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Plymouth Rock
(Barred Rock Hybrid)
The Plymouth Rock is an American breed of domestic chicken.
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There are many varieties of the Plymouth Rock but only 5 in the UK, these are; the Barred, Black, White, Buff and Columbian, of these, the Barred is by far the most popular as it is quite unique with its striking black and white plumage.
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The white and black versions look similar to many other breeds whilst the Columbian is very similar to the Light Sussex so doesn't attract the same level of interest.
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The Buff variant does stand out but is quite close in appearance to the popular Orpington breed.
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Our Rocks are back bred so 1 parent is a purebred Plymouth and the other parent has Maran parentage, this makes for a striking looking bird which lays lots of eggs.
The Plymouth Rock was first seen in Massachusetts in the nineteenth century, and for much of the early twentieth century was the most popular chicken breed in the United States.
They are resistant to cold and easy to manage.
The Plymouth Rock has a single comb with five points; the comb, wattles and ear-lobes are bright red. The legs are yellow and unfeathered. The beak is yellow or horn-colored.
They have long, broad backs with moderately deep, full breasts. Their feathers are loose compared to other chickens and they lay brown eggs.
Plymouth Rock Hen
The Plymouth Rock Cockerel is not much larger than the female, their feathers are long and silk like and a mixture of black and white striped with iridescent green.
They have a loud crow and are protective of their hens.
Plymouth Rock Cockerel
Plymouth Rocks lay about 200 large brown eggs per year.
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The Chicks are black with a white dot on the top of their head.
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The stripes appear on the wings at around 2 weeks and slowly spread over the chick as their first feathers come in.
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Plymouth Rock Chick
By Palmer Tetley - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=77763052