New Hamshire or Production red? Hen or Roo?

farmergirl99 said:

oh okay... DO you thik maybe a rhode island red?

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Your hen is part rhode island red, but she's more than likely not pure and isn't show quality. You want to see a rich mahogany color in the Rhode Island Reds.
Here is a Rhode Island red hen to show what I mean about the color (courtesy of the internet):

A RIR rooster:

See how they are a darker color than your hen? Your hen is still very pretty but she has been bred for egg laying qualities, not for correct type so she really can't be called a pure Rhode Island Red. She is a production red hen.

I've looked at your birds, here and on your other thread. They are wonderful birds and will lay well. You'll love them and that is all that matters.

The Araucana is a EE. Araucanas are super rare and very expensive.
The Barred Rocks you have are production, BR, hatchery stock quality. True Barred Rocks can cost $50-$100 a bird, from very selective breeders. I have both kinds. I only ask $12-$15 for our hatchery quality BRs at point of lay. I wouldn't part with one of my heritage, bred to standard Barred Rocks for 4 times that money.

The red bird you have is also a production red, a hatchery quality bird. Neither a Rhode Island Red, nor a New Hampshire. A true RIR is deep, almost black mahogany and has a brick shaped body.

Just because back yard or small farm breeders say, "this is a XXXXX bird" doesn't make it so". Just because hatcheries show birds on their websites, claiming they are XXXXX, doesn't make it so either. Fowlman01 and/or Nyreds are two of the nations best breeders and top poultry judges. Ask them, via private message to judge your birds, just don't ask if you don't really want to hear what they have to say.

Please hear me say that production birds are wonderful birds. Because egg laying has been used as a primary criteria in their breeding, rather than breeding to the standard for a breed, they'll lay eggs wonderfully!!!! A heritage, or show quality bird simply isn't bred to top egg laying. The emphasis is elsewhere.

Forget about it!!! (I can't say it like the TV folks do) LOL Love your birds, take care of them and enjoy them.

here is a pic of my Rhode island reds.. they are not Heritage Rhode island Reds but still a little better quality than production reds hope this helps

Don't get me wrong I love my birds so much! But the Dom is def a Dom. I asked her breeder today and the breeder said " I know everyone says that you don't even have doms but it's cuz her comb is messed up" and the barred is def a barred rock. But I think your right theAmeraucana is def a EE. The red one is just what you said I guess. That's so much for your comments! I really appreciate it!

Erin~TheChickenLover said:

Your hen is part rhode island red, but she's more than likely not pure and isn't show quality. You want to see a rich mahogany color in the Rhode Island Reds.
Here is a Rhode Island red hen to show what I mean about the color (courtesy of the internet):

A RIR rooster:

See how they are a darker color than your hen? Your hen is still very pretty but she has been bred for egg laying qualities, not for correct type so she really can't be called a pure Rhode Island Red. She is a production red hen.

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Those are beautiful birds

ChickenGurl101 said:

Those are beautiful birds

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I agree. Just to make things clear, they are not my birds. I just used the pictures to demonstrate the mahogany color.

Yup

It looks like a NH hen to me. I seen some at a breeder a couple weeks ago and if you look at the tail, it does have those black tips. Fluffy but could mean it is just really young right now.

My guess is it's a hen. We have six year-old " New Hampshire" hens who strongly resemble this girl. They are our first attempt at raising chickens...so far so good. All survived this winter in Eastern PA and laying continued pretty much unabated. The six girls average 3-4 large brown eggs daily. We recently purchased 4 California gray pullets who are doing real well. We're looking forward to see how these new girls on the "jv" team get along with the older New Hampshire "varsity" team. Two weeks ago we got 6 more unsexed week old "Asian" chicks from Tractor Supply. Let the games begin,