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Rhode Island Red

Rhode Island Reds are one of the most popular and oldest known breeds of chicken and was developed mainly in Rhode Island and Massachusetts in the mid 1840's.
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General Information

Breed Purpose
Dual Purpose
Comb
Single
Broodiness
Seldom
Climate Tolerance
Cold
Egg Productivity
High
Egg Size
Large
Egg Color
Brown
Breed Temperament
Friendly, Easily handled, Calm,
Breed Colors/Varieties
The Rhode Island Red is only recognised in Red.
Breed Size
Large Fowl
APA/ABA Class
American
Color
Red or white
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Most often when one thinks of Rhode Island Red they are thinking of the Large Fowl Rhode Island Red, as it is one of the oldest known breeds of chicken and was developed mainly in Rhode Island and Massachusetts in the mid 1840's. The first birds were bred in Little Compton, RI with the use of a Black Breasted Red Malay cock who was imported from England. This Rooster can actually still be seen on display in the Smithsonian Institution as the father of the breed.

The breed was accepted into the American Poultry Association in 1904.

The breed was developed to withstand the harsh New England winters and be a very hardy bird who produced hens with excellent large egg yields and who also would dress out well and look nice on the table, a true dual purpose bird. While the names and places of origin are the same, the Rhode Island White is actually a distinct breed separate from the Rhode Island Red per the American Poultry Association and will be featured in another Breed Focus thread.

The Rhode Island Red breed comes in both large fowl and bantam size and and single as well as rose comb varieties can be found readily.

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Rhode Island Red eggs

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Rhode Island Red chicks

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Rhode Island Red rooster

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Rhode Island Red juvenile

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Rhode Island Red hen

For more info on Rhode Island Reds and their owners' and breeders' experiences with them, see our breed discussion here:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/chicken-breed-focus-rhode-island-red.1021447/
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Latest reviews

Fluffy_Moth_With_Silkies
Pros: Great for eggs and meat
Stereotypical roos
Very pretty
Not very broody
Cons: Males are kind of aggressive
Great birds! The roos are very pretty and the hens are very sweet.
These are the birds you think of when you think of a rooster.
Great review, love it, good job!
Addicted To Chickens
Pros: Friendly
Easy to hold
Good laying production
Cons: Scaredy
RIRs are a very good laying breed and I would highly recommend them for eggs. They can also be mean to the other chickens.
Mary Poopins Love
Pros: Good layers

Friendly ( most times )
Cons: Can be VERY agressive

Broody often
I have four RIR hens. they are good layers most times, however they go broody often in my flock. Three of my four hens are friendly and social, but nugget, the mean one acted very agressivly to me and is a bully to Mary Poopins and fuzzy.
Purchase Price
Free ( from neighbors )
Purchase Date
2022
Read more…

Comments

chickenhead1
The big eggs is why I purchased day old RIR chicks. But I don't seem to have a big social issue with my older RIRs. True they are a lttle bit stuck up, but I have Buff Orps also and they seems to get along okay and the Buffs are almost, ALMOST too friendly.
 
CamiWammiBammi
RIR are very stubborn as chicks. If you work with them everyday, they become more welcoming. I brought my RIR snacks everyday and talked to them, now they come running when they see me and have great personalities.
 
Hiram
RIR are great birds for the person who doesn't have time to "baby" a chicken. They are some what flighty so you don't have to worry about them freezing when they see a predator. They lay great and become good company as the age.
 
aoxa
I concur with IowaHeritage. If they are bred from bad roosters, they really don't have much of a chance. They are no more aggressive than other large breed roosters. For example, my Barred Rock rooster is extremely friendly, when their breed is just as well known for aggressive roosters as RIR boys.
 
ChickenWisperer
They were both from different stock. The second hen was from a show breeder... The first hen I thought was bad stock, but when I got the second one and had the same problem, I knew it was something else. I'm sure not all of them are as aggressive as the ones I had, but they are generally accepted to be a highly bird-aggressive breed, here in the US at least. In my opinion, due to sloppy breeding only for egg production.
 
NYREDS
That squat isn't a defensive posture it's a posture of submission. They're basicly letting you know they're ready to be treaded [mated].
 
sue ragan
we bought 25 2 turned out to be roosters,we love them and baby them we got our first baby egg yesterday,how exciting,we cant wait for more ,you are right they are spunky,we have a 6 ft fence and they fly up 2 the top and jump out,i will try the idea about shaking the corn kettle,in all we have 39 do you keep your laying mash out all day long?we do are we overfeeding,,,,with best regards sue and curtis
 
SmithEdnaValley
Sue--Six foot fence! Ugh! I'm so glad you told me--ours is 3' and I was only going to double it. Perhaps instead we will try curving the top in. Our hens have a covered small run, then a "sometimes" area we call the "playground" which is not covered--and that's where they escape from.
NYREDS--cool knowing about the breeding squat. We thought it was so they would look bigger to hawks!
 
CMV
Pros- great egg layers, mature early, cold-hardy, adequate foragers, attractive birds, large (light) brown eggs
Cons- aggressive, flighty, loud, prone to bad behaviors (egg eating, feather picking, resource hoarding, bullying others), small carcass with poor to fair breast development
A good production bird, but not a great addition to a mixed flock.
 
Whittni
Thids breed needs a lot of space, in the coup and out, how many birds did you have? Were they all healthy? an\d the coop size? roost space? rooster? How were they added to the flock? did they kill previously aggressive birds? etc.
 
ChickenWisperer
Yes, I know. The coop was 64 sq. feet of floor space, and probably about 200 sq. feet in the run. At during the time there was 6 hens and two older cockerels, they attacked my GLW rather severely and my Australorp. However they managed to defend themselves after that. I started giving enrichment and daily free ranging over our 2 acres, put in another feeder and waterer. The cockerels were rehomed, due to their size, and I added 7 older pullets to the flock via free range, which still had me at over 4 sq. feet per bird. Again, 4 of the docile pullets were attacked. I separated them for some time, let them heal up then re-introduced them. Again, they were attacked. I reprimanded the RIR quite severely and put them in isolation for a few days. After re-introduction, things went smoothly. The next day I walked out, and one of my EE's was dead and half eaten. A few days later, I walked out to see the RIR's attacking, viciously, my buff brahma - basically eating her alive. I was too late and she died that night. I got rid of them as fast as I could. Then I got rid of the GLW, SLW, and BSL because they were still aggressive - though they didn't kill any more birds. After that, everything went to normal. My birds were happy and all was swell, even when I again added more birds - 2, 2, 10, - until I have a final count of 12 after selling birds or loosing them to internal laying, foxes, and hawks or selling them due to aggressiveness. Even when I had more birds than I should have, even some sex links in the bunch, I never had any more severe attacks or deaths.
 
mb poultry
I love my flock of RIRs. They come running when they hear the back door open, and lay straight through the winter. I have 21 hens and average 16-17 eggs a day and its the middle of February.
 
dldolan
I love my RIR! So inquisitive, friendly, pecks lightly, compared to the SS who draws blood, she is so enthusiastic! And talke about great layers...wowie, she is the best I have. Give me more RIR!
 
spikennipper
My RIR Ruby is a great bird! not aggressive a good layer of big eggs right up until the end of Jan here in the UK and also likes to go broody which I hear is rare in this breed?
 
little blue
who ever told you that was wrong in our experance rir are very aggressive.an not very friendly.
 

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Category
Chicken Breeds
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Reviews
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