With the parent birds being both natural breeds and being constantly selected for their health status the cross retains superb genetic vigour and excellent health record. As far as I am aware there has been no recorded salmonella infection in any U.K. flock. This means there is no need to use the really nasty salmonella vaccines which can make the birds very sick.

From our own experience of several decades raising and keeping Black Rocks here in the inhospitable climate of the West Coast of Scotland we know that they have great disease resistance - we have rarely needed to do anything ever beyond normal maintenance care. This is so different to the weak commercial hybrids, its a matter of opinion whether most domestic poultry keeping conditions are really suitable for the birds created for intensive production, especially after they have been used to a fully protected environment.
Black Rock hens are persistent and steady layers (some birds reported still laying at 8 years old and living to 12!!) We have 3 year old hens in our small commercial laying flock still producing well. Instead of culling the birds out at this time, their vigour means they can go on to have very successful lives as garden birds. The homes our 2 and 3 year old birds go to report very satisfactory results for many years, and, although their longevity does our turnover no good at all, we have many repeat customers and new ones from recommendations.
They suffer far less from the problems that kill most of the commercial hybrids within their 3rd and 4th years - that of thin eggs causing peritonitis and assorted growths etc.

The genetics behind the Black Rocks gives them their quality, they are extremely hardy. Good rearing techniques can make the most of these to create birds that can thrive and lay well throughout in the Highlands of Scotland exposed to wind, rain, snow, heat, without effect. The birds have thick plumage with great waterproofing to protect them from adverse weather. They also have the brains to know when to go inside, unlike many of their weaker cousins who are notorious for getting sodden and then chilled enough to threaten their lives.

Black Rock hens use the ground well, happily ranging around gardens, over fields, and love woodlands. If you want to control which areas of a paddock or garden they use in rotation to ensure you keep the ground clean and fresh then electric netting is the perfect solution.
The one situation I would not recommend Black Rocks is where you are going to cage birds in the majority of the time. They are far too active for that but then, to be honest, why have laying chickens if you are only going to confine them all the time. Its worse than a battery unit, at least there they cannot see the outside world or get teased by being let out once a week or, worse, for an hour a day. The joy of having them is to watch them out and about scritching and scratching around the shrubs and pasture.

Great egg quality in shell colour, shell quality, and egg size throughout the laying period is one of their most notable features. We sometimes have trouble finding enough medium eggs for particular customer - they only seem to have the recipe for large ones. - and some of these don't fit in the boxes !

They have excellent feed conversion in whatever weather (and we get some weather here!!!) we also find they don't need the higher protein feeds which tend to make eggs slightly fishy tasting, according to our customers. They are perfectly happy on a diet of smallholding layers ration like that from Dodson and Horrell who are our favourite supplier, being so conscientious about the ingredients and nutritional balance they use.

From when we first started working this farm, rescuing it from a very derelict state, we increased the hay crop 4 fold by including our hens in our field management. The climate has now become too wet to allow us to make hay but the fields are much better quality grazing than when we arrived.
The birds are all over the ground, so the high nitrogen manure they leave is spread well, they have decimated the leather jacket population, we were initially inundated with Daddy-long-legs when we came here but now rarely see them in the summer, and the constant scratching means the grass tillers so well improving the bulk of the grazing.

Black Rock chickens are docile but full of character - they are easy to rear and simple to keep,(although, being naturally curious, not always easy to keep out of the back door!) I have heard reports of feather pecking - well all we can say is that in 16 years of keeping and rearing Black Rocks we have never had this problem.
I can only think it may have something to do with the way we rear our birds - all that space and allowing them to free range as soon as they want, and the advice we give our customers to ensure they go to homes with the appropriate facilities to keep them well. The girls are strong characters so are not good birds to be confined in small pens and not allowed to range. If you want to keep birds that in conditions that are really barely a stage up from battery units, then the red hybrids may be a better choice for you.

Electric netting means that birds can be out in all domestic situations, even when you are troubled with daytime predators like foxes or your own dogs!.

We do not believe that there should be any need to de-beak Black Rocks - and in fact doing so means they will not be able to take advantage of true free range behaviour. If its been done it probably means that the birds are being reared too intensively and this can cause all sorts of other concerns for their health.
They don't waste energy (and therefore food) in nervousness - even ignoring being ' bombed' by jets around here.

Appearance may not be high on everyone's criteria but the green shine from black feathers in the sun is magic, set off with the chestnut feathering around the neck.

For the domestic breeder, a broody black Rock will rear her own young extremely well being incredibly defensive; (as a few hooded crows have found to their cost) and have even been persuaded to rear ducklings which gave them apoplexy when the ducklings found the water !! While broodiness is not common in young birds, once they get to 4- 7 years old they may well add to their worth to the family flock by raising the next generations. The best boys to use would be a Rhode Island Red cockerel from a strain that is being recorded at over 200 eggs a year to give you good egg laying pullets, or a table selected Light Sussex if you want some really good meaty birds for the freezer.

Tim and Jill Bowis
Kintaline Mill Farm, Benderloch, OBAN Argyll PA37 1QS Scotland
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