Breeds

Plymouth Rock Chickens: Barred Rock Breed Facts, Brown Eggs, Temperament and History

Field guide · Updated October 20, 2026 · about 8 min read

The Plymouth Rock is an American dual-purpose breed from mid-1800s New England, kept for brown eggs and meat. Its original barred variety, the "Barred Rock," was the most widely kept chicken in the US until World War II, according to Oklahoma State University and The Livestock Conservancy. This page collects the standard facts, the egg figures each source reports, how the barred pattern works and where sources disagree.

Quick facts

Appearance and the barred pattern

The Livestock Conservancy describes a bright red single comb, face, wattles and earlobes, a horn-colored beak, reddish-bay eyes and yellow skin and legs. The Livestock Conservancy and the APA Standard both call for five points on the comb. Oklahoma State adds a long, broad back, a moderately deep, full breast and fairly loose feathers.

On a Barred Rock each feather is crossed by sharp, parallel bars of near-white and near-black. The Livestock Conservancy explains that a dominant sex-linked gene blocks pigment, putting light bars on a dark feather. Males carry two copies and females one, which is why males usually look lighter. The APA Standard puts the light and dark bars on a male at about equal width and calls a 60% dark, 40% light ratio "about right" for a female.

Weight and size

The APA weights (cock 9.5 lb, hen 7.5 lb) appear in the Standard, at Oklahoma State and in Wisconsin Extension, and The Livestock Conservancy gives the same adult weights. Other sources quote lower figures. Mississippi State and the University of Arkansas give adults 4–7 lb, a second box on The Livestock Conservancy's page lists a market weight of 6–8 lb, and Wikipedia gives standard minimums of 7.5 lb for males and 6.5 lb for females. The Standard warns that overlarge birds "become clumsy and poor producers."

Eggs: how many, and what shade

Oklahoma State and Purdue give no egg count, noting that some strains are good layers while others are bred mainly for meat. The figures that do exist vary:

The Livestock Conservancy adds that laying is strong for the first few years and then slowly declines, though hens may keep laying into their tenth year; see how long hens keep laying or estimate a flock with the egg production calculator. Shell shade varies more than the word "brown" suggests: Illinois Extension says it runs from very light to dark brown depending on strain and stage of production, and Georgia Extension describes light pinkish to medium brown eggs. The egg color chart explains the pigment behind it.

Temperament, foraging and housing

• Calm and easy to tame. Oklahoma State calls the breed docile, generally not aggressive and easily tamed; The Livestock Conservancy says birds are friendly with people and good with children.
• Some exceptions. Oklahoma State and PoultryHub Australia both note that some large, active males and hens can become aggressive enough to be a problem.
• Mixed flocks. The Livestock Conservancy says they get along well with other breeds, do not fly well and suit first-time owners.
• Foraging: sources disagree. Mississippi State and the University of Arkansas call them poor foragers; The Livestock Conservancy says they tolerate confinement with room to roam but prefer to free-range, and Georgia Extension says they adapt to either. Check space with the coop space calculator.

Broodiness and mothering

Most sources credit Plymouth Rocks with good mothering. Oklahoma State reports "some broodiness" and usually good mothers, The Livestock Conservancy calls hens usually good sitters and mothers, and Wikipedia calls the breed a good sitter. Georgia Extension disagrees on frequency: good mothers, but they "do not brood frequently." Kentucky Extension's lists of rarely broody and likely broody breeds include neither. Expect a mix; a broody hen stops laying while she sits (see broody hens).

Heat and cold

The Livestock Conservancy credits early feathering for the breed's cold hardiness, Georgia Extension says the birds tolerate cold, and Kentucky Extension includes the Plymouth Rock in its list of winter-hardy breeds. None of the sources used here rates its heat tolerance. See winter care and heat stress.

Barred Rocks in sex-links and broilers

• Black sex-links. A Barred Plymouth Rock hen mated to a Rhode Island Red or New Hampshire rooster gives chicks that all hatch with black down; males have a white dot on the head and feather out barred, females feather out solid black with some red in the neck (University of Kentucky).
• Red sex-links. White Plymouth Rock hens are one of the possible mothers (Kentucky; Mississippi State).
• Delaware. Mississippi State says this breed came from off-colored Barred Plymouth Rock males crossed with New Hampshire females.
• Broilers. Kentucky Extension names the White Plymouth Rock as one parent of the Cornish cross broiler, and the University of Arkansas says some commercial broiler breeders still use the breed as their female line. For how White Rocks fed into 1940s broiler breeding, see the Chicken of Tomorrow contest.

History

1. 1849, Boston. A fowl called the Plymouth Rock was shown at America's first poultry show (APA Standard; The Livestock Conservancy; Wikipedia). Illinois Extension prints the year as 1829. These first birds then disappeared for about twenty years.
2. 1869, Worcester, Massachusetts. The ancestors of today's Barred Rocks were exhibited (The Livestock Conservancy; Illinois; Oklahoma State). The APA text reproduced by UF/IFAS prints "1969," an evident slip.
3. Who made it. Several people claimed the breed (Oklahoma State). The APA Standard and Illinois describe a Dominique male crossed with Black Cochin or Black Java hens, first made at Putnam, Connecticut; Wikipedia credits D. A. Upham of Worcester with crossing Black Java hens and a barred, single-combed cock.
4. January 15, 1874. The breed was admitted to the first American Standard of Excellence, published at Buffalo, New York (APA Standard).
5. More varieties. White Rocks began as white sports of the Barred; Buffs in Rhode Island near Fall River, Massachusetts, first shown as "Golden Buffs"; Silver Penciled in New York; Columbian in Ohio (Illinois Extension).
6. 1920s to World War II. The Barred Rock was a foundation breed of the broiler industry, and no breed was kept more widely until the war (Oklahoma State; The Livestock Conservancy).
7. 2019, DNA. A study by Uppsala University, The Livestock Conservancy and Virginia Tech found the Dominique was the main contributor to White Plymouth Rock ancestry, with Black Java and Cochin also contributing (The Livestock Conservancy; Wikipedia).
8. 2023. The Livestock Conservancy took the breed off its Priority List.

Is it a fit for your flock? A checklist

1. You want brown eggs and a calm, heavy bird. That pairing is what extension sources describe.
2. Your egg figures are realistic. Sources give about 160 to 240 eggs a year, and strains differ.
3. You will check foraging. If your birds must find much of their own food, note that two extension sources rate them poor foragers.
4. Compare breeds. See the breed directory, the Rhode Island Red (the usual sire of black sex-links), the Australorp and the glossary for terms such as APA Standard and sex-link.