Close your eyes and picture a chicken Odds are you just pictured this one The black-and-white striped hen scratching around the barnyard is the Barred Plymouth Rock, and for the better part of a century it was the most common chicken in America Week three of our America 250 series belongs to the bird that became the picture of the American backyard

Top 3 Takeaways

• It’s the chicken everyone pictures The barred black-and-white hen is the storybook American farm chicken, and it was one of the most popular breeds in the country for generations
• It does a little of everything