I have used Central Hatchery for several years and have ordered broilers as well as RIR. The RIR are a very nice dark red, much better than other hatchery "RIR". They always arrive alive and healthy and do extremely well. I received 100 last month and didn't have a single loss. I strongly...
Tractor supple DOES sell Rhode Island Reds, at least the stores in the DFW area do. The chicks come from Privett hatchery in New Mexico and you can see it on their website. You can also special order these chicks through tractor supply. Keep in mind, different TCS's in different regions get...
Mine go out in the rain all the time, when they have had enough or if it starts raining hard, they head back into the coop.
Just be careful with the young ones, sometimes they don't have the sense to get out of the rain and they can die from hypothermia.