HollowOfWisps
Previously AstroDuck
Rocks are a “heritage breed”. While hatcheries have bred out some of those older lines to some degree, they still maintain many of those heritage lines. Heritage breeds are also notorious for taking longer to reach sexual maturity and each hatchery also has different lines with more or less of the old blood. Not to mention just because you have chickens of the same breed or even in the same hatch it does not mean they will reach sexual maturity at the same time. This is true for all species including humans where one sister could hit puberty at 10 while her sister might not until she is 13. It doesn’t mean something is wrong it just means that they mature at different rates.I hope this is the case! My quick Google searches told me it was earlier. My barred rock started laying early August, so I wasn't sure what to expect.