Plymouth Barred Rock
The Plymouth Rock is a remarkable chicken. The Cocks get up to 9.5 pounds and the hens 7.5 pounds, making them a wonderful dual purpose breed. They lay around 200 eggs in a given season. This breed of chicken was actually developed in America in the middle of 19th century. The original Plymouth Rocks were Barred, but there are a few other varieties now. The breed was accepted into the American Poultry Association’s Standard of Excellence in 1874. According to the Livestock Conservancy, Plymouth Rocks are now listed in the recovering status.
The Plymouth Rock was very popular during World War II and bred extensively for their marvelous traits: delicious meat, great egg production, docility, hardiness, and the occasional broodiness. With the traits, the Plymouth Rock was one of the foundation breeds for the Broiler industry in the 1920s!
The barred color pattern is due to a dominant sex-linked gene. . The male will carry 2 copies of the gene and the female only carries one copy making them easier to differentiate genders.
