Chicken Breed Focus Rhode Island Red

[cmom]

I see we have a few new BYC members here. Just want to say

 

[Pupsnpullets]

I remember seeing RIR's when growing up in New Zealand and they were very large, beautiful deep reddish black colour and laid large dark brown eggs. Fast forward 40 years and the RIR's I see now are smaller and more ginger-rust coloured. Even the eggs are a light brown to cream and only average sized. It seems, though, that some of the RIR's I've seen on this post are more like I used to believe they looked like. Is there a breed standard and has it changed over the years?

 

[N F C]

Maybe the color difference is the difference between breeder raised and hatchery birds? Just guessing here, it will be interesting to hear other responses.

 

[MeeMa Brown]

This is Martha Washington ages 1 week, 1 month and 10 weeks. Fun and curious,smart and healthy. We are eager for EGGS. They stay clean in sand run.

 

[Rudies Roost]

Here's my RIR boy (you'll see him in my avatar too), a bit naughty but a wonderful flock guard. He's produced a nice couple of chicks this year and we love having him around. Quite noisy and very curious, scared of my ducks but happy to charge at the neighbours dog! A great breed, I don't have any RIR hens but may look at getting some in the future. He's going through his first moult at the moment so he's a bit grumpy and not looking his best. ...

 

[N F C]

Here's my RIR boy (you'll see him in my avatar too), a bit naughty but a wonderful flock guard. He's produced a nice couple of chicks this year and we love having him around. Quite noisy and very curious, scared of my ducks but happy to charge at the neighbours dog! A great breed, I don't have any RIR hens but may look at getting some in the future. He's going through his first moult at the moment so he's a bit grumpy and not looking his best. ...

He's a fine looking boy! Funny that he's scared of the ducks but charges the dog, lol.

 

[Bruberi]

I hatched out 12 RIR chicks from eggs given to me by a breeder close by. 6 Roosters & 6 hens. We gave 5 of the roosters away to fellow chicken lovers as we couldn't bear the thought of "our babies" being culled. They are a welcome addition to our flock - a total of 14. We have Black rumpless Auracanas, Vendas, Boschvelders and now RIR's. Our rooster - Big Red, has been enthusiastically coveting all the hens and one of our Boschvelders went broody so we were excited to see what that would bring. The mixed bag of ladies makes for a colorful display as they ho about their daily life

 

[grannyh6]

Looking for some laying hens Rhode Island Red. Anybody knows someone near Lakeland Florida that is a breeder

 

[N F C]

I hatched out 12 RIR chicks from eggs given to me by a breeder close by. 6 Roosters & 6 hens. We gave 5 of the roosters away to fellow chicken lovers as we couldn't bear the thought of "our babies" being culled. They are a welcome addition to our flock - a total of 14. We have Black rumpless Auracanas, Vendas, Boschvelders and now RIR's. Our rooster - Big Red, has been enthusiastically coveting all the hens and one of our Boschvelders went broody so we were excited to see what that would bring. The mixed bag of ladies makes for a colorful display as they ho about their daily life

I hadn't heard of Vendas so I looked them up...interesting birds!
http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/CGP/Venda/BRKVenda.html

 

[N F C]

Looking for some laying hens Rhode Island Red. Anybody knows someone near Lakeland Florida that is a breeder

I don't know how far this person is from Lakeland but you might try him:
DD Chickens & Hatchery in Newberry, FL
You could check and see if he has RIR's. I haven't purchased from him yet, but have heard he's a good person to work with. You can do a Google search to find a phone number if you'd like to call.

Also, check in on the FL state thread, someone on there might have some for sale:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/305793/florida-always-sunny-side-up