GRID-april06 - The Plymouth Rock Chicken

FEATURE
By Tom Newbould
Breed in
Focus:
Barred
Plymouth
Rocks
E
very poultry fancier has
a reason to take up their
chosen breed and variety but for me
there is something special about
Barred Plymouth Rocks, or ‘Barred Rocks’ as
they are commonly known. They represent a
true test for the exhibition poultry fancier and
a rewarding experience when you feel you’ve
‘got it right’ after the breeding season. Those
fanciers who choose to take up the challenge
– to create the ideal specimen of such an
intricately marked bird where the markings
on each and every feather have to be so
precise, of the correct colour, together
with the correct stylish type – will find
they need patience, dedication, and the
will to stick at it. For those who don’t
know them, a Barred Rock is one of
the most intricately and precisely
marked varieties of all poultry, or at
least the best specimens are.
Barred Rocks have attracted
some famous names over the
years, but my own story began
by accident in 1987 with two
of the biggest names, the
‘grandees’ Will Burdett and
the late Dr Clive Carefoot,
along with the equally
Bred by me in 2011, this cockerel displays the correct exhibition colour
and won at the National Show and the Scottish National Show.
famous Jim Shaw of Lancaster
and Ian Allonby, latterly of
Poultry Club fame. To tell the tale
concisely, I visited a show, wanted
to buy an Orpington, was redirected to a Barred Rock hen
owned by David Jarman, by Will
Burdett who recommended the
breed. Ian Allonby, who knew my
family, kindly took me to visit Jim
Shaw to select a suitable male by
torch light. After breeding for a
year, I had two pullets from Kevin
Dowrick in Cornwall, who was a
great support over the early years,
along with Alan Burnett, Tom
Heginbotham and Geoff Parker.
The late John Townson sold me
some birds that were ‘Clive
Carefoot’s strain,’ including his
Ribble Valley winner, and I
managed to breed some birds that
were in the tickets at the Club
Show, including winning a class
under the judging of Clive
Carefoot himself. I had written to
Clive 5 times asking if he had
stock for sale and he always said
‘no,’ but after winning that class
things changed, and on the
Sunday of the show he returned
with a Cockerel for me that he
said, ‘would do me some good.’
When I asked how much I owed
him, he said: ‘Nothing, just stick at
it,’ which was a measure of the
man. I was proud to count Clive
as a friend. That bird really lit the
spark in my strain and we
exchanged birds many times over
the years. Subsequently, whenever
I get that feeling many have
experienced when I feel like
‘packing it all in,’ I remember his
words and decide to ‘stick at it!’
This year is my 25th year of
breeding Barred Rocks and I last
wrote about them in Fancy Fowl
back in 2003, having won Best
Barred Plymouth Rock at both
Plymouth Rock Club Shows at the
National and Federation Shows,
showing just a single Barred on
each occasion. The Large Barred
pullet that won the award at
were smaller than
the Pekins, Dutch,
and Belgian
D’Anvers.
When I
returned home
and looked at
my Large
The fact I entered just a single
Barreds, it was
Barred Rock at each show may
clear that the
seem like incredibly good odds but
bantams were
of course behind those two birds
something like a sixth
were years of breeding, and over 20
of the size of the Large
years of selecting them for the club
Fowl, not a quarter-size or
shows. In contrast, in 2011, at the same
even a fifth. What
shows I showed 15 Barred Rocks at
This pullet displays very good colour and
were my own like?
each show, won ten of the twelve
barring, including an abundance of
Well my own had
Barred Rock classes, the exceptions
beetle green, and good type. She won
suffered from the fire
being the two pullet classes. On both
at the Scottish National Show in 2012.
which wiped out a lot
occasions it was the winning pullet
of my stock, and I had neglected
owned by someone else (Kevin!) that took the award for Best Barred.
them in favour of the Buffs and
2011 is probably the best ever breeding season I have had with Barreds.
other colours for a few years, not
However, that is the result of a major reconstruction of my strain which
breeding so many (though it had
started 6 years ago, so nothing with Barreds can be classed as being easy.
rewarded me with Club Show
A Heavy Breed – Barred Rocks Today
Stafford went on to win Best Large
Soft Feather Heavy which remains
my biggest win, and the last time a
Large Barred or indeed Barred
bantam took one of the main
awards at the classics.
