Barred Rock

I bought four day-old Barred Rock chicks at a local feed store in Chico, CA. Since we are limited to two hens and NO roosters in our neighborhood, and the chicks were straight run, I played the odds hoping for at least a 50/50 chance of getting two girls. Well, we got three, and one cockerel. Hand raised, they are fairly tame birds, and at 10 weeks were moved outside since their brooder became too small to accommodate them. It only took two weeks for them to figure out to return to the coop at dusk, so they are pretty smart. They aren't so keen on the chicken tractor we built, but after three weeks we allowed them to free-range as the orchard is completely fenced off and predators seem few and far between. They will come to you if you bring them a treat, and follow you around the yard until something else catches their interest, and they wander off. They are very flock minded, and tend to stay together while foraging. They are attractive birds, and constantly preening themselves or each other. Haven't noticed a particular pecking order yet, I've observed no aggression from any of them toward each other, they get along fine at 17 weeks of age. They do like to scratch the ground a lot, but haven't discovered the garden, or they are ignoring it since the ground is currently covered in fallen peaches. As for broodiness, we will see once egg production starts. Haven't noticed unique personalities yet, with the exception Alice is more shy and the last to explore on her own. I would consider them perfect first choice chickens for a flock, providing it is a small one. As others have noted, they can be mean to other breeds that are less dominant.

Barred rocks are good birds and are docile towards everyone, they can be bossy and dominant but that is not a problem because no one ever gets hurt.
They are all around one of my favorite Farm breeds

Looking for a great dual-purpose bird? Being a quintessential rock-solid American farm breed, the Barred Rock is the best choice for any small or big scale flockster. The first appearances of the Barred Rock were in the 19th century where it was developed by the breeder John C. Bennett using crosses of Dominiques, Black Javas, Cochins, Malays, and Dorkings. This fine fowl became a breed in 1849 and is the origin of all Plymouth Rock breeds. Since then it has been prized for its hardiness, docility, broodiness, friendship, sex-ability at any age, and excellent production of both eggs and meat. The overall appearance of the Barred Rock is a long, broad back, a moderately deep, full breast, and yellow skin and legs. The face of the typical Barred Rock usually is red with red ear lobes, adorn with a bright yellow beak and flashing bay-colored eyes, and topped with a magnificent, moderate sized comb. Much like the Cuckoo Maran, it has sharply defined parallel bars of dark gray and silver (Or for a hen, black and white) which give it the best camouflage of all colors against the eye of the predator. Being amongst the predecessors of the new meat high bird, the Cornish Cross broiler, the Barred Rock is a faster growing bird and the cocks can reach full butcher weight at around 10 pounds in eighteen weeks. A Barred Rock hen weighs around 8 pounds at butcher size, and the adolescents weigh 8 pounds for the cockerel, and 6 pounds for the pullets. Being cold hardy, the hens are able to lay through winter, which adds to the prizing of this true American bird.
I have a flock of Barred Rocks and the breed sure is a keeper! The roosters are nice to people and love to be held by kids. They’ll even talk with you and answer the questions you ask! The overall is a very sweet bird!

Summary of the Plymouth Barred Rock

Conservation status: Recovering
Popular Names: Rocks, Barred Rocks
Country of Origin: United States of America
Use: Dual-Purpose Breed
Personality: Docile to humans and pets
Hardiness: Very Cold
Weight: Male: 10+ Pounds, Female: 7.5 Pounds, Cockerel: 8 Pounds, Pullet: 6 Pounds
Skin Color: Yellow
Egg Color: Brown to Pink
Comb Type: Single
Plumage Pattern: Parallel Barred
Plumage: (Cocks) Grey and Silver (Hen) Black and White
Broodiness: Often in the right condition

I love my Barred Rock. She is friendly, outgoing and gets along with my Ameracauna and SLW. I only have one, but she is very sweet! And the first of my tiny flock to try something new. She is very fast and grabs moths out of the air.

I've found that barred rocks are nice chickens to have. My hen Downey is really cute and a little on the plump side but that just adds to it. Though she is very aggressive to my bantam Popcorn and chases her almost everyday. My rooster Buckey I found to be much nicer towards the other chickens and myself, even my other rooster. Nothing that they do is a deal breaker no matter how bossy they can be and if your looking for a friendly, attractive looking chicken I'd go with a barred rock.

Our largest Barred Rock pullet started to lay eggs at 4.5 months and never skipped a day since. The other BR pullets started to lay within a week after her, they lay about 6 eggs/week. The eggs are so delicious!

