Barred Rock

Very sad.I may have to give these hens up if they continue to make this much noise. I don't mind a celebratory egg song here and there but an all day chorus is a whole different ball game.

Oh man! I love this breed probably because of my barred rock roo Chester. He is so sweet and loves his hens. He would never hurt the family but seems to be a guard rooster! puffs all up when strangers come near. He loves me and is gorgeous. Huge friendly eyes. As for the hens these ladies love to talk! They are also great layers.

These birds have been the foundation of our flock. They have stood up to the arid Colorado weather here which means cold winters, hot summers and not much rain so no many plants or bugs. Very friendly, anyone can pick them up. Still some of our best layers going into their 3rd laying season. Our only broody hen is a Barred Rock and she is happy to sit a large clutch of eggs every year. Would definitely get this breed again.

My barred rocks had me so worried when I first had them. I was convinced they were both roosters because they were mean, bossy, crowed, and had spurs! Turns out, they are fantastic layers. They just like to rule the roost. Once they started molting (before my other breeds that first year) they were quite humbled and no longer dominate so aggressively. They still rule the roost, but now only the other chickens fear them (not my children).
They are tough girls, though, and since I have no roosters, I'm thankful for the role they play in the flock. They shout 'hawk' and move the other chickens to shelter when birds fly overhead (or planes!) and they peck at the cat to keep her in line. My oldest is currently five years old and still laying.

I have one full grown barred rock though I have had others in the past. Each one I have had is very bossy and very intent on proving pecking order. I have to keep my one locked up when I first start to do integration with my younger birds because she will not just show she is the boss, but she will run from food bin to food bin to keep them from eating. Which means, I wind up with skinny chicks and a skinny barred rock.

She does lay me about 5-6 eggs a week it seems. And they are good eggs. Just gave us a double yolker the other day. She isn't the most social of birds but then again she isn't exactly antisocial either. She just doesn't like to be picked up, though once you do pick her up she relaxes and chills out in your lap.

All in all she is a good bird, just not quite the type I would like a whole flock of. I think they would drive me insane trying to keep enough food and water containers out.

They are the perfect chicken! Very easy going chicken's great to have around kids. Easy to mix with other breeds of chicken's also I mix them with guinea fowl the babies always turn out great. They make wonderful mom's only standing with my silkies when it come's to broodness. My hen's lay daily some times two egg's a day! Just an all around perfect breed!

we had a barred rock named Pecky, we got her on accident at dells! we thought we were getting 3 black sex links but we ended up with 2 sex links and a barred rock, she was very nice and would almost beg you to pick her up, however she continuously was getting a new illness every summer, she was still a good layer and very pretty to look at. i am sorry to say she died last year from mareks disease luckily it did not have time to spread to the rest of the flock. over all they are very goodhearted birds.

My banty rooster is my baby! He is sooooooo cuuute and sweeeeeet!

In my flock of 10 I have 7 Buff Orpingtons and 3 Barred Rocks... my rocks are silly, sweet, outgoing chickens but they are beating up my very docile orpingtons. How do I know this? well lets just say that my Orpingtons are all having issues with ratty looking feathers but my barred Rocks are in absolutely perfect feather. While I love my rocks to bits, I am going to have to rehome them as it is just not fair to the other chickens in the flock. I had done my research but did not realize how bossy the Barred Rocks could be. If you have a flock with very docile girls in it, I would not recommend Rocks.

Our Barred Rocks are the most pleasant birds to have around. They talk to us; one even imitated the tonal patterns of human speech when she saw us.

I have Barred Rock hens.
The first is Oreo, very laid-back and Nonchalant. Loves to sit on my lap. Love attention.
The second is Lulu, This hen is a primadonna. Dramatic. If I don't pay attention to her, she will peck me until I pick her up and pet her.
They are both different. But they are both very great with kids.
I'd love to have more of this breed in the future!

We have a barred rock, a little bantam. She is a curious lady and keeps the other three bantams in order. She likes to watch the children, staying about 5ft away at all times. Our barred rock has so many different noises and calls, a joy to watch and chatter with. When 6 months old she became broody, but was easy to break. She layers 4-5 eggs each week and loves to eat slugs. Fast-forward 1 year - I now have 2 more Barred Rocks. These 2 hens are not bantams. Chloe lays tan eggs, usually double yoke. Zoey is my pet. She is calm and very curious.

Mine are all very good layers and are HUGE.

I've had Barred Rock chickens before including a rooster. The hens were productive brown egg layers, which laid a medium size egg daily. The rooster was docile towards me, however aggressive towards other humans and wildlife in the area. On a positive note, he saved my flock from coyotes because of his protective behavior. Their color pattern isn't a favorite of mine but that is only opinion!

"Ace" the Barred Rock rooster:



A few Barred Rock hens:

I love the feather pattern.

My barred rock cockerel is wonderful! He is attractive, social, and sweet, and doesn't seem to mind being held; whereas my two pullets race about the coop at the prospect, and protest vocally when caught or petted.
In small numbers, they're a nice and interesting addition to a backyard flock.

I have two barred rock hens that I raised with two RIR hens and they all get along very well. The BRs are definitely less noisy, they follow me around, and they do seem a bit more intelligent than the RIR girls. I usually get an egg a day from them all and have to say that the BRs are a great breed. They also don't mind being handled/picked up.

I had a flock of 5 when I first started with chickens, One of my hens would run over and jump on your lap and snuggle you. When she was a chick she would jump out of the brooder when you came home. I would call her name and she would jump to the edge and wait for you to pick her up. When she got bigger, we moved them to the floor inside, when you sat at the table she would jump onto your back, climb up, and sit on the table with you. She was the most amazing and friendly bird, to humans. That flock destroyed eachother, one of my hens was plucked so hard you could see her SPINE! We had to make her a special vest and keep her inside for a few months. That flock was annihilated by a coyote one night, and I dropped chickens for a while
This summer I got 2 pullets from the owner of the barn that my horse is stabled at. Esther and Cynthia. Esther grew faster than Cynthia and had me worried she was a roo, but she lays a lovely, large, brown egg. Cynthia lays a large, pale brown egg. They follow you around the yard and stare at you through the door when you go inside, they get along well with my RIR Roo but are very agressive to smaller birds.
All and all this is a good breed for eggs, friendly with humans, but they destroy other birds.

Our girl, Kiki, is a very sweet girl who constantly seems to be the follower. She definitely is our shy bird, preferring to watch the other girls and then decide to join. She HATES plastic bags and brooms and isn't afraid to let us know! She is a steady layer of medium eggs, daily, with her production just now ceasing as she has entered moult. Definitely a worthy bird who is a cutie and holds her own when it comes to production!

Barred rocks are over all pretty good birds, They are cold hardy and lay well. They are a very common breed, and are easy to maintain.
I would especially recommend these birds to people just beginning with birds because they are so easy to maintain. But roosters can be very mean!