probably some truth in that but it
was not the real story, as the
leading fanciers, including very
adept breeders like Robin,
balanced type with markings, and
actually set type and style as the
main factor. No, it was more
likely to be the loss of several
leading strains through retirement
or death, notably Tom
Heginbotham and Clive
Carefoot, along with a pooling
together of surplus stock from a
few remaining strains, my own
included. This led to a muchreduced gene pool, and a gradual
decline with nowhere to go for an
occasional outcross for most
breeders. So, when I judged the
Club Show in 2009, I was
shocked to find a really weedy
group of birds on show, many
dwarfed by some of the true
bantams and they certainly would
Barred Bantams
When I started with Barred Rocks, the bantams were always strong and
vigourous. When they came into hand you could tell you were holding a
true heavy breed. However, in more recent times a Barred Rock bantam
would be regarded by many fanciers, particularly of other breeds and in
comparison to the Buff Rocks as ‘small and weedy.’ When I last judged
the Club Show, I was truly disappointed to find the majority of birds
not only fitted this description but were also pale in face, generally
unhealthy-looking, or too small. At that particular event, which is
supposed to show the breed at its best, the Barred Rock bantam females
This male
displays
very good type
but is a 'Light Male'
or pullet breeder.
His barring is grey
and white not the required
black and white. He can be
used in the breeding pen but
should not be exhibited.
Champion with a Buff Cockerel
at the National in 2007).
Also bred by me
in 2011, this exhibitioncoloured cockerel has a
better comb but is slightly
darker overall. He was
2nd to his siblings at the
Club Shows.
The state of the Barred bantams
was, some would suggest, the
result of many years of ‘breeding
for markings over type.’ The
Buffs, they would say, had not
suffered in this way and true
enough, just look at Robin
Ramus’ birds. There was
have looked like the odd one, or
should I say ‘inferior,’ out on
Championship Row next to the
Wyandottes, Australorps, Sussex,
and Orpingtons had one made it
that far.
So, I was determined to do
something to keep the breed alive
and fortunately others, like Kevin
and Geoff, had also decided they
Fancy Fowl Magazine, November 2012 - 25
This is a large fowl
breeding pen of
exhibition Barred birds
This Large Barred female shows excellent barring with very good clarity
and also the heavy breed character that is so important. She won at the
Club Show before going into the breeding pen and is the mother of the
pullet in the other photo.
to win Club Show Champion
well over 20 years ago.
Unfortunately, by 1994 Clive’s
strain was gone and exhibition
Barred Rocks were all but extinct
with only ‘well-barred Marans
typed-birds’ around. I was
determined to recreate them and
fortunately Jim Shaw had one last
exhibition male left, a cock who
was split winged and four years
old, but otherwise oozing quality.
I found a leading continental
breeder, and combined the two,
and eventually after 3-4 years
work, they were somewhere near.
This pullet won her class at the National and Federation Shows, and
was Best Large Plymouth Rock at the National. Her barring is very fine
and displays the correct proportion. She is also a very nice shape.
needed to increase the size of the bantams to correct proportions. At
the 2011 Club Show, it was fantastic to hear of a number of
complimentary comments, including from the likes of Frank Clark and
Robin Ramus, about the Barred bantams on show, which were echoing
earlier comments of Phil Smedley and Colin Gullon along the lines of:
‘It’s nice to see Barred bantams the right size,’ or ‘At last, some Barred
bantams that are the same size as the Buffs. I think moving forward, the
bantams will be in a very good state and I think I am close to my
personal aim of having teams of Barreds at the Club Show that can
stand toe-to-toe with Robin Ramus’ teams of Buffs.
Large Barreds
Large Barred Rocks had reached their zenith in the heyday of Clive
Carefoot, and his famous cockerel ‘Herbert’ was the last Large Barred
26 - Fancy Fowl Magazine, November 2012
a new breeder can help
themselves considerably by
ensuring they start with the best
available foundation stock.
