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Barred Rock

Very tame nice breed that gives you big beautiful brown eggs. They aren't that loud and the...
Overview Reviews (235) Gallery
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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

WalkingOnSunshine
I've had many Barred Rocks from three different hatcheries. They are always some of the calmest birds I've owned. Not sure where you got yours, but it's definitely a problem with the line of birds they came from rather than the breed as a whole.
 
PrairieChickens
Our first experience with barred rocks was bad too. We ended up with the meanest rooster we've ever owned and the most neurotic, timid hens, but a few years later we gave the breed another shot, and I'm so glad we did! The second time around we got absolute cuddle bugs and sweethearts, and I've made a point of breeding a couple of them because they are so friendly.
 
Lescas5795
I kiss my chickens and my Barred Rock Rooster "Domino" is the ONLY Rooster I've ever had that will let me smooch his face. Every other breed Rooster I have had has been in utter terror if I try to love on them. Love my Barred Rocks!!
 
Audio51
That is a pretty vague review. Can you tell us excatly what it is about them that makes them the "worst birds" you ever had?
 
The Yakima Kid
This review is so vague I can't tell what your specific problem was with the Rocks. What circumstances caused them to be mean? Were they mean to people, other animals, or what? Roosters or Hens? How were they handled?
 
jtn42248
That is really odd. I have 5 Barred Rocks and 5 Partridge Rocks and they are all very nice, well tempered and get along with all my other birds.
 
Mashallaharabia
As a kid growing up, all my relatives who had chickens ( which was most of them) had barred rocks and only barred rocks. They were not expected to be tame, they were farm animals, kept for eggs and meat. I never saw or heard of any of my cousins and other kids or people having any trouble with the chickens; they were just chickens.
 
M
My BR hens are curious now, and when they were little they were skittish. BUT I spent time holding them regularly before they were 2 months old and giving them little treats AKA spoiling them! By that time my cockerels were as gentle as anybody could ever dream...BUT by the time I was deciding which boy to keep ALL the BR roos were sneaky and aggressive...even my most gentle and favorites! I ended up keeping a Dominique due to the BR roos personality issues. He is very sweet as well as the BR hens...they hop on my golfcart and snoop for tidbits that I may have dropped...Very entertaining birdies. I love em...
 
orpington13
I agree. Barred Rock are the nicest things. our hen keeps on getting picked on buy one of our Buff Orpingtons. One time we had to keep her in the garage because somebody cut her leg!
 
Turk Raphael
"frank53061 7/31/13 at 7:40amI have only one Barred Rock and she Rules the yard chickens and Turkeys.
I notice that when people post pictures of there chickens I seem to spot the one Barred Rock in a lot of peoples flocks."

That does seem to be true and they base their opinions of a whole breed on that one chicken. Strange, huh? I don't have anything bad to say about them but It seems that people should get to know about more than one or even a few examples of a breed before they really "judge'' that breed, as a whole.
 
poodlechicks
My BO are friendly, cold hardy and lay beautiful huge eggs. I would never get rid of them in favor of more aggressive birds. I say if you've got bullies, get rid of them, not the victims.
 
TREX
I had to rehome one of my barred rocks for this same reason.She beat one hen mercilessly all the time so much so that the hen would not even come out of the henhouse if she was around.
 
TREX
So an update... One of my BRs had to be rehomed because she became mean and overbearing with the other hens. Still have the other one and she is still just as loud as she was originally. The other hens in my flock are fairly quiet until she gets them going.She complains most when she is in the coop and run.When she is allowed to free range she is usually quiet so it could be she just doesn't like the confinement.
 
Shalva
The barred rocks in my flock were beating up the orpingtons.... As soon as I rehomed the rocks the flock settled down and I have had no problems since then.
 
ceceuu
Mine started laying at 18 weeks (7/7/14) which was the same age as the Gold Star I got at the same time. The Gold Star has only laid 3 eggs in the week after that first egg and the Barred Rock has laid 6 perfect eggs. The last BR egg was almost the size of a store-bought LARGE. BR works at being top chicken but overall my coop of 8 hens is peaceful.. The BR is one of my favorite chickens - very friendly to me and lots of personality. I think she is very smart too.
 

Item information

Category
Chicken Breeds
Added by
dylan729
Views
209,523
Watchers
56
Comments
403
Reviews
235
Last update
Rating
4.26 star(s) 244 ratings

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