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Barred Rock

Very tame nice breed that gives you big beautiful brown eggs. They aren't that loud and the...
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General Information

Breed Purpose
Dual Purpose
Comb
Single
Broodiness
Average
Climate Tolerance
All Climates
Egg Productivity
Medium
Egg Size
Large
Egg Color
Brown
Breed Temperament
Kind, Skittish
Breed Colors/Varieties
Barred (black and white)
Breed Size
Large Fowl
APA/ABA Class
American
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Barred Rock Rooster​

The Plymouth Rock a.k.a. Barred Rock is a very popular duel-purpose American breed, known for their excellent laying ability, general hardiness, and calm good nature which makes them a good choice for small backyard flocks and homesteaders.

Chickens called "Plymouth Rocks" were shown as early as 1849, but that flock disappeared and later strains from several different breeders combined to form the foundation of today’s Plymouth Rock breed. Mr. D.A. Upham of Worcester, MA is credited as being one of the primary influences on the breed, he first exhibited his birds at the Worcester, MA poultry exhibition in 1869. His birds are generally acknowledged to be the ancestors of the breed we know today.

A number of different breeds are reputed to have gone into the formation of the Plymouth Rock, including Dominique, Brahma, Black Java and Cochin. The breed gained a great deal of popularity quickly and the Plymouth Rock became the most popular farm chicken in the United States up until WWII.

The original color of the breed was Barred and early in the breeds history the name "Plymouth Rock" implied a barred bird. Barred varieties remain the most popular color today. As more color varieties were developed, the name Plymouth Rock became the designation for the entire breed, which can now can be found in other colors including White, Buff, Partridge, Silver Penciled, Columbian and Blue.

The Barred Plymouth Rock was one of the breeds used as the foundation for the commercial broiler industry in the united States in the 1920's and the White Rock is still often used as the female side of the Cornish Rocks or Cornish Cross type commercial broiler cross.

They are single combed, quite winter hardy, and the hens are good layers of brown eggs. They are occasionally broody and make good setters and mothers.

The Plymouth Rock breed was recognized by the APA in 1874 and is on The Livestock Conservancy's Recovering list.

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Barred Rock chicks

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Barred Rock Juvenile (pullet)

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Barred Rock hen
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Latest reviews

BarredRock412
Pros: Great with kids, friendly, aware of predators, quiet.
Cons: Eats more than our two RIRs combined, often gets pecked on by others.
I love my barred rock. We bought her off craigslist from a breeder when she was about four months old. She's great with kids, loves being picked up and has never attacked, and absolutely LOVES people. Her feathers are extremely soft and she has a lot of fluff. She is very trusting and will fall asleep in my lap. The only time she is ever loud is if she sees a predator, she will squawk loudly and hide when she sees anything in the sky- airplanes, crows, literally anything. She doesn't even trust the family dog. She is a great layer but eats so much... it's shocking how much of a foodie she is. Since she is so docile, she is at the bottom of the pecking order and gets pecked on by the others. If you're looking for a family-friendly bird and great layer, I would highly recommend the barred rock.
Purchase Date
August 2020
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kbroom
kbroom
These Barred Rocks are so beautiful. I'd love to have those. I'm still in the decision stage. So far, I think I'll start out with just two babies. I'm still working on their coop. I have the actual core, but I must fence in underneath the back upstairs deck. It will be 20X20 X10. That should give them plenty of room. I was going to let them be free range, but after watching some videos, where a man said, "If you're going to be free range, just understand that you're going to have some dead chickens," I decided to keep them in a large cage. Their coop will be inside.
DesertGrrl
Pros: - Very gentle and calm birds.
- Makes cute sounds
- People friendly
Cons: - Don't do well in hot weather/climate.
- EATS A LOT OF FEED
My Barred Rock is totally awesome!
Does well with my other chick.
Very chill and laid back and loves sitting on my shoulder nicely.
She doesn't bite and is overall an amazing bird.
She will run up to me if I'm near the coop.