Most of the Barred
Rock breeders do
not breed
prolifically, or
have spare birds
in their
hundreds, so
you will find you
will have to pay a
bit more than the
average price if
you want to start
with them. However, if
you start with poor
foundation stock you cannot
really have grounds to
Some Large Barred chicks owned by Jon
complain if you never
Add to the bird of correct barring
Kemp, showing promise.(Photo by J Kemp)
achieve a top
and type glowing orange eyes and
standard in your subsequent years
bright yellow legs and you have a bird representing perhaps the
of breeding – you have set
pinnacle of selective breeding, or at least that’s what us Barred Rock
yourself an impossible task from
enthusiasts will say!
the start. If you want to keep a
few for the garden, then that is
Allowing for the natural difference between the feathering of males and
different and usually they are not
females, means the barring on the males is slightly ‘v’ shaped compared
too difficult to find.
to females, but it still has to be even. The hackles of
males, in neck and saddle though particularly the
former, can be too silvery. A good test is to flatten
the end of the neck hackle against the back, to see
if the colours match. The most important
consideration in the colour of a male exhibition
Barred Rock is that he must be the same colour as
the female – his black bar must be ‘black with a
beetle green sheen,’ not grey, not gunmetal black
or black as found in Wyandottes, Scots Grey, and
Marans, but ‘black with a beetle green sheen’ as
in Australorp. I have seen numerous judges
award prizes, including best in show, to Barred
Rock males that are ‘Light’ and this is quite
simply a mistake. An exhibition Barred Rock
male must be the same colour as the female
otherwise he is the wrong colour. A bird the
same colour as the majority of Barred
Wyandotte Males is not for show – he is a
pullet-breeder (or in some circumstances can
be used to breed cockerels too). On the
continent of Europe, these Light males are
shown but here we are in Great Britain, and it
is an insult to generations of leading Barred
Rock breeders to award a prize to a Light
Barred Rock unless it is in a Utility Class or
behind a correctly coloured male. Certainly
This Large Barred
it is quite ridiculous to award it Best in Show
cockerel won his
– please read the standard and examine the
class at the Scottish
bird!
National for me and
means the bluishness of the white and the beetle green of the black,
and is also affected by the evenness or otherwise of the
bars themselves. Hence, a bird in which the
black bar is too wide can be seen to be
‘too dark,’ and a bird where the whole
band is too wide can be seen to be
‘too white.’ However, much to
my disappointment I have often
seen Club Show winning
female birds to have black
bars double the width of the
white bars – judging Barreds
correctly requires attention to
detail – but it is so
disappointing when the
fundamental requirement that
the black bar is the same width as
the white bar (i.e. ‘even’) is
overlooked.
Over the years since then stock
has been distributed far and wide,
and birds tracing back to that
male of Jim Shaw’s have clocked
up some fantastic wins for
numerous breeders. With my own
birds, I was really delighted with
the birds I bred last year, and
further delighted when they won
all four classes at the Club Show.
In fact, I really thought I had a
Cockerel that rivalled the famous
‘Herbert,’ that was certainly the
best I’ve ever bred. He attracted
some favourable comments from
non-Rock breeders who I really
respect, and of course typically
remained uncarded, beaten by his
two ragtag brothers!
We have some really enthusiastic
Large Barred breeders at the
moment and the demand for
stock is high, so I think it will be
possible for one of us to emulate
Clive’s achievement with a Large
Barred in the future – I certainly
hope so.
A Good Barred Rock
So, what should and does a good
Barred Rock look like? Well firstly,
and critically, it must have good
Plymouth Rock type. This is nonnegotiable as without it the bird is
not a Rock. That type though, is
a real joy, being stylish, subtly
curvaceous, and strong and
powerful.
Each and every feather of a
Barred Rock should feature a set
of parallel, straight bars from the
base of the feather to the top,
ending with a Black tip. The
colour of these bars is alternately
‘blueish white’ and ‘black with a
beetle green sheen’ (most
definitely NOT grey). In the best
specimens, and in my view,
another non-negotiatble
requirement is that these bars are
evenly sized (i.e. The same width
as each other), very straight, and
reasonably narrow – so that there
are as many bars on the feather as
possible. This latter requirement
is often referred to as ‘fine’
barring, so in reports of the best
birds you may hear that they were
‘finely barred.’ When colour is
referred to in Barred Rocks, it
Breeding Barred Rocks
Above all, Barred Rock breeders need
patience and attention to detail in the
birds they select to breed from. Of course,
displays all the
required 'heavy
breed' characteristics
as well as very good
barring.
