Plymouth Rock is one of the most popular chicken breeds. This American breed is known for its eggs and meat.
It’s found in many lovely colors like Barred, Black, Buff, and Columbian. These colors are also recognized It’s recognized varieties.
Plymouth Rocks are dual-purpose chicken with lots of raising benefits. If you want to raise the Plymouth Rock chicken, this guide is helpful for you?
In this guide, we’ve told you all you need to know about the Plymouth Rock chicken. It includes history, recognized variety, lifespan, temperament, eggs, colors, size, facts, images and more about Plymouth Rocks.
What is Plymouth Rock Chicken?
Plymouth Rock is a chicken breed that is used for both meat and egg production. The origin of this chicken breed is United States.
You can buy the Plymouth Rock chicks in the United States for about $5-6 dollars. This chicken has a few good-looking recognized varieties.
History of Plymouth Rock Chicken
The first exhibition of the Plymouth Rock chicken was in Boston in 1849. Thereafter, it was lost for about 20 years and was seen again in 1869.
Most of the historical journals and editorials tell that In 1869 this breed was developed using Dominique, Black Java hens, Cochin, and Brahma chickens.
Later, this chicken breed became very popular in America. Until World War II, the Barred variety of this chicken breed was one of the most popular raising chickens.
The Barred Plymouth Rock chicken was added to the list of standard breeds by APA in 1874. The other color varieties were added later.
Lifespan
The Plymouth Rock chicken is one of the long living chicken breeds. The average lifespan of Plymouth Rocks is about 6-8 years.
Recognized Varieties of Plymouth Rock Chicken
American standards accept only the large standard size fowl. The APA approved 7 large sizes Plymouth Rock varieties:
- Barred
- Blue
- Buff
- Columbian
- Partridge
- Silver Penciled
- White
Also, there are 8 bantams accepted varieties of Single Comb Clean Legged (SCCL) class by the American Poultry Association:
- Barred
- Black
- Blue
- Buff
- Columbian
- Partridge
- Silver Penciled
- White
The ‘Entente Européenne d’Aviculture et de Cuniculture’ has recognized 10 plumages of Plymouth Rock chicken.
The Poultry Club of Great Britain recognizes six color varieties of chicken: Barred, Black, Buff, Columbian, White, and a rare color called Silver Pencilled.
Plymouth Rock Chicken Vs. Barred Rock Chicken
Most people want to know the difference between Plymouth Rock Vs. Barred Rock chicken breed. The Plymouth Rock is a chicken breed, and Barred Rock is a recognized variety of this breed.
The Barred Rock chicken is one of the most popular types of Plymouth Rock found around the world. If you see a Barred Rock chicken, don’t get confused because it’s the same.
Click here to know all about Barred Rock Chicken.
Egg Production
You can consider a good number of eggs from this chicken breed because it is a dual-purpose chicken.
The hen of this breed lays 4-5 large-sized eggs per week after 6 months of age. On average, you will get about 200-220 eggs per year.
You can also check out our list of the best egg-laying chicken breeds.
Temperament
The Plymouth Rock chickens are very friendly, calm, and docile. They learn and be friendly very quickly, and kids also love to play with them.
Both the roosters and hens of these chicken breeds are very lovely and easy to handle. It is a good breed for newbie chicken raisers.
Aseel chickens fight and peck at each other, but you won’t see this kind of issue with this chicken breed.
They are friendly with their fellow birds and graze together without fighting. Plymouth Rock chickens love to free-range, so it’s great for them if you have a good space in your backyard.
Keep some chicken treats in your home and feed them occasionally. Within a few days, these birds start following you and love to sit on your hands and shoulders.
Color, Size, Appearance, Characteristics of Plymouth Rock Chicken
Color
The American Poultry Association has only approved 7 types of the Plymouth Rock Chicken.
They are barred, blue, buff, Columbian, partridge, silver penciled, and white. The Barred chicken breed is popular, but all the colors look beautiful.
Size
Plymouth Rocks is one of the famous chickens for both egg production and meat.
