Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Excited to pick up 20 ready-to-lay hens today

On my day off (I took a vacation day just for this), I’ve picked up 10 Columbian Rock Cross hens and 10 Barred Plymouth Rock hens.  They are about 19 to 20-week old young hens.  I know pretty much about Barred Plymouth Rock breed as I have a few of them already.  But not Columbian Rock.  I’ve searched the internet about Columbian Rock breed.  Based on the images I found, they look like Brahma breed but without feathers on the feet. For my own information, I copied and pasted the description below from this site Columbian Rock Cross.
Produced by mating a Rhode Island Red female with a Columbian male, this robust, dual-purpose bird is known for its ability to efficiently produce eggs even in the coldest of climates. An excellent layer of cream colored brown eggs with a calm good natured disposition, this cross is a great choice for the family flock. Females are basic white with the traditional Columbian pattern of black laced across the neck and black-trimmed wing tips and tails. 


Here's the other description (I copied and pasted) of the breed according to the Chicken Forum
The Columbian Rock, is a crossbreed which falls under the Plymouth Rock. They are a generally great breed for farms. They are not known to be aggressive and are easily tamed as well. Very docile. They are commonly bred for both its egg-laying capability as well as its meat. Today, the Columbian Rock are tagged as one of the hardest breed to find.

The Columbian Rock chickens have long, broad back and they also possess a moderately deep and full breast plus a single average-sized comb. They were bred in the U.S. in the mid-19th century.

Since the Columbian Rock is only a sub-breed of the Plymouth Rocks, we can distinctly classify the Columbian Rock as the breed with white or cream-colored feathers on its neck, head and some parts of its wings and then having black covering for its whole body up to its tail. Their feet are not covered with feathers. The average weight for the rooster is about 7.5 lbs to 9.5 lbs. They lay light to medium brown eggs with a touch of pink.


I purchased them from the local farm supply and they were hatched by Frey’s Hatchery.  Since these are actually hens that had just start laying, it’s guaranteed that there are no roosters.  I’m tired of them.  I took today (Wednesday) as a vacation on my day job so I can focus on handling these 20 new hens.  I separated them during the day because I don’t know if my existing flock will bully these newcomers who are very skittish.  

Here's the videos I took today.

And here's some pictures I took today.
A Barred Plymouth Rock hen peeking through the hole.  Taken inside the vehicle while I'm transporting them home.

Temporarily separated the newcomers.  Just for the day.

I couldn't figure out where to put them temporarily so I used the dollhouse.  Don't ask why we have a dollhouse.  I picked it up long time ago from Goodwill for my imaginary future unborn child that will probably never happen (haha).

These are Columbian Rock Cross breeds.  Unusual combs.

They are very scared.  More scared than the Barred Rocks.
 I will merge them tonight once it's dark with the rest.

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