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Barred Rock?

Posted: Wed Sep 11, 2019 3:31 pm
by labradors
I'm looking for a calm breed for egg laying. I have Red Sexlinks and the first batch were fine for many months, but the following spring they were pecking at each other and I had to re-home one who was getting badly picked on. I added 3 more this spring and everything was fine for a few months, but I recently had to re-home one of the newbies who was being mercilessly pecked. I'm so sick of this that I plan to re-home the five that I have this fall, and get 6 RTL hens from Frey's next spring.

The choice is Rhode Island Reds or Barred Rocks.

Re: Barred Rock?

Posted: Wed Sep 11, 2019 3:54 pm
by Killerbunny
Barred Rocks hands down! We had a couple from Freys and they were the sweetest girls. I currently have 2 that are about 19 weeks and they are nice. The roosters that I'm growing out are slow to fill out but very laid back and I can handle them easily. I have rehomed reds in the past because of attitude!.
I hope @TomK pipes up here because I know he is a fan of BRs.

Re: Barred Rock?

Posted: Wed Sep 11, 2019 6:16 pm
by labradors
Thanks Killerbunny. Sweet girls would be amazing :).

Re: Barred Rock?

Posted: Wed Sep 11, 2019 9:41 pm
by Happy
Well I have barred rocks from Freys. I got 10 day olds originally. Added another 5 four years later. I still have 3 of my originals. Although I love them they certainly have attitude. I'm not sure I'd use the word sweet to describe them lol. They are personality plus though and I will always have some BR's all the while I have chickens. I did find that a lot of mine passed relatively early with laying issues.

Re: Barred Rock?

Posted: Wed Sep 11, 2019 9:47 pm
by Killerbunny
My original 2 as well @Happy they both ended up prolapsing because of the large egg size.

Re: Barred Rock?

Posted: Wed Sep 11, 2019 10:11 pm
by Happy
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Those girls are all from Freys. The first 3 are 8 years old. The middle one still lays an egg a week!
The last one is 4 and still lays about 5 eggs a week. She's a machine and very robust.
Maybe they are just spoiled but they are very entitled. They insist on special treatment and there's hell to pay if they dont get it. The old girls need lifted down from their perch each morning and if they think I'm taking too long to get to them or heaven forbid I stop to speak to someone else they let me know how they feel...loudly! They demand treats first and that first girl pictured wants carried around the yard or up to the deck to lounge on the dog bed. I think she may have arthritis so I do as she wishes lol.

Re: Barred Rock?

Posted: Thu Sep 12, 2019 6:58 am
by Killerbunny
Yes but most of my girls are like that @Happy LOL!

Re: Barred Rock?

Posted: Thu Sep 12, 2019 8:51 am
by labradors
Oh Happy, they are ADORABLE and eight years is a great age for chickens!

Laying issues huh. Oh dear! I don't have a vet around here who will look at them, even though the vet we go to has her own chickens :(.

Re: Barred Rock?

Posted: Thu Sep 12, 2019 9:36 am
by Penny
How much space do they have? Pecking is sometimes an issue of being to cramped or requiring more protein in the diet.
My choice would be barred rock too...I've only had once of each, but the BR was very sweet.

Re: Barred Rock?

Posted: Thu Sep 12, 2019 9:59 am
by labradors
I think they have enough space. Their coop is about 27 sq ft (designed for 6), the attached covered run is 72 sq ft and the outside run is 6' x 20'. I do wonder about their food. It's organic layer mix, but they pick out and leave all the corn, and the rest is very fine granules.