Tag: dual purpose

About the Plymouth Rock Chicken | TBN Ranch

The Plymouth Rock, also called the Barred Rock, is an American breed of domestic chicken. It is a dual-purpose hardy breed, raised both for meat and eggs. This friendly sweet breed has a single comb with five points; the comb, wattles and ear-lobes are bright red. The legs are yellow and unfeathered.

Though the Plymouth Rock tolerates confinement, they’re most happy when allowed to free range. All varieties of Plymouth Rock aside from the Barred and White varieties are relatively rare. The Plymouth Rock is a good setter, meaning it has strong maternal instincts, and a good choice for brooding.

  • Weight: Heavy, 7-8 lbs
  • Bantam, 3.0 lbs. Male
  • Bantam, 2.5 lbs Female
  • Use: Dual Purpose
  • Egg Color: Brown
  • Rarity: Common
  • Varieties: White, Buff, Silver Penciled, Partridge, Columbian, Blue, Black
Back to Chicken Keeping Resources HOME PAGE

How Long Does a Chicken Live?

It depends whether or not they are LUCKY.  Hens on a mass production egg farm can expect an unpleasant one or two year lifespan before they are brutally slaughtered.  Not a rosy picture, but wait, it’s even worse if a chicken hatches as a rooster. He will often be granted only five or six months before his life also comes to a screeching halt.  One may be somewhat luckier than the other… but quite frankly I’m not sure which one.

Backyard chickens can live eight to ten years in an ideal situation. Meaning, quality grub, green fixin’s, fresh water, shelter, and space to exercise their instinctual behaviors. Of course there are always chickens with that special  gusto for life who continue scratching in the dirt far beyond the norm.

The older a hen gets the less eggs she lays. Her production cycle may even cease altogether. But this is just a part of their change of life, same as ours. Chickens grow old, but  but let’s not overlook their other valuable ageless contributions. They provide an endless amount of fertilizer for your garden, eat ticks, flies, mosquitoes, and the creepy crawlers that destroy the foliage in your yard. Chickens are hard workin’ bug eating machines that are quite happy to earn their keep…  at every stage of their life.

Back to Chicken Keeping Resources HOME PAGE
%d bloggers like this: