Plymouth

 

The Plymouth Rock is a domestic chicken breed native to the United States. It first appeared in Massachusetts in the nineteenth century and was often considered the most popular United States chicken breed from its introduction through much of the early twentieth century. It is a dual-purpose breed raised for its meat and brown eggs. The Plymouth Rock is cold-hardy, easy to manage, and a good broody/breeder.

History

The Plymouth Rock made its initial appearance at Boston in 1849; however, it was not again seen for twenty years. In 1869, a D.A. Upham, in Worcester, Massachusetts, cross bred some Black Java hens to a cock with hinny1 barring, and a single comb; he was selective for barred plumage, and clean (featherless) legs.  His birds were shown in Worcester in 1869; the modern Plymouth Rock is likely a descendent of these birds.2 Others have been credited with development of the Plymouth Rock, as other chicken breeds were, such as the Brahma, Cochin (white and buff), the Dominique and the White-faced Black Spanish. The Livestock Conservancy indicated this breed may have come from cross breeding of Java birds with single-combed Dominiques;or according to genomic studies primarily from the Dominique with extensive influence from the Java and Cochin and lesser influence from other breeds.

The Plymouth Rock breed was first exhibited in the first chapter of the American Standard of Perfection of the new American Poultry Association in 1874 The barred plumage pattern was the original; all the other colors were added later.

The Plymouth Rock became the most popular chicken breed in the USA. It kept this position until about the time of WWII. With the rise of industrial chicken production, the Plymouth Rock was used heavily in the development of broiler hybrids, and likewise it declined in popularity as a backyard bird.

In 2023, the Plymouth Rock was listed by the Livestock Conservancy as 'recovering', which indicated that there were at least 2500 new registrations per year. The Plymouth Rock is reported to have worldwide numbers approaching 33000; and about 24000 for the Barred Plymouth Rock and more than 970000 for the White version.

Characteristics

The Plymouth Rock is a manageable chickens that feathers early, shows good cold resistance and is a good sitter. It has a single comb with five points, the comb, wattles and ear-lobes are red, and the legs are yellow and featherless. The beak is yellow or horn colored. The back is long, broad, and the breast is fairly deep.

In the United States, seven color varieties are recognized: barred, blue, buff, Columbian, partridge, silver-penciled and white. The Entente Européenne d'Aviculture et de Cuniculture lists ten plumage varieties, and the Poultry Club of Great Britain recognizes five — barred, black, buff, Columbian and white. In Australia, the barred variety is split into two separate colours - dark barred and light barred.