Barred Rock

We have three barred rocks, and we love them, but they do have attitude, especially Tabitha. When I pick her up she talks to me, though I am not sure if they are nice words or not so nice. They are only 16 weeks so we don't have eggs yet but I heard they are great layers. Overall they are quite friendly, although one of ours, Martha, is a little less loving of attention, she kinda gets squawky and flighty when picked up. One downside is they are insatiably curious and they love to investigate things with their beaks, be it my rain boots, pants, moles or skin. They bite to get attention and not soft bites either, hard ones. they also tend to be kinda bossy and dominant with other chickens especially younger ones. All in all, they are sweet and are a good breed for those looking for a chicken with personality, for they have that in abundance.

My Barred Rock, Roxy, is the meanest chicken I own. Just this morning while treating my duck for bumblefoot, she jumped on me and using her toenails as spurs, raked them down my leg. She pecks at my blind-in-one-eye hen, my duck and my silkie. Sounds like stew pot camp is getting a new member. She is such a good layer though.
-Liv

i just got my barred rocks this spring as chicks (they are all pullets)so they have not started to lay yet, but are great chickens so far. my siblings have handled them lots, even having them perch on their shoulders and they have never even tried to peck them!

I have loved all off the barred rocks that I have owned. They are definitely the top dogs in my flocks. My poor roosters are all terrified of them! They love to follow anyone with food, and do well in stressful situations and around kids(I bring mine to preschools). They also are very intelligent. My dog had a treat dispenser with a button that would dispense corn kernels (his favorite treat). Dog never figured it out, but the barred rocks did and would eat all the corn in an afternoon. They also figured out the cat door into the garage where I store scratch. Needless to say, they are all fat and happy.

I have a barred rock called May. She is an elegant lady with a beautiful soul and is a great layer.


My only slight con is that she personally gets loud when she's clucking away.

Our barred rock is the most friendly bird ever! She really has a personality.

Of all my hens, by Barred Rock, Barbara, is my absolute favorite! She does well in her flock, not aggressive or territorial. She gives me an egg daily, even in the winter! She is my most tame bird, and will follow me around whenever I'm in her pasture. She'll let me carry her around and couldn't care less.

I will definitely always have a Barred Rock in my flock.

I love this breed,a for sure starter breed,ther nice,pretty,like being held,great with children,you should all get some(if you want I suppose )

When we first started raising chickens four years ago we got 12 birds - 3 barred rocks, 3 white rocks, 3 buff orpingtons, and 3 easter eggers. The barred rocks were beautiful and had a strong personality right from the start. Some of them were aggressive and would come up and peck, but when we added a rooster to the flock later on, they stopped. They laid big brown eggs almost daily and were at the top of the pecking order. Other chickens MOVED to make room for them on the top bar!

One of our barred rocks passed away from ascites this last fall, as we got our birds from tractor supply stock, and not from a reputable breeder. The other two, now four years old, still lay on occasion, probably once or twice a week. One of them is our sassy, stubborn, funny girl. While the other hens go running for the hills when our dog goes in (our dog does not attack the chickens but she loves to sniff their butts), this barred turns right around, puffs up, and threatens to peck her right on the nose. Dog avoids her now. She was also the only chicken to not put up with our teenage ducks trying to test the boundaries. When the young ducks tried to chase off all the chickens so they could gobble up all the snacks this hen was the one who wasn't going to put up with their nonsense. Now they're all friendly and peaceful.

She's really friendly. The other barred is less personable and doesn't really stand out much. This one always stands out. She tried to fly in the house through window, probably thinking it was open one day. She's always up on the deck, waiting for us to come out, and likes to follow us wherever we go. She'll occasionally come up and gently peck at anything she sees, so cautiously that it doesn't hurt one bit and she's just checking for stuff.

Barred rocks just don't put up with any nonsense! They're great layers for new flock owners, but just know they can be stubborn and sassy and are pretty little escape artists.