The roosters and hens of this breed are heavy and solid. Both bantam and large size birds have a lovely body structure.
The Plymouth roosters of bantam size usually weigh around 3.0 lb, while the hens weigh 2.5 lb. The standard size male bird is about 7.5 lb and a female is about 6.5 lb.
You may see some differences in size in your birds because of the feed, the climate, and the breed.
Appearance
Plymouth Rock chicken is one of the most beautiful chicken breeds in America. This chicken breed has a U-shaped body shape.
Because of their genetic code, they are gorgeous and long-life chickens. However, it’s a multi-color plumage, but the skin color is yellow.
The comb, wattles, face, and earlobes are red colored and big. Both roosters and hens have yellow beaks. They are lovely, cute chicken breeds.
Plymouth roosters and hens have 5 point combs, fully expanded breast, and four toes on each foot. The legs of this chicken are yellow.
Plymouth Rock males have equal amounts of white and black barring, but in females, the black barring is bigger than the white.
Characteristics
The Plymouth Rock chicken is one of the friendly chickens, but it is also a chicken for business purposes.
The chicken breed can live in free-range and can also be kept in confinement very well. Most of the Plymouth Rock have good egg layer strains, and they also make good mothers.
The male and female of this chicken breed are not aggressive. Hens may peck at you if you go near their chicks, but that’s normal.
All Plymouth Rocks are very fluffy and have a lot of feathers. The rooster’s body looks more sturdy, but hens are also beautiful.
If you want to buy Plymouth Rock chicken for breeding, choose a large size fowl so that you will get good quality baby chicks.
The Plymouth Rock chickens can live in all low to high cold temperature areas. The breed is sensitive to high temperatures because of its feathery and heavy body.
Benefits of Raising Plymouth Rock Chicken
Here are some benefits of raising Plymouth Rock chicken –
- Plymouth Rock chickens are a good choice if you want to raise chickens in your backyard.
- This chicken is easy to grow, so it is a good choice for new chicken farmers who would like to start chicken farming without a lot of stress.
- The barred variety of Plymouth rock is popular, but all the other colors look great. If you want a chicken that is beautiful and friendly, you can choose this breed.
- This chicken loves to graze near its owners and very rarely crosses, given the fences. They sometimes fly over the chicken wire and break the rules.
- This breed of chicken doesn’t crow loudly enough to bother you or your neighbors. Both the roosters and the hens of this breed crows in shallow sound.
- With all the above pros of this breed, this is a dual-purpose chicken breed. Plymouth Rock hens lay around 220 eggs in a year which is good enough.
- Also, standard size Plymouth chickens weigh about 7-9 lb, so they are big enough to be used for meat.
- If you have kids in your house, they will love to play with this chicken breed. Giving some treats like mealworms makes them crazy and energetic. Also, it will help them to become friendly with you quickly.
- The Plymouth Rock hens make very caring mothers. They hatch their eggs very effectively and also take care of their baby chicks very nicely.
Care guide for Plymouth Rock Chicken
The best thing about Plymouth Rock chicken is that they need less maintenance. So, this breed is highly recommended for beginner farmers.
This breed is easy to raise like most of the other chicken breeds. Keeping this chicken in warm climates may be difficult because of their heavy body, and they love cold weather.
You can also read our guide here: How to keep the chicken coop cool in summer?
Also, since the Plymouth Rock chickens are so friendly, calm, and docile, there is a risk that predators will increase.
The body weight is also an issue when predators try to catch them because they will not run and maybe killed by them. So, try good fencing around your farm.
If you live in a forest area, using an electric fence is more suitable for your poultry, birds, and cattle.
Also read: Appenzeller Spitzhauben Chickens
Summary
The Plymouth Rock chicken is a great chicken for both business and pet purposes. They can easily live in sheds and love to free-range.
It’s up to your house and environment how you want to keep them. Also, if you are a new chicken farmer, this breed is best for you to learn how to raise and farm chickens efficiently.
It’s best for business because you will get lots of meat and eggs from them. I hope this guide helped you to know all about Plymouth Rock chicken.
