Are my Barred Rocks Mixed heritage?

[speckledhen]

Thanks for info…always nice to expand our knowledge.

Do your barred chickens of any breed change their barring colors like mine?

None of my pure Barred Rocks have ever had any off color. My Rex is single factor barred, but he is 1/2 Delaware and 1/2 BR, so he has a lot of silver, but unlike Deacon, he has no gold or red on him. It helps that my Delawares that make up his sire's side of the family also do not have any off color-some of those in certain lines have issues with brown colors or strange color legs, but mine are purely black and white and don't even yellow, thankfully, even at their advanced ages.

This is Rex, my single barred rooster:

 

[sunflour]

Thanks, it will be interesting to see how my girls fall colors come in.

 

[speckledhen]

Thanks, it will be interesting to see how my girls fall colors come in.

You are not the first person who has had brownish color leaking in on their hatchery BRs. I've heard that complaint before but not in awhile. Not sure where it comes from unless the hatchery bred in some Production Red to boost egg production in their BR lines, which is what folks are clamoring for, more eggs. The brown could be some red leaking back in. I don't have hatchery Rocks any longer, but that's because I got tired of my hatchery hens dying from reproductive malfunctions and started buying hatching eggs from breeder stock. Haven't had to get those in quite awhile, either, though.

 

[Fred's Hens]

You are not the first person who has had brownish color leaking in on their hatchery BRs. I've heard that complaint before but not in awhile. Not sure where it comes from unless the hatchery bred in some Production Red to boost egg production in their BR lines, which is what folks are clamoring for, more eggs. The brown could be some red leaking back in. I don't have hatchery Rocks any longer, but that's because I got tired of my hatchery hens dying from reproductive malfunctions and started buying hatching eggs from breeder stock. Haven't had to get those in quite awhile, either, though.

That is correct. The hatcheries mass produce the BRs they sell for the market's desire. Eggs. Thus, the birds do not have what i consider proper Plymouth Rock "type", that is shape, nor barring nor weight and size, typically.

True bred Barred Plymouth Rocks look stunningly different than what you find from feed stores and hatcheries stocks. One is not intrinsically "better" than another, per se, just stunningly different, really not the same birds.

 

[speckledhen]

That is correct. The hatcheries mass produce the BRs they sell for the market's desire. Eggs. Thus, the birds do not have what i consider proper Plymouth Rock "type", that is shape, nor barring nor weight and size, typically.

True bred Barred Plymouth Rocks look stunningly different than what you find from feed stores and hatcheries stocks. One is not intrinsically "better" than another, per se, just stunningly different, really not the same birds.

Ayup, so true. For example, this was the male I had from an old heritage line out of a renowned breeder, Marvin Stukel. You can see the huge difference. My current up and coming cockerel, Atlas, is his great nephew and son of one of that rooster's half sisters.

 

[sunflour]

Ayup, so true. For example, this was the male I had from an old heritage line out of a renowned breeder, Marvin Stukel. You can see the huge difference. My current up and coming cockerel, Atlas, is his great nephew and son of one of that rooster's half sisters.

Oh, so regal. He is one fine rooster!

 

[speckledhen]

Oh, so regal. He is one fine rooster!

Thank you, yes he was. He was killed by a copperhead, sadly.

 

[sunflour]

Thank you, yes he was. He was killed by a copperhead, sadly.

Oh so sorry. What a loss.

 

[sunflour]

Here's photo of my Barred Rock, Dottie…top chicken in my flock of 6 hens.

:

Born March 2013, was always just black and white barring, but now in a molt and white bars appear to be tuning a golden brown. I have 3 BR hens, exactly the same age, same hatchery source and all 3 are making the same change.

What do ya think…photo in cloudy afternoon.

My DH thinks they are just getting fall camoflage! Like deer do for the winter.

And she lives on sand, sand bathes in clean areas, brown/gold changes are not poop stains. She showed the changes first but other 2 have them also.

and if ya notice, she's my avatar.

Any more ideas on why my BR are changing their feather colors: this now includes all of the neck feathers and most of back. The white is now golden.

 

[Fred's Hens]

You mentioned you originally bought the birds at local pet store/feed store. The source of the birds is thus unknown, but what can be judged is that the birds are not Barred Rocks. To make a bird a reasonably solid representative of the breed, it must be bred to actually BE that breed. The description or Standard established for a breed is much more than color. It is shape, eyes, leg color, skin color, feather color and texture, comb, tail angle, back line, bottom line, etc, etc, etc,

These birds are mixes/mutts and no breed at all.

They are chickens. Breeds are man made ideas and the vast majority of chickens are not bred toward actually being a breed at all.