The Bad:
- My Barred Rock is very intolerant to hot weather (mostly black feathers is probably why) and will pant and have wings out (I live in the desert, but my Delaware does fine in this weather).
- Eats a lot of food almost non-stop.
They have a huge appetite for food.
Purchase Price
Free. Was a gift.
Purchase Date
Sept. 26, 2020
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RosiePosey
Pros: Great layer, easy keepers, larger sized.
Cons: Aggressive
We keep free-range chickens that just go in the coop at night so it's important to us to have a fairly protective rooster. Oreo is a fantastic protector of his ladies and treats them all well. He's fought off the neighbor's cat, a fox, and a hawk so far that we've seen. The downside to that is he sometimes thinks he needs to fight us off too! Somedays he's sweet and will eat out of your hand. The next day you round a corner or get out of the car and he's flapping up at you trying to get you with his spurs. The hens are aggressive with the other girls in our mixed flock too. The leghorns can hold their own but nobody else wants to be near them. They do lie a good sized egg consistently and for our purposes, they work. I probably wouldn't recommend this Roo for a more pet-type boy nor the hens for a mixed flock that is cooped as they may beat up the other girls.
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IslandRockFarm
IslandRockFarm
Same happens with us! They are great producers but they are mean hens. We had to move a couple hens to a different coop because they would bully, feather pluck, and wouldn't allow them to eat. This happened though after a mink attack where some hens died, and may have shifted the power dynamic.
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Sealizrus19
Sealizrus19
My hens are mean bullies too. Will probably never get more again...
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Comments

KathryninQuebec
barredrockin said:
I have 50+ barred rocks. They are Free Range. I lock them up at night after the roosters make sure all hens are in. The Hens are very calm. The roos are 1.5 years old and are calm and aggressive. If I pick up a hen and she makes a crying noise then I will have all 4 Roos looking to lay down the law which is why I keep them. I haven't lost a bird to anything. I had a hawk attack a rooster a year ago and I had 3 roosters come to his rescue and all there was is flying brown feathers. That hawk hasn't been back since. I have to say they are a very good breed and the roos will come up to me and are calm.
Click to expand...
Do you let your hens go broody and raise their own? This is what we are looking for in a chicken. We don't want to rely on an electric incubator if there happens to be a life changing event.
 
Liz Birdlover
They haven't met my Rocky Roo! Raised with love from a very young age, I can assure you, he is not so tame, will attack and spur strangers, only tolerates me, and will spur me unless I grab him, scoop him up and carry him around as I try to do one-handed chicken chores as he sometimes pecks or bites at me, usually getting a beak full of my clothing, as I've learned to wear long sleeves/pants around his ornery, feathered butt! When I offer my flock treats, they all peck the treats gently, but he pecks hard, like he is ticked off that my hand is still touching "his" treat. He also has a very loud crow, louder than my other 2 Roo's., which makes him a great "watch bird" keeping us alerted to anyone outside within sight or driving down our lane. People have driven down our road to "find out where that loud rooster lives" and they live over a mile away. LOL He is a gorgeous, handsome Roo, and he takes his job very seriously, always on duty, and despite his grumpiness, I love him. :)

Sweet Pea is Rocky Roo's girl, she is a nice hen, but not so nice to other hens at times. She is very skittish, even though I gave both her and Rocky lots of attention, pets and hugs when they were young. She lays very beautiful, smooth, large but perfectly shaped, light brown eggs.

I love my Barred Rocks! They always make me smile. They're super cute when I give them treats or mealworms, making sweet sounds. They are a joy to have.
 
puckpuck8
Originally had four bared rocks, one a year later one hen had some problems and passed on. I got a young hen to replace her, the older hens would chase the new hen a lot. A neighbor told me when they had a chicken farm, that introducing new hens can be frustrating. What I needed is to get a buddy for the new hen, sure enough it worked. The two young hens got chased around together. Eventually the older hens have left them alone except for the pecking order thing. In town you can't have a rooster, which would come in handy to keep an eye on the local red tail.
 
puckpuck8
The bared rocks that I got originally for eggs, I never named them because someday you might eat them for stew. Well that changed, when you develop a relationship with an animal it is hard to think about their demise. So I decided to name them and let them live out their lives as retired senior hens after providing eggs, they did their job. If you go hunting for deer you don't develop a relationship, that's short term and a food source. The hens are a decision of whether you use them for eggs or meat purpose, it's a personal choice.
 
featherhead007
Liz Birdlover said:
They haven't met my Rocky Roo! Raised with love from a very young age, I can assure you, he is not so tame, will attack and spur strangers, only tolerates me, and will spur me unless I grab him, scoop him up and carry him around as I try to do one-handed chicken chores as he sometimes pecks or bites at me, usually getting a beak full of my clothing, as I've learned to wear long sleeves/pants around his ornery, feathered butt! When I offer my flock treats, they all peck the treats gently, but he pecks hard, like he is ticked off that my hand is still touching "his" treat. He also has a very loud crow, louder than my other 2 Roo's., which makes him a great "watch bird" keeping us alerted to anyone outside within sight or driving down our lane. People have driven down our road to "find out where that loud rooster lives" and they live over a mile away. LOL He is a gorgeous, handsome Roo, and he takes his job very seriously, always on duty, and despite his grumpiness, I love him. :)

Sweet Pea is Rocky Roo's girl, she is a nice hen, but not so nice to other hens at times. She is very skittish, even though I gave both her and Rocky lots of attention, pets and hugs when they were young. She lays very beautiful, smooth, large but perfectly shaped, light brown eggs.