Our BR rooster is a sweetest rooster we ever had. He is so gentle to hens and very caring. He does not crow a lot, and he has a beautiful deep and very quiet crow.

The hens are very friendly, they come and hug me.

The other hens we have are Light Sussex. They are also fantastic layers, but just a little bit behind our Barred Rocks.

I've had a beautiful barred rock named Eagle for a couple years now, so I decided to write a review of my experience with this breed.
Overall, she's been a joy to keep. The one thing I've seen with most barred rocks is a big personality, which could be a good or bad thing. I always love Eagle's antics, she's bold and exciting, but can be a bit bossy. Now that my flock has been unchanged for a while, she's settled down and doesn't pick on anyone, but she's still on top of the pecking order, right under my rooster.
She's been laying steady from an average age to start, and was the first of my flock to begin laying. She lays around 5-6 large brown eggs a week, sometimes a perfect 7.
The current problem with her is that she has been trying to go broody for about two months. I keep removing eggs, but she'll sit on an empty nest and wait for more. Due to this, she hasn't laid in quite a while. This may just be the season, and not her breed in particular.
Lastly, Eagle has dealt with cold weather the best out of my flock. Her comb is fairly large, but I've only noticed a touch of frostbite one winter, which healed up in no time. Her feet also do well with the snow and ice, and cold weather overall just doesn't seem to bother her as much as the others. (I live in North Carolina, to give you an idea of what the winters are like)

Bossy hen, friendly with us but picked on the other birds in our flock to get at their eggs. Removed her from out flock for that reason.

I have 9 chickens in total. I went to my local garden store one day and saw a Barred Rock Hen and decided to get her because she is my moms favorite breed of chicken. She got along fine when I introduce her to the rest. She is just a little bossy towards the others and likes to peck me. I dont mind because its just a small peck and it doesnt hurt. But, we are still keeping her because she is part of our chicken flock and she fits right in Such beautiful hens!

I grew up with the breed and got a Barred Rock and a barnyard mix that's mainly Rock in my flock. They KNOW they rule the roost. Can get to be a problem sometimes because they'll attack the smaller Bantam breeds I have over food, scratch, or just no reason. They even pick on my rooster!

That being said, they're fiercely protective of their flock mates and they lay an average of two eggs a day for me each. They aren't very broody either which is great for me as I keep taking their eggs! They're pretty talkative biddies, but they're not the kind of bird that'll jump in your lap and let you pet them like my d'Uccle.

Mixed bag breed indeed, I'm probably going to get some more of my d'Uccles or d'Anvers if I ever process those hens.

We are starting with them from chicks, they are sweet as can be, have 3 that are about 8-10 weeks old so not even laying age yet but 2 are already showing they want to be a momma. They get along well with others. They will try to be bossy but easily back down if actions are discouraged.

We have 3 Barred Rock pullets from Meyer Hatchery, and they ALL have standout personalities! I truly cannot say enough good about them. They actively seek out our company and demand to be the center of attention at all times. Recently, one of the 2 older pullets saw my daughter crouched down, taking pictures of her ducks on the other side of the enclosed pasture. She made a mad dash for her and got directly in front of the camera. When she didn't immediately get the attention she wanted, she bit her on the elbow. That is how all 3 of them are, and we absolutely love them for it! They are also GREAT talkers! My 2-year old son absolutely adores them because they are the ones that chase him around the pasture and come right up for lots of pats and hugs. We have 27 chickens of 20 different breeds, and so far, this one is my favorite. I think this is an excellent starter breed for those who, like me, are new to raising chickens.

We ended up with an accidental barred rock, but we are VERY glad now that we got her! She was supposed to be a cuckoo marans so we named her "Maran-matan" (and haven't changed this!), but when she began laying our suspicions of her barred rock-like "attitude" (and barred more than cuckoo feathering) were confirmed.

She is the head of the flock and if the flock is ever free ranging she herds up the group like a rooster & keeps them away from areas she has deemed "off limits" in her chicken mind. Not surprisingly she is the most intelligent of the girls as well and the quickest problem solver. She seems to understand that our 4yr old son is a child and she is very protective of him, yet won't ever peck or be rough with him...she is more patient with him & even tolerates him picking her up without flapping or resisting. She knows I am boss, but has made slight attempts a couple of times to pull rank and peck at my husband, but he put her back in place easily by carrying her around. She certainly isn't a lovey-dovey, lap snuggle chook, but I don't mind since she is smart, lays a TON, and pays attention to what I teach her.

