Commerical Hen???

[Fred's Hens]

Next time I'm in Michigan I'm taking you up on that!

We keep most of them in KY, just in case you're up for a drive and feelin' your oats this winter. Be well.

 

[Wyandottes7]

So what's the difference between a Barred Rock or Plymouth, or are they the same?
Also, do the Barred Rock lay well!

The breed is a Plymouth Rock. The color pattern, or variety, is Barred. From what I've heard (one of my friends has a Barred Rock), they lay quite well!

 

[wislandchickens]

That's very interesting, but also raises more questions for me. Why are the Plymouth subdivisioned? To get those certain divisions out of the Plymouth are they breed with a different type chicken, and if so, wouldn't that be a mixed breed? As to my knowledge, they do that with other certain purebreds, ie.. Blues, Lavenders, Orpingtons and such..
But not with other breeds like RIR, or Austrlop, etc.. Besides beautiful colors and show qualities what is the benefit?
s

Plymouth Rock (sometimes just called a "Rock") is a breed of chicken.Barred is a variety (subdivision within a breed distinguished by different color, comb. etc.) of that breed. Plymouth Rocks come in other varieties, too, including Partridge, White, Buff, and Columbian, though Barred is by far the most common among small-flock owners.

 

[Fred's Hens]

That's very interesting, but also raises more questions for me. Why are the Plymouth subdivisioned? To get those certain divisions out of the Plymouth are they breed with a different type chicken, and if so, wouldn't that be a mixed breed? As to my knowledge, they do that with other certain purebreds, ie.. Blues, Lavenders, Orpingtons and such..
But not with other breeds like RIR, or Austrlop, etc.. Besides beautiful colors and show qualities what is the benefit?
s

The breed's name isn't Plymouths. It is Plymouth Rocks. Most folks just say Rocks. The come in several varieties, Buff, White, Barred, Partridge, Columbian, etc.

However, if you were to picture these birds without their individual feather coloration, just picture them in black silhouette, they must all look identical. Same Standard of Perfection applies to all of them, for all of them are Rocks. Plymouth Rocks.

Breeds of chickens are not species like Robins or Sparrows, or Bald Eagles. A breed is a human idea. The originators of the breed made a composite bird using several sources, several breeds of birds some 130-140 years ago. When this composite bird, the Barred Rock (the original Rock) was shown around the country, bred true to it's self, and was stable genetically, a detailed standard was written and explicit and complete drawings (think blueprints) for the Rock rendered. This Standard and these drawings was submitted to the American Poultry Association and the breed was accepted.

The Rock, like all composite breeds, can only maintain its unique and particular look and type by special care in breeding. This is considered pure breeding. Without breeding selectively, with careful compliance to the breed's Standard, the composite begins to genetically "re-arrange" itself and the resultant generations of chicks eventually grow up to be birds that sort of, kinda resemble the original breed, but just aren't true to the breed anymore. That is why the OP's original question was important. Why did the judge put a "commercial bird" tag on the show cage? Because it was obvious to the judge and to me as well that the bird shown was not a Barred Rock, not according to the Standard, but only represented loosely as it had been bred by commercial hatchery, where breeding to type isn't much of a serious consideration. Hope that helps.

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

Fred, very nice and concise answer.