There have been Barred Plymouth Rock on our farm for over a century. (Not the same ones of course) These were a breed Tony’s grandmother kept, as did most other Nova Scotia small farms in the late 19th and early 20th century.  They were originally developed in the United States in the mid 1800’s and the breed came north to Canada from there.   Today there are many varieties of Plymouth Rocks; White, Pencilled, Columbian and Partridge, the Barred Rock was their common ancestor, all the others came from them.   What made them so popular was their broodiness, cold hardiness (due to early feathering), as well as their production of large brown eggs.  Being a dual purpose bird my grandmother could  gather eggs from them in the morning and then have a decent sized baked chicken for supper with the hens weighing on average 3.5 kgs and the roosters weighing up to 4 kgs.  Barred rocks can be particularly long lived, we have had several hens over the years that have lived to 9 years old and still produce eggs.