I love my Barred Rocks! They always make me smile. They're super cute when I give them treats or mealworms, making sweet sounds. They are a joy to have.
Click to expand...
I think you have my rooster, little blue my rooster acts the very same way. Thanks for the read
 
Maple Branch Farm
Thank you for the great description and pictures. When I purchased my chicks, I was told they were all Black Australorps but I noted one seemed just a little different. She is bigger than the others, her feather pattern has started to show the black / white colors. My girl looks identical to your pictures.
Thank you for helping me identify her breed.
 
Onslow's Hens
Great layers of large eggs. Lay thru winter and heat of summer. Extremely hearty hens. Although they are very friendly towards me, they can be bossy and pushy with more gentle type hens in the flock. I really like this breed but will only every have 1 or 2 at a time as they can gang up on less assertive flock mates. Definately the rulers of the roost! If you have a tough climate - these are tough hens. If you have a group of them, be vigulant they don't bully more layed back breeds.
 
riversbendhen
I've had my hen for a year now. She is awesome! The leader of the flock. Very friendly but boy is she boisterous!!! She is the first to "call" me when I come out to let them out in the morning and the first to come when called. She is my Rockstar!
 
puckpuck8
Barred Rock hens are still going strong, the older hens don't lay every day and still have energy of a young hen, they are around three years old. They do a lot of gripping if they don't get the daily meal worm treat, sometimes give a light pecking, hey bud where are the worms.
 
M
I love this breed. They are very hardy, good foragers and lay for years. The eggs get bigger each year. We've had 10 year old's laying. The only difference in age is that the older hens don't lay so much in the winter (I live in the North Eastern United States).
 
M
Onslow's Hens said:
Great layers of large eggs. Lay thru winter and heat of summer. Extremely hearty hens. Although they are very friendly towards me, they can be bossy and pushy with more gentle type hens in the flock. I really like this breed but will only every have 1 or 2 at a time as they can gang up on less assertive flock mates. Definately the rulers of the roost! If you have a tough climate - these are tough hens. If you have a group of them, be vigulant they don't bully more layed back breeds.
Click to expand...
Yup, you nailed it. I would add that I have had less trouble with the ones raised in a mixed flock as opposed to those introduced at different times. My flock is free ranged.
 
M
puckpuck8 said:
The bared rocks that I got originally for eggs, I never named them because someday you might eat them for stew. Well that changed, when you develop a relationship with an animal it is hard to think about their demise. So I decided to name them and let them live out their lives as retired senior hens after providing eggs, they did their job. If you go hunting for deer you don't develop a relationship, that's short term and a food source. The hens are a decision of whether you use them for eggs or meat purpose, it's a personal choice.
Click to expand...
My experience is that Barred Rocks lay for years. I've never retired mine especially since the eggs eventually become huge.
 
M
Liz Birdlover said:
They haven't met my Rocky Roo! Raised with love from a very young age, I can assure you, he is not so tame, will attack and spur strangers, only tolerates me, and will spur me unless I grab him, scoop him up and carry him around as I try to do one-handed chicken chores as he sometimes pecks or bites at me, usually getting a beak full of my clothing, as I've learned to wear long sleeves/pants around his ornery, feathered butt! When I offer my flock treats, they all peck the treats gently, but he pecks hard, like he is ticked off that my hand is still touching "his" treat. He also has a very loud crow, louder than my other 2 Roo's., which makes him a great "watch bird" keeping us alerted to anyone outside within sight or driving down our lane. People have driven down our road to "find out where that loud rooster lives" and they live over a mile away. LOL He is a gorgeous, handsome Roo, and he takes his job very seriously, always on duty, and despite his grumpiness, I love him. :)

Sweet Pea is Rocky Roo's girl, she is a nice hen, but not so nice to other hens at times. She is very skittish, even though I gave both her and Rocky lots of attention, pets and hugs when they were young. She lays very beautiful, smooth, large but perfectly shaped, light brown eggs.

I love my Barred Rocks! They always make me smile. They're super cute when I give them treats or mealworms, making sweet sounds. They are a joy to have.
Click to expand...
Same here, tried to keep my Roo tame but no luck. He watches and if I get busy and lose track of him, I get attacked. If I get annoyed or have lots of chores, I catch him and put him in a cat carrier for awhile. He gets his dignity bruised, but that' all.
 
BlackHackle
The Barred Rock is actually a variety of the Plymouth Rock breed. This breed includes the Barred Rock, the Partridge Rock, the Columbian Rock, the Silver Penciled Plymouth Rock, the Buff Rock, the BBS Rock, and the White Rock.
 

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Category
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