As for breeding exhibition quality
Barred Rocks and the challenge
of producing a bird with superb
markings and type, you have a
number of things to consider
above and beyond ensuring your
foundation stock are good quality.
Firstly, the mating of an
exhibition (i.e. correctly coloured)
male and an exhibition female
will produce a surprise to the firsttime breeder. Half the offspring
(according to averages half male
and half female) will resemble the
parents and be suitable for
exhibition. Of the remainder,
25% will be completely black,
with black-green legs, and these
will be all female. The other 25%
will be grey/light barred males.
Both the latter types are
unsuitable for showing but should
not be discarded outright – they
can become a useful component
of the breeding pen. The black
females, in particular, can catch
the new breeder by surprise and
in the past have sometimes been
called ‘sports.’
You can spot the different offspring at day-old according to down
feather should you wish, as some breeders do, to eliminate the nonexhibition birds. Barred chicks will have dark down with white dots on
their heads. The light cockerels are the same but with a much more
pronounced dot on their head. The Black pullets have no dot on their
head. In the case of the former, it is usually prudent to wait until the
first chick feathers to avoid accidentally culling exhibition barred chicks.
I will usually allow all the types to grow on then select the most
promising Black pullets (for type, sheen, and style) and the best Light
Cockerels (for barring and type) and keep a small number along with
my exhibition barred birds. The latter group are kept for longer but any
bird with an evident fault (such as square shanks, poor comb etc) is
eliminated. Gradually as the birds get closer to maturity I select hard for
type and barring. My mantra is the same as it always has been – breed
as many as you can from your few best birds then cull hard. This is
what Clive Carefoot drilled into me. I have a few different family groups
(or lines as I call them) so that I can introduce ‘fresh blood’ in a safer,
related way should the need arise rather than go to another breeder.
So, why the different offspring? Well, the simple explanation (you will
find a much more expansive one in Clive Carefoot’s ‘Creative Poultry
Breeding’ or in Grant’s ‘21st Century Poultry Breeding’) is that the gene
responsible for barring is present in two ways. In a correctly coloured
exhibition bird, it is equally present alongside a black gene. The barred
female carries only a single barred gene, while the Light cockerel carries
a double dose of the barring gene. The relationship itself is similar to
the breeding of blue breeds where you get 50% Blue birds (equivalent
to the exhibition Barreds), 25% Splash (equivalent to the Light
cockerels), and 25% Black (equivalent to the Black pullets). With barring
being ‘sex-linked’ the exhibition pen will never produce any self-Black
males or Light females. Now, the educated breeders among you will
realise the next possibility – in Blues from a closely bred line, by mating
together the Splash and Black you get 100% Blue offspring. Likewise, in
Barreds, by mating together the Light cockerel with the Black pullets
you will get 100% exhibition coloured birds with no ‘sports.’ However,
while this has the advantage of maximising output and reducing
wastage, it has the disadvantage of reducing your control over the fine-
A decent quality Large Barred female.
28 - Fancy Fowl Magazine, November 2012
not be
.....the Light male should
exhibited. His barring is grey
te.
and white not black and whi
and saddle hackle, wing bow, and
tail to correspond with the rest of
the body, presenting a uniformity of
colour throughout.
Fine barring: This is used to
describe the barred plumage of a
bird which displays precise, narrow,
and uniform barring – particularly
males in the hackle areas. The
barring should still be even – i.e.
Black and white part the same
size.
Coarse barring: This is where a
bird has even sized but very broad
barring – the opposite of fine. It
fails according to the standard by
not being ‘moderately narrow.’
A very nice pullet
breeding Large Barred
male together with his
ideal mate, a Black pullet
bred from an exhibition
pair. This mating will give
g
100% exhibition offsprin
but......
tuning of the barring as you
cannot assess the Light male for
the quality of his beetle green
sheen (as he only has gunmetal
black bars) and you cannot assess
the Black female for quality of
barring. So, it is generally good
practice not to use it every
season. Again, the astute Blue
breeder may have realised
another possibility – the Light
male (equivalent to the Splash
male in Blues) can be mated with
an exhibition female. This should
be seen as a true pullet breeding
mating as all the male offspring
will be Light and therefore not
suitable for exhibition.
