help you get started by  meeting you at a show that he may attend like the Shawnee Oklahoma show in December  and furnish you a trio or two to get started or you may drive to his home and pick up a start of his birds. Frank has a large turkey and poultry supply business for heritage poultry. He has a web site for Good Sheppard Farms and you can see his birds on this site. Frank must be very careful who visits his farm to avoid any diseases contacting his birds. But if I lived within 500 miles of his home I would love to have Frank make me up a mating of birds and have this old line that goes back to the 1920s and I would meet him on the side of the road to pick up my trio or where he wanted to meet you. His blood line needs to be kept going with some dedicated breeder of our club.

Marvin Stukel 1983 North Paint Pony Lane Cochise, Arizona   85606 (520) 826-3078. Here is a sleeper cell of great barred rock large fowl. Last year I saw a trio of large fowl birds brought to a show in Pensacola Florida from Marvin’s home and this trio was big and had great color. Marvin has been breeding this line of birds from Glen Holgerson old line that had a great strain of birds 30 years ago. Marvin has bred them to the standard of perfection, but never shows his birds. Marvin also has a great strain of large fowl white Rocks that he has been breeding for over 30 years that are Glen’s old line. I do not know if Norman can supply you with eggs or chicks or even ship you large fowl. But if you have someone who could stop buy his home and get you a started it would well be worth your time. Or make a trip and drive down to his home and pick up your start of birds. The trio of Barred Large Fowl that I saw last fall where as large as my large fowl white rocks which are big.

This concludes the list of large fowl Breeders that I can tell you about at this time. IF there is some corrections to their address or email address please contact me at  katz@gultel.com and I will correct them. I took all the information off of our membership board to save you the trouble. If you contact these breeders please email me and tell me if they can help you. If there are other members of our club who are breeding large fowl rocks and your name is not on this list by all means give me the details and I will add you to the list. There are just not enough breeders in the country to supply the demand right now.  I hope this list of great members of our club can help you. BOB