Black Rock Chickens

What is a Black Rock hen?

The Black Rock hen is an extremely attractive bird, predominantly black with variable amounts of chestnut colouring around the neck. She is very productive, laying up to 280 eggs a year in ideal conditions. In most domestic situations, which are rarely ideal in productivity terms, they are still generous enough to give over 230 or more eggs a year. In ideal conditions this can be as much as 280 eggs a year.

She is bred from very special and uniquely selected strains of Rhode Island Red and Barred Plymouth Rock from a single hatchery in the East of Scotland.

Why is this chicken better than the rest of the commercial hybrids?

It is because of her thick feathering protecting her from the elements, her size which insulates her from wet and cold, her vigour of health and immune system, her ability to produce strong egg shells for years so reducing the chances of fatal egg peritonitis, and to keep laying pretty well in to her dotage.

Why is this chicken better than pure breeds for domestic egg production?

This is because she will lay more than any pure breeds in the UK nowadays, and she is more cost effective in terms of the amount she eats for each egg. The Black Rock is a consistently good bird in all kinds of free range conditions.

It is very unkind to put the commercial hybrids, with their weak feathering, poor immune systems, limited ranging, and high food value demands, outside in some of our exposed garden, croft and smallholding situations. Its a terrible thing to do to ex-battery birds, which have known only a completely protected environment for all their lives. Few gardens in most of the UK provide anything like the sort of environment they need. Unfortunately they are stoic, and put up with so much humans throw at them, in the name of providing us with food and then in salving some sort of anthropomorphic conscience about it.

In contrast the likes of most pure breeds and birds like the Black Rock have been given the qualities by our breeding over the generations to really be able to thrive in the vagaries of the outside world.

(source: Peter Siddons, breeder)

Creekwell Farm Black Rocks

The Black Rock Chickens at our farm were sourced locally from Paula at Lakes End at point of lay. Their feathers have a varied mix of black and brown feathers, black starting from the back and tail graduating down the sides. I brought them home at dusk and put them straight into the poultry house. They were closed up for the night to accustomise them to their new home. Since arriving they have been productive members of the farm producing an average of 11 eggs a day. These free range eggs are available form us, if the signs out it will tell you whats available. or call us on 01945 774034.