She is the most quiet chicken of the flock which is great! However she doesn't care for being cooped up more than a couple of days even in the dead of winter. She likes to be outdoors, and doesn't need much room outside...just a bit of variety via an easy to move daytime tractor or free ranging. She is SUPER tidy which I love and bathes well, preens well, doesn't kick bedding all over, and even adeptly avoids getting her feet dirty. Her eggs are always clean and laid in a well made nest. Her eggs are PRETTY! They are a very light pinkish- tan color which I love. She lays nearly as much as our gold-sex link and in all weather. She began laying at 21 weeks of age in winter. She is a great chicken; just more of a serious "military/ disciplined" sort of lady.

I want to preface this review by admitting that my BRs are hatchery stock, not breeder quality. That said, I am really impressed with this breed. One of my hens, Luna, was very assertive from day one, but never mean to the others, establishing her place at the head of the pecking order even over older and larger birds. She began laying medium brown eggs at 18 weeks and has laid 5-6 eggs per week ever since. My second hen, Sky, was always much quieter and incredibly sweet. My little Silkie hen would run to her when the larger birds were pick on her and Sky would act as a physical barrier between the Silkie and the others and protect her in a wonderfully calm, quiet way. Sky began laying at 19 weeks and also has provided 5-6 medium-sized brown eggs every week since. At roughly 22 weeks of age both of my girls weigh over six pounds, are egg-laying machines, and are so sweet and friendly that they don't hesitate to hop up onto my lap and settle in to be pet or take a nap, cooing softly and affectionately the entire time.

My only complaint is with my BR rooster. I raised him from a day old chick and he had been so sweet...and then puberty set in and he began to charge at me on a regular basis, pecking at my knee caps, flapping, chasing me, and crowing irritatedly. He treats his girls incredibly well, protecting the entire flock of large breeds and bantams alike and calling them over to give them treats when he finds them, but is not as people friendly as I would like. I spent weeks working with him, trying various techniques to establish the idea that not only am I not a threat, but I'm also the "dominant", but ultimately it just didn't work out. Perhaps pure-bred BR roosters are less aggressive, but my boy, while absolutely gorgeous, very hardy and large, was just too mean to the family to keep around.

My girls are great layers and are friendly. Cold hardy here in AL. I get at least 5 eggs a week each from them at least.

I have 3 Plymouth rock barred, one with almost 6 months (Isolda), another about 3 months (Isadora) and another with nearly 1 month (Flora). When chicks are extremely gum, do not let you do anything without being on his shoulder or in your head. The Isolda with about 4 months was shy, do not know whether because I had to let homemade to care for almost twenty days due to a surgical procedure that did.
But I notice on this age several of my chickens get a bit shy not liking his lap and pet back to ask for lap and perching on me as are close to adults (in lay). But are amazing poultry, heavy, large and gentle.
I realize that soon the chick stage "adopt" some chicken or chick that become attached and become increasingly dependent, always of being around them and tolerate other birds, but do not form a bond with these as it does with first. And take longer to accept other members in the henhouse, attacking especially at feeding time, after a while starts to tolerate these. Since this behavior seen in both Isolda often as the Isadora, for Flora, so that it is still not staying together to them because of the pecking.
As for the posture have not yet begun to lay, but I hope will be good layers, for here I create chickens for eggs, pet and not kill anything, here the chickens die of old age. Isolda Isadora Flora
Pictures of the day 03.23.2015

I love my Barred Rock. She is a talker though. If I am in the yard working, she is right there telling me a story and if I sit down for a bit, she knows she can be a lap chicken for a while and get a pet and hug.

I love my barred rocks. They are very docile, but they don't take heat from other birds. When challenged, they will stick up for themselves, but they are not bossy or mean or bullies at all. I have 2, and they lay nearly everyday...some weeks it is 7 days a week, other weeks, it is 6 days a week. They layed through winter. They are large compared to my other breeds. They are not flighty at all. Barred rocks are my fave breed so far.

This is Madame Curie, she is smart, curious and friendly. Not that I have favorites in my small flock- but she is my go to girl when I am introducing a newbie to chickens. I trust her, know she will be gentle and kind and patient with the little ones. She lays beautiful big brown eggs and has a great personality. I couldn't imagine a flock without this breed!

My barred rock is friendly to me and lays pretty speckled eggs. She does sometimes peck the lower down hens, but it is always a brief peck and never hurts them.