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Rhode Island Red

Rhode Island Reds are one of the most popular and oldest known breeds of chicken and was developed mainly in Rhode Island and Massachusetts in the mid 1840's.
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General Information

Breed Purpose
Dual Purpose
Comb
Single
Broodiness
Seldom
Climate Tolerance
Cold
Egg Productivity
High
Egg Size
Large
Egg Color
Brown
Breed Temperament
Friendly, Easily handled, Calm,
Breed Colors/Varieties
The Rhode Island Red is only recognised in Red.
Breed Size
Large Fowl
APA/ABA Class
American
Color
Red or white
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Most often when one thinks of Rhode Island Red they are thinking of the Large Fowl Rhode Island Red, as it is one of the oldest known breeds of chicken and was developed mainly in Rhode Island and Massachusetts in the mid 1840's. The first birds were bred in Little Compton, RI with the use of a Black Breasted Red Malay cock who was imported from England. This Rooster can actually still be seen on display in the Smithsonian Institution as the father of the breed.

The breed was accepted into the American Poultry Association in 1904.

The breed was developed to withstand the harsh New England winters and be a very hardy bird who produced hens with excellent large egg yields and who also would dress out well and look nice on the table, a true dual purpose bird. While the names and places of origin are the same, the Rhode Island White is actually a distinct breed separate from the Rhode Island Red per the American Poultry Association and will be featured in another Breed Focus thread.

The Rhode Island Red breed comes in both large fowl and bantam size and and single as well as rose comb varieties can be found readily.

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Rhode Island Red eggs

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Rhode Island Red chicks

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Rhode Island Red rooster

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Rhode Island Red juvenile

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Rhode Island Red hen

For more info on Rhode Island Reds and their owners' and breeders' experiences with them, see our breed discussion here:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/chicken-breed-focus-rhode-island-red.1021447/
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Latest reviews

Fluffy_Moth_With_Silkies
Pros: Great for eggs and meat
Stereotypical roos
Very pretty
Not very broody
Cons: Males are kind of aggressive
Great birds! The roos are very pretty and the hens are very sweet.
These are the birds you think of when you think of a rooster.
Great review, love it, good job!
Addicted To Chickens
Pros: Friendly
Easy to hold
Good laying production
Cons: Scaredy
RIRs are a very good laying breed and I would highly recommend them for eggs. They can also be mean to the other chickens.
Mary Poopins Love
Pros: Good layers

Friendly ( most times )
Cons: Can be VERY agressive

Broody often
I have four RIR hens. they are good layers most times, however they go broody often in my flock. Three of my four hens are friendly and social, but nugget, the mean one acted very agressivly to me and is a bully to Mary Poopins and fuzzy.
Purchase Price
Free ( from neighbors )
Purchase Date
2022
Read more…

Comments

enel 1
really? i have 5 rir hens and there quite docile...how ever,i all so have a production red rooster and a production red hen,now they are rather aggressive.
 
CBarrett
I have 4 RIR hens and one rooster. None of them are aggressive at all, and one of the hens always hops up on my lap when I sit down with them at night before they head back into their coop/pen.
 
dovecanyon
I am laughing so hard, I don't know if I can even type this...
Let me get this straight- you gave the chicken 1/2 of a star because your dog ate it???
 
BigRedNZ
I love our big reds (at 6'7 and ginger I can relate to them well), but ours haven't laid an egg yet (at almost 9 months old) and although fun to watch with their jumping in and out of the run, they don't come within arms reach even with worms in hand. And are flighty and easily spooked.

Still highly recommended, but pick your breeder carefully (ours are just like the lady we bought them off... she was weird)
 
Godiva
It is not fair to them to keep them both if they are always fighting. The one that is injured I would put in the freezer, or even both of them. I know you don't want to kill them but is sometimes it is the best way. Otherwise try to find a home for one or both of them. Or you could have a cage that each one has a turn to stay in while the other free ranges. It is a pain to always having to manage birds like that though. The one that is blind in one eye is at a big disadvantage now in many ways ... if he is free ranging he is a lot more likely to be taken by a predator. Good luck figuring out what works for you.
 
DryCreekFarm
Unless you have two coops or runs where they can both have their own hens, freezer camp is the way to go. The other option is to caponize, but some see that as a cruel procedure. From experience, it doesn't hurt them. Caponizing is neutering of roo's. They gain a lot of weight and become docile. They also become mighty tasty....
 
K
If you got them from a hatchery, they are likely production reds. They do tend to be aggressive but they are great layers. Pure bred Rhode Island Reds are not common and their personalities are pretty quiet and gentle. You are likely to have to find a breeder to get one because hatcheries carry the cross breeds. Rather than lock out your rirs and leave them prey for just about every animal in the world, why don't you re-home them. They are wonderful layers and many people would like to have them.
 
K
You can't keep two fighting roosters together and expect them to make friends and get along. It is their nature to fight for the right to mate. The blinded one will be at a great disadvantage. Life will be smoother for all of you- including the rooster(s)- if you retire one to another home or the stew pot. It is not a kindness to let the blinded one fight it out to the death at a disadvantage. Both may be injured because roosters are quite serious about winning. It is a hard decision to cull one of your flock. If you cull, it should be the blinded one. You need your rooster to watch out for his hens and protect them from predators. He needs all of his vision to do that.
 
Rjaym73
I would have to agree with Kate's comment, hatchery birds are completely different birds from standard bred RIR, look for a quality breeder and there are some great RIR's out there.
Hatcheries do not cull for aggressiveness, they are just concerned with numbers, a good breeder would cull a mean bird in a heartbeat! Never judge a bird based on the hatchery version!
 
immyjay54
Just want to put this so folks don't get the wrong impression of these RIR's. When one of my brothers was just a little tyke, a big RIR Rooster jumped up and took a chunk out of his lip. My oldest sister caught that roo and rung his neck. This was years ago. NOW, I have the heritage RIR's and believe me, you couldn't find a mean one in the bunch. I can reach down and pet the roo's and pick up the hens and carry them around etc. I have quite a few different breeds of chickens and I can honestly say that I don't even think about any of these roos coming after me nor do any of them really fight. Now mind, every once in a while they will peck at each other but nothing serious. I do not put older roo's together unless they've been raised together from chicks. The heritage birds can't be beat.
Jim
 
FarmGirlLC
Wow I have never had a mean RIR, they one I have now is sweet and calm, the other chickens pick on her. Plus when I was little about 4 we had a RIR Rooster named Crazy Legs and I carried that chicken everywhere best rooster we ever had.
 
1redrooster
I just picked up three Rhode Island Red chicks last weekend! I have had New Hamphires in the past and they were a pleasure to have!
 
Johnboy78
Got my two a day old from Ideal.
Friendly, placid, don't fight with the other six hens and don't mess with the eggs.
I've never had chickens so I don't know if my Red's peacefulness is normal or not.
In my little flock the nastiest were the Hamburgs but since they also turned out to
be the smallest it never got them very far.
As a note my girls spend their days out roaming my back yard. At lot of aggressive
behavior disappeared once they were let out to roam on their own.
 
Limet8
Great! I just got my new baby rhode island reds and they are amazing. They are sleeping now SHH!!! :)
 
Darbi Karl
we have 7 RIRs and are thinking of getting some Delawares, do you think they will attack the Delawares? Or will they get along fine?
 

Item information

Category
Chicken Breeds
Added by
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Views
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Watchers
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Comments
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Reviews
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Rating
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