The Plymouth Barred Rock was admitted into the Standard in 1877. In those days the barred rock was very common to see at shows and most homesteaders and farmers owned this lovely bird. To me, they are the ultimate heritage dual purpose bird. They are deep bodied size, dual purpose, winter hardy with yellow skin. At our farm we process our rocks for the freezer. We love the flavorful taste and they easily feed a family of 5. Some of our hens are 9 years old! I have some excellent birds that were imported from the States. One is 12 pounds and one is 11.5 pounds. Too big by SOP Standards but I like a solid bird.
I was fortunate enough to attend a workshop with Jim Adkins the guru of the Barred Rock world. He explained his Sustainable Poultry Network and works with Barred Rocks all over the world.
We haven’t shown barred rocks since 2017 but have decided to play around with some of them again. I had the opportunity to have had my Barred Rocks judged by my mentor Jim Adkins, West Virginia. He liked the quality of our birds and gave us some great advice.
Nature: Calm, inquisitive and self-sustaining
Alberta Winter hardy: yes
Egg color: Cream to dark cream
Egg per year: 280