We have 21 BR hens. Ordered 26 as day old chicks from Cackle Hatchery 2 years ago. They all arrived alive and adorable! We hand fed them clover once we moved them to their chicken tractor. We lost 1 to piling during a storm and several others to predation(hawks and neighbor dogs) and one mystery death. They are incredible birds and great layers. We also have Buff Orpingtons and the BR hens are much sweeter than the BOs! If they fly out of the fence to check out the clover I just walk up to them and they squat for me to pick them up. The broody hens chortle at me, but will let me just lift them up to gather eggs every day. We don't have a BR rooster, but I wish we did-they are gorgeous! They love clover and a good wattle/comb petting.

Over all this is a great family friendly breed that is curious about their people and will come right up to you to get pet. And the one health condition ours had may not be the case for all of them.

As with most "broiler" birds, this duel purpose bird leans more toward the meat chicken category though it does have a very good egg laying record with me. Ours consistently laid about 4 eggs a week but as she got older we noticed that her abdomen was filling up with liquids. Soon the feathers from around her vent area were gone.

I realize that in most cases this bird would be eaten long before this happens but ours at the time were pets so we kept her long into her old age (about 6 years old). By then she had stopped laying but still seemed like a happy bird despite the size of her large exposed bottom. She did not die of this condition but did pass away when she fell into a water bucket and was unable to get out due to her large size (friends watched our chickens during a move and this had never happened to their 50+ chickens in all the years that they had had them).

Ours were BR bantams. Our roosters seemed to think that the BR's especially were hotties out of all the hens . It created problems sometimes.

I'm writing this review on the behalf of a family member who has 6 barred rocks. She gets between 4-6 extra large eggs per day. I can't speak much about friendliness since she didn't hold them as chicks or anything, but they will run up to you when you have treats. The only negative is that they are very noisy and almost constantly talking at loud volume.

Just as a note, her barred rocks were extremely good flyers/jumpers as young hens. They could fly (without touching the ground) for a distance of about 30 feet, and could jump at least 6ft high. Now, they can only jump 4ft.

I love my barred rock hens. I used to have a rooster too. The rooster was horrible for meat. the hens lay awesome huge eggs. They sometimes peck on the other younger hens but that is just the pecking order.

I cant say a whole lot about this breed since the chicks only arrived yesterday but I got 3 Barred Rock, 3 Amberlink and 3 Rhode Island Reds. All yesterday and so far today two of the three Barred Rocks are aggressive to the other chicks, pecking and grabbing their downy feathers then shaking their heads like angry dogs while the victims screech out in pain and panic I had to put those two by themselves today to give the others a break. I'm only used to my sweet Speckled Sussex so this behavior is new to me. The Barred Rocks were straight run...does this indicate that the two meanies might be cockerels? So far I'm not loving them, but I hope that changes.

I love this breed! My barred rock (Fanny) lays lots of eggs and isn't that aggressive, a lot of people say that they are aggressive. Very beautiful markings and colors.

I don't know if it is a common trait with these chicks, but the pullets I recently purchased from a hatchey are very aggressive. They go after me when I am trying to move them to and from their outdoor pen. I have some very sweet black australorps from the same hatchery, and they are wonderful. It could be a growth stage with them, but they have been handled daily since I got them, and they are tough. Will not get the breed again. Edited to say that they are not aggressive now, they coming running up to me for food, etc. Must have been their teenage rebellious stage, lol.

I absolutely love Fred My Boy. He is very good to the ladies, very watchful of them and does well with his mate, our Silkie (Banana), who is also a roo. Fred My Boy, is 7 months old and I am pleased to say that he has yet to attack anyone and is kind to us about letting us know our boundaries. All I ever hear is good things about this type of chicken. I do not have any lady Barred Rocks but I heard they are one of the best overall laying hens. Just my thoughts and opinions.

I have had two Barred Rocks. One was Lady Lacey (R.I.P.), and one was Speckles. Lacey was a good layer until she became randomly sick at about three years old. Speckles was a rooster, and I had him from a chick until a few months after he started to crow (the neighbors complained). We found a good home for him farther out in the country, but he was sooo friendly. It was probably because I raised him from so young, but he would jump on my lap and fall asleep in my arms. He never attacked me or any of the three hens i had at that time. BTW he was as tall as my knees (I was around 5'2'') and weighed like 16-18 pounds.

Unbelievably, my babies are already laying- at 4 1/2 months! Two out of four... excellent breed, they are sweet natured and healthy. I wish I could tell them apart LOL