General observations are that in
breeding Barred Rocks, pay
attention to the barring – that it
is according to the standard and
that it is sharply defined in the
under-colour. Once you lose the
under-colour, it is very difficult to
recover it. The under-colour is a
very good indicator as to the
quality of barring in the rest of
the bird in terms of colour – i.e.
is the white bluish, and is the
black beetle green?Try and take
repeated looks at your birds,
from close by and afar. Take a
rest then repeat it – you will
gradually develop the habit of
efficiently selecting barring.
By way of an aside and
comparison, the Barred
Wyandotte males which are
exhibited are Light Males – if
they were Barred Rocks they
would not be shown. This is
because the Barred Wyandotte
breeder has no black sport to
introduce to mate with the Light
male in order to produce males
of the same colour as the
females. Some breeders have
tried to use pure Black
Wyandottes but this produces
more of a cuckoo pattern (since
the pure Black Wyandotte
carries no barring modifiers).
Over time, the main task would
be to refine the barring but in
my experience this would take 56 generations.
It is also important to select first
for type and then for barring.
What we are aiming for is perfect
barring on a beautifully typed
and shaped bird that truly
represents the Plymouth Rock.
Continental (or convex) barring:
In Europe and some other countries,
there is no requirement for the
barring to be straight, therefore you get a convex or rounded effect. This
can be seen in some British Large Barreds (remember they mostly go
back to my 1994 mating involving Continental blood) and also in many
Barred Wyandottes, as the feather is rounded not flat sided.
Even barring: This is another way of saying the bird is ‘well-barred’
being of the correct proportion and evenly spaced.
Mossy barring: Usually seen in females, this is where the black barring
bleeds into the white part, or the bird carries too much black, giving a
‘mossy green’ appearance.
Dark barring: Also usually seen in females, this is where the black bar is
too large in comparison to the white part – as opposed to being evenly
proportion.
Black feathers: No-one can
produce a perfect Barred Rock
without the odd black feather.
These can be removed before a
show, but you will need to
exclude birds that show an
abundance of black feathers.
Flight markings
The flight markings in wing
feathers deserve particular
mention. Often a judge who is
unsure will grade the birds
according to flight markings and
condition alone, which is a
mistake as the main flight
feathers are only 20 feathers out
of hundreds on a bird. Of
course, if you can get perfect
flights as well that is a bonus, but
remember it is only part of the
bird. The best exponent of
producing wing feathers I have
known is Alan Burnett’s females
– they are regularly beautifully
barred in the flights.
It is possible that a bird may
have an entirely black primary
flight feather even when the
remainder are beautifully barred.
Clive Carefoot talks in his book
about winning the Club Show
with a bird so affected. Again, it
is important to remember that
that single flight is only one
feather out of hundreds,
therefore all things being equal if
this bird is otherwise superior to
the rest, it should win.
Shanks
As breeders of yellow legged black
breeds will know, quite often you
get black or dusky pigment on the
shanks, particularly as the bird
reaches point-of-lay. This can be a
sign that the quality of the birds’
black pigment (in a Barred the
black part of the barring, and/or
the beetle green sheen) is very
high. Therefore it is not possible
to ‘breed this out’ and nor would I
advise it as you will then diminish
the quality of black.
Give them a go
Barred Plymouth Rocks are a
challenge, but get it right and it is
an extremely rewarding one. We
are lucky that currently we have a
set of breeders who are willing to
keep going year after year, and
who are very enthusiastic. I
cannot mention them all here but
Barreds are certainly having a
mini-revival and actually
outnumbered Buff Rocks in many
of the classes last-year. If you take
them up, then you will need
patience and dedication but you
will find many people to help you
out along the way.
Different types of barring –
a quick guide
Ideal barring (according to the
standard): Ground colour white
with a bluish tinge, barred with
black beetle green sheen, the
bars to be straight, moderately
narrow, of equal breadth and
sharply defined, to continue
through to the shafts. Every
feather to be finished with a
black tip. The fluff or undercolour is also barred. The neck
This large Barred pullet displays excellent fine barring and compact,
stylish type. She won her class for me at the Federation Show in 2011.
A Champion Large
Barred male for yours
truly at the National,
Federation and Scottish
National.
Fancy Fowl Magazine, November 2012 - 29