Plymouth Rocks. 
195 
According to the advocates of this double-barrelled or two-pen system of breeding, the first pen of Barred 
Rocks I started with were an ideal pen for pullet-breeding, but what was the result ? Simply not a single 
chicken fit for the Show pen— the pullets all too dark^ the cockerels all too light— diX\6. this in face of the fact 
that two out of the three hens which the pen contained proved afterwards to he two of the best Show and 
breeding hens in Australia, viz., "Champion Empress " and "Cuckoo." These two hens were pretty nigh 
perfect in colour, and when afterwards mated (with the addition of "Champion Pet" to the pen), to a cock as 
decided and clear in markings as could be procured, the result was a marvellous one; and from that one pen of 
birds, for that year alone, I sold close on £200 worth of progeny, the chickens including a champion and prize- 
winners of both sexes at the big shows. No doubt the double-barrelled theory has arisen from the fact that the 
natural tendency of Barred Rocks is to throw light cockerels and dark pullets, this being the reversion to the 
light barred Dominique male and black female of the parent stock; but experience proves that this tendency is 
only decided when the breeding pen is constituted of two different shades — the cock too dark, or a light blue 
cock and dark hens. These mi.xed shades may blend in some few instances in a very small percentage of the 
chickens, but it will be a very small percentage, and the bulk of those bred in this way will consist of bad 
coloured birds. "The real Mackay " in breeding for colour is to put the best coloured birds you can possibly 
obtain of each sex together, whether breeding Barred, Whites, or Buffs. In Barred let your whole pen be 
' true blue ' in colour, and as near the one shade as possible throughout, and as ' like begets like ' far surer in 
these matters than any unlikes are likely to blend, you will find this system knock the double-barrelled system 
' kite high,' and that by following it you can produce from the one pen both cockerels and pullets of the 
correct shade, and a far larger percentage than by trying any mixed methods. If possible, only use cocks 
with good clear, decidedly barred hackles, free from laced feathers. Hackle-marking is one of the weakest 
points in Barred Rocks in this portion of the Empire, and more attention must be paid to it. Given a cock 
particularly good in hackle, and his chickens can nearly always be depended on to be clear in barring 
throughout, and very free from smudge or mossiness. For the rest, as regards breeding for colour and 
markings, keep in mind the hints given in the previous portions of this chapter, and you should be on the 
right track to make a fair start ; but if you do get off the mark well, and even with a bound, don't let early 
success spoil you by creating over-confidence and carelessness. Always remember that to win and merit 
continued success in this breed, close and continued study and perseverance are absolutely necessary. In 
selecting the male bird for the breeding pen do not take a small one, but a typical, compact, medium-sized 
bird is preferable to a large one, should the latter be deficient in type or a trifle weak in his legs. Of course, 
if a good all-round big bird is available, all the better, but anything above Standard size is not imperative in 
the cock. Impress of colour and markings are chiefly required from him, as size can in all instances be 
secured in the progeny by the selection of large-framed, sound constitutioned hens. 
" For preference, use a well-developed cockerel on second season hens for a start ; or, failing this, a 
two-year-old cock on full-grown pullets, but do not breed from youngsters on either side before they are fnlly 
developed. If you do, a lot of your early chicks will, probably, suffer from deformities and troubles similar 
to those following an overdose of in-breeding, and if you want vigour and growth in your chickens right from 
the shell never over-work the Lord of the Harem. Limit his mates to three, or at the most four, and you 
give the male bird a chance to print his impress on strong and healthy progeny. From a pen so constituted 
150 to 200 chickens can be bred and reared in a season, through the extra fertility of the eggs and strength 
of the chicks, fully as many as most breeders get from a pen of ten or a dozen hens. Some cocks stamp 
their good points, some their bad ones on their progeny most distinctly. With all the male birds you use 
study these results closely, and the following year select the heads of your breeding pens accordingly. 
"In excusing myself for one little incursion into the rearing and fe ding department, and for giving a hint, 
which, in all probability, has been already embodied earlier in this work in the Chapter dealing with chicken- 
hood. I do so, solely, owing to my keen desire to omit nothing, that I believe essential, from a Rock breeder's 
point of view, as I consider it is of so much value that it cannot be repeated too oft, and that is bone meal for 
bone. If you want big bone, and strong, in the first place breed for it by constituting your pen aright This 
