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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.
Sealizrus19
Sealizrus19
My hens are mean bullies too. Will probably never get more again...
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Comments

cmbookworm
She's a beauty! We just got 2 BR's to add to our flock- we have 5 BO's and 2 RIR's. The new additions are super curious and very friendly
 
GitaBooks
I got a number of Barred Rocks (10) and ended up with only two hens. We gave one of the hens to a friend, so now I have one rooster and one hen. They are both calm, intelligent, and pretty friendly birds. My rooster respects me and is nice to the hens and a great watch-bird as well as father. The hen (Liberty) is a good leader, healthy, and loves treats.
I love my roo (Dominator), certainly keeping him as long as I can. He's my pet.
 
orpington13
Just because one of a breed in your flock and is pure nasty, it doesn't mean the whole breed is nasty. I hate my BO but not the whole breed because I only ever had one. Maybe the thing has a psychotic problem and is traumatized. But the thing does sound disgusting and I would also kill it.
 
hellbender
You just need to face facts...cock-birds are what they are and Learn to live with it. I certainly don't mind if my breeding birds are pushy and domineering... in fact, I appreciate it. It generally indicates vitality and virility. JMHO
 
orpington13
Well just because the orpingtons' feathers are ruffled doesn't mean that the BRs are the ones picking at them. Our BOs rule the roost and always are literally jumping on top of our BRs and chewing at their combs. Our orpingtons have bad feathers and are always dirty, but our BRs are usually perfectly clean. If they were picking at the BOs, you probably would have saw it at least once.
 
Chook Kingdom
I love them! They are very tame, but the roosters may attack you if you look like a threat. They lay at a very early age too! They don't crow untill they are almost adult. My cockerels still aren't crowing and they are quite big now.
 
The Eggplant
We got 5 Barred Rock babies from some friends (we are only allowed to have 4 hens, and no roosters where we live)… I noticed one of them was a little bigger and had a distinct stripe down "her" wings, and we named her Oreo… well, turns out our Oreo was a rooster!! So we found him a home with 19 hens and one other rooster to live with, and his new owner says he's a very docile rooster and likes to ride on her husband's shoulder on the riding lawn mower, haha! Now we are compliant with 4 ladies - Edna, Cosette, Graham Cracker (named by my 4 year old), and Daphne! :)
 
Dannachic
i'm not sure but i believe Francine is a rooster..i have 2 barred rocks female .neither have combs..
 
LeslieR
I have 4 that are nearing 6 months old. I am anticipating their first eggs. They are comical. I have had them since march, I got them at a couple days old. They have been very sweet and they always come running when they hear me come out the front door. their names are Stinkers, Sally Sissy and Stacy, she has this really pretty hue of green on her feathers. They are always going in and out of the hen house, but have yet to roost in there at night, with the others. Instead they fly up to the fence-line between them and my three drake Orpington ducks.
 
mismissy
hi i have Barred Rocks can you tell me at what age do they start to lay eggs mine are 19 to 20 weeks old ?
 
bappl
I know Francine is a hen because she's about to start laying and she stoops down into the breeding position when I pet her.
 
Dannachic
thats great..i'm glad i was wrong..i just had to rehome 2 beautiful cochin that turned out to be roos
 
Dannachic
i have a long wait for the first egg..mine are 3 months old..still no combs..maybe they are slow growing..Leslie I love those names..mine are Thelma and Louise...
 
cmbookworm
We have 2 Barred Rocks in our flock and just love them! So curious and friendly. When we got them, the person we got them from said they were 4 months old, but they were far too small for 4 months. Their combs and wattles are coming in now and our rooster is trying to mate with them, so I think we're close on eggs! They are the youngest in our flock and are very docile and sweet. They are just beautiful....can't wait for them to start laying. We're going to add more birds shortly and I will definitely get 2 more of these beauties!
 
bappl
That's great! Our girls have started laying since I wrote that review. They lay us a nice, light brown egg everyday. :)
 
slordaz
I have a mix of barred rock,leghorns,Rhode Island reds, buff orpingtons and a cornish x. The Barred rocks are at the top of the pecking order thanks to the rooster being barred rock, he is excellent at protecting the flock but a bit rough sometimes with the girls. The RiR's on the other hand when they started maturing about 5-6 month became quite aggressive with the others so that is something to watch out for.
 

Item information

Category
Chicken Breeds
Added by
dylan729
Views
229,655
Watchers
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Comments
404
Reviews
235
Last update
Rating
4.27 star(s) 245 ratings

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