Barred Rocks are a classic heritage bird from North America, dating back to 1860’s. My breeding line comes from True North Farms, who has continued to breed from the Gilmar flock. I love that I can trace the history of these birds I am working and continue to select for dual purpose qualities.

These birds are big, productive and easy to handle. The roosters from this line are not aggressive, which makes it easy to produce roosters for meat. I can walk among a flock of roosters and not feel like I will pecked or threatened (Can you tell I’ve had bad experiences with other breeds! It’s true, but not with these Barred Rocks).

Barred rocks are a classic dual purpose breed, producing 200+ eggs per year and quality meat by the age of 18-24 weeks.

I am selecting for a number of traits in this breed to suit my own needs:

• friendly and calm
• good winter egg production in the hens
• lasting egg production – continue to produce well at the 3 and 4 year mark
• larger hens
• quality breast development

After 3 years of selection I am very pleased with both the size of my hens and with the two roosters I am taking into next year’s breeding season. Romulus is an excellent meat rooster, reaching 7 pounds live weight earlier than the other roosters with well rounded breasts at a young age. Remus has darker, flashier plumage than Rom and a longer tail, making Remus very eye-catching. Remus weighs a little less, but he is a wonderful rooster. I am looking forward to seeing what these two roosters bring to the flock in 2020.

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