Raising Large Fowl Welsummer, RC Rhode Island Red,
(02-15-2008)
Plymouth Rocks
Class: American
The first breed of poultry to bear this name was first exhibited at Americas first poultry show, held at Boston, Massachusetts 1849. It is believed that these original fowls lost their identity and that the progenitors of our present Barred Plymouth Rocks were first exhibited at Worcester, Massachusetts in 1869. These were composites of several blood lines. The first and most prominent cross was that of a Dominique male with Black Cochin or Black Java females which was originally made at Putnam, Connecticut. The Dominique male used was not the American or Rose Comb Dominique male which became a Standard breed in 1874, but a single combed, hawk-colored fowl commonly found in that locality. This Plymouth Rock was recognized as a distinct breed and was admitted to the first American Standard of Excellence, published at buffalo New York, January 15, 1874.
Whether the Plymouth Rock originated from a Dominique-Black Cochin or from a Dominique Black Java cross was for a time a much mooted question. The fact that "Black Cochin" or "Black Java” has been used synonymously in show classifications before the first poultry standard was made in 1873 may have led to confusing the Java with the Cochin.
ECONOMIC QUALITIES
Dual purpose fowls for the production of eggs and meat. Color of skin, yellow, color of egg shells, brown There may be considerable difference in the shades or tints of the shells, which vary from a very light to a dark brown, depending on the strain and on the stage of production.
Overlarge specimens are not to be desired, they become clumsy and poor producers. They are not the active useful fowl desired for this dual purpose breed.
