Dixie Rainbows Thread

[sarahandbray]

Yeah, I'll post pics of all of the suspected Dixie Rainbows tomorrow and you guys can take guesses! I have a feeling that the ones we named "Big Buff" and "Dino" for their massive size right out of the gate are Roos...but there are some massive ones that might be girls as well...wonder what I should be looking for in this breed as far as sex? Bright red wattle guy should be a shoe-in...

 

[sarahandbray]

Dixie Rainbow, just shy of 4 weeks. 1lb, 9oz (the Orpingtons and Welsummers are all around 8-9oz!)

 

[sarahandbray]

Do you think this guy is also a Dixie Rainbow? Same size as all of the other suspected Dixie's, but different colors (more gray as opposed to brown...much more unique feather pattern)

 

[sarahandbray]

And please tell me this is what a Dixie puller looks like at 4 weeks...my random straight mix run from McMurray is looking cursed with all boys at the moment!!

 

[stihlonlynow]

Sarah I think you are correct with all your pics. My pioneers from McMurray are 6 weeks now andmost have wattles...some bigger than others. I think its gonna be hard to sex these birds when I plan on culling somearound 12 weeks. I have 5 dixie's that are about 6 months old and they are laying as good or better than anything in the coop. I plan on keeping a dozen total hens and a two roos so I can hatch my own next spring. Good luck keep us posted.

 

[tocaro]

My Dixie Rainbows have been extremely easy to sex early on, much easier than many other breeds. The boys all feather in with barring (grey, brown, and red mix) and had large pink combs by 4-5 weeks & prominent wattles by 6, while the pullets feathered in a near solid apricot or orange color without prominent/pink combs.

I'm guessing all the boys in the breed are barred/multicolored and the girls are a near solid orange (based on my small sample).

 

[sarahandbray]

I know these are the ones I shouldn't get too attached to, but they are my favorites!! They are GINORMOUS but not lazy--they are so inquisitive and come running first when I go out to the brooder. They forage well, aren't mean to others (yet!) and LOVE to sit on my lap and be petted. My least favorite at the moment are the Brown Leghorns and Barred Rocks--Brown Leghorns are sleek and pretty through this ugly phase, but tough to catch! The Barred Rocks are inquisitive but in a bossy way--and love to try to fly out of wherever I have them. Plus, they hurt when they peck!!

I'll take new pics of all suspected Dixie Rainbows tomorrow (just due to their size)--I think I have 6? Or 7? (There's 43 all together so I forget!)
Probably only two hens and 5 Roos...that's been my MO, I think...
Craiglist will be my new best friend come re-homing time...

 

[DancesWithChics]

I bought a Dixie Rainbow at the feed store a few months ago (I did not know anything about them). At 6 months old she is a very steady layer and she is also HUGE!

I am surprised to hear others say their birds are somewhat slow and lethargic, this Amazon Pullet is anything but lethargic! Her motto is why walk when you can RUN, and she runs all over the place just for the joy of dashing about.

Hiya Sonya9!
I am fairly new to BYC, and was reading through the forums this morning and had to reply to your post

We started raising chickens in April of this year and 2 of them are Dixie Rainbows, (Wilamena & Dixie), who are now 6 months old.The co-op where we got them told me that they were a fairly new cross breed, so we took the babies home and did some research. I read and also heard from folks that they can be lazy and lethargic, apparently our girls missed that memo! Like yours, they run everywhere! They really are very sweet birds and very social, following us all over the property when we're outside and always right there into whatever we are doing. Both of them are HUGE, with massive feet. We actually thought Wilamena might be a roo until she laid her first egg while she was sitting on my lap.

They have turned out to be our best layers, and Dixie gives us a double yolker almost daily. Her largest so far weighed 93.5gms!!! (a typical "Jumbo" egg weighs 69-71gms)...whoa!

Wilamena

Dixie

 

[Jenlyn9483]

So we just moved to our new place and get to have our farm again so we are starting over after not being able to have poultry for 3 yrs. We love to raise broilers and in the past i have raised Cornish Rocks and Cornish X rocks from Murray McMurray and three years ago we got white black and red rangers from Mt Healthy which we really liked. We decided that we prefer the pasture rangers versus the "Franken" chickens and I was about to order the red rangers from Ideal when I got the Murray McMurray catalog and found these "Pioneer Chickens". Intrigued by what they said about them being meaty rangers that also laid exceptionally well I ordered 16 of these today (Straight Run) with some Dark Cornish, Deleware and White rock roos for my meat pen. I found this thread and i feel very validated in my choice to get the Pioneers. Im very excited about them. I have not found (Unless i missed it) where anyone has successfully bred Pioneer to Pioneer? My original plan was to save a few hens back to breed with Dark cornish rooster to produce more broiler type ranger chickens.

 

[sarahandbray]

Here are some updated pics of my McMurray Pioneers at 13-weeks tomorrow. I just love them to bits!! Last week would have been this guy's "processing" week, but he's just "the man" of the whole flock, I can't bear to do it!!

Here's the big guy--I sold one of the other big Roos at 8-weeks and some lady was tickled pink to have him as the head of her flock!!

Here's the pretty multi-colored gray & buff Pioneer in the foreground. She is super sweet and the first to come running when I'm pouring water. She LOVES fresh, running water more than treats! Just gulps it up and lets it run all over her beak. Too cute in person.