The Rhodebar thread! - Page 3

Jeremy, have you considered getting some red barred chicks from Kathy? You can cross a cock with a good Red, even a production red to get a head start. I would cross onto a production red and pick a cockerel from that cross to put on a good Red for color. Kathy has one step done.

I wouldn't claim it was the best route. She just has a step done for you. A red barred bird. It seams you could breed it onto a bird with the shade of red that you prefer. It seams you would have to select a few generations to get some of the kinks worked out anyways. Somebody more knowledgable with the idea would have better advice. I had considered trying to create a red barred bird, but being a New Hampshire fan that was the approach I had intended to take. I would also use a production red in the mix, for the egg laying prowess.
I was just sharing a thought in part because of the body type of the birds in your picture. Also the tails. I tend to see shape before I see color. Just a thought.

Green sheen on a barred bird. 

I plan to start one this spring.  I've got RIRs & Brs, so why not.

Jeremy, how's your project coming along?

I do not have the rhodebar I synthesized and as stated earlier, I am working on other projects. This is how I made mine. 

I would start by crossing a Rhode Island Red male over barred rock females.( I actually started by crossing a barred male over RIR females but I needed silver females for another project).

Then back cross a black sex-linked male ( rhode island red x barred rock) over female rhode island. I worked on producing very dark rhode island red before I made the cross. 

Male RIR that I used for breeding dark birds. The females were dark also.

From black sex lined X RIR  cross you will produce birds that are not that good looking with poor color distribution.

Take the best barred male and cross him with the darkest RIR females you have and you should get some better looking birds.

http://www.backyardchickens.com/image/id/5578636/width/200/height/200/flags/ZC

Is the roo pictured from the first generation after crossing the RIR with a BR?