Barred Rock the meanest breed?

[speckledhen]

Your rooster isn't aggressive because of his breed, but because he's just a rooster who is aggressive. It's completely an individual thing. Barred Rocks are my favorite breed of all for a reason. I have had several BR roosters, most of whom were mellow, calm guys. My girls are not aggressive, but they are not pushovers in the flock, either. They are friendly with us, fabulous layers, etc.

 

[nanawendy]

I LOVE BR's

My original flock had 3... gave 2 to my GS's. Raised 5 for a friend who had her flock destroyed. Got 3 more this spring. My EE mama wanted to go broody so I got her 2 BR eggs. One pullet one roo 12 weeks tomorrow. These are an awesome breed and great in the PNW climate.
I am a little nervous about the roo. The reason is that when I bring goodies... he's the first to the plate. Not the gentleman I've heard is a good trait in a roo. We'll see, he's still pretty young.

 

[HBuehler]

Speckledhen has it right..every roo can be nasty but it's a rare Barred Rock that is. If you have one invite him to dinner and get another..finding a nice Roo isn't going to be very hard.We have so many Rocks here because of their mellow nature,ability to exist in the flock peacefully,roos will co-inhabit with other roos in the same pens with minimal discussions and lastly the hens lay great even in over 100 degree heat or cold of winter.In their spare time here you will find them under a kids arm and Rocky our Roo in the kids arms but walking along with his feet on the ground he's so large and heavy.

 

[white01]

i love my BR, i have 13 hens and one rooster, and they are the sweetest

 

[quinkerton]

I had two barred rock roos and they were fine with us, just not each other. Went into the coop one day and found it covered in blood. One must have torn the others comb. They fought all the time. We had nine roo's at the time but they were the only aggressive ones. But as I said they were fine with us. Nine roo's is way to many so they didn't make the cut and low and behold, the one that did was taken by a hawk not but two days after we sent the others packing! My br hens were always pleasent. This year I have a selection of Salmone Favorelles, Blue Laced Red Wynadottes and Silver Laced Cochins to choose from for roo's.

 

[Chicken_Lover4567]

I have 10 BRs...9 hens and 1 roo. My hens are all friendly, docile birds who love to be cuddled and given treats. My rooster has certainly surprised me. He is a year younger then the girls, and he is extremely sweet. All of our other BR roos are now in the freezer because they were extremely agressive, but our current roo is very gentle. I guess it's just a luck of the draw. I mean, you can't take a race of people and say "The _____ are the meanest race and all of them will be murderers." So I guess you can't do that with chickens.

 

[Tomhusker]

I have 5 BR's, about 14 weeks old, 1 roo and 4 gals. There have been a few times when One of them have pecked at me. BUT, in all honesty, I don't know that I would call any of those times aggressive. I know that when I am sitting outside on my chair I will occasionally get a peck on the leg. I don't know why, but I could have had a bug there for all I know. I doesn't hurt. My roo will peck my hand if I reach for him too fast. One of the ladies pecked me yesterday, but she was scratching for treats and I have been known to hand feed them treats sometimes. NONE of them will allow me to pick them up off of the ground, but all of them will allow me to pick them up from a roost. They run to me when I call them as if I have been away for a month, but still run away from me like I have cootie's when I walk among them.

They do act aggressive towards my younger chicks when they are out in the brooder pen. Sometimes VERY aggressive. BUT I read about failed flock integration on here all of the time. I think it is all normal behavior. They will get used to them eventually. I wouldn't consider them mean.

I love my BR's. I would have an entire flock of them, 50+ if I had the room, and wasn't into variety.

 

[Mtn Cur]

Granted, I have only owned three different breeds but BR's (all hens by the way) have been by far the meanest out of the three. I'm not buying anymore.

 

[95yj]

I got my mom 6 barred rock pullets (and a coop built by me) as a mother days gift (she had been complaining that we had more birds than you can count and we weren't getting eggs, their all show birds, bantams, and mostly roosters) I expected that these chickens would be the friendliest birds you could ever hope to meet, because thats what my mom does with animals. Despite our best efforts the chickens, which are now 3 months old, are still wikid skittish, peck at any part of your body they can reach and act like they are feral. I have a broiler that survived processing day thats friendlier than these birds. I'm kind of confused, i think it might just be the batch though, they came from Mt. Healthy.

 

[speckledhen]

When folks say they are "mean", are you talking about aggression to humans or the way they interact in the flock? I would never consider a bird aggressive who is just doing what its station in the pecking order dictates, unless they are actually drawing blood and trying to kill other birds. Even my BR roosters have been sweet boys, with rare exception. Pecking order can look rough to us, but that is their society.

All that said, hatcheries can propagate aggressive strains of any breed. Generally, Barred Rocks are very friendly, calm birds and great layers.