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Production

Developed by cross breeding a Rhode Island Red and a New hampshire Red. They were also at one...
Pros: Easy to handle, relatively quiet, fantastic personalities, 300+ eggs a year
Cons: Short life span, prone to severe illnesses because of extreme breeding
I've had 12 (9 still alive) of these incredible birds. They are all rescue birds, so I've only known them from when they were 18 months old, but they are amazing birds. Fairly quiet, very active and completely hilarious; they give me so much joy. They just seem to love life.
I normally wait a few weeks before I named them, as their personalities needs to develop after they get out of the factory, but when they do, then their names are obvious ;-)
That said, the extreme breeding, which in my experience eventually ruins their internal organs and they seem to be prone to gastroenteritis. I've lost at least 2 of my darlings this way.
Purchase Price
Normally around $2
Purchase Date
2016

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Thomas Lamprogiorgos
Your chickens, those in the photo, are Red Sex Links, not production reds.
Pros: Good egg production
Cons: Aggressive
I had 3 and one was super agresssive and had an eventful ending because she attacked my dog. They were all hand raised and in a flock of 4 along with a barred rock who was super sweet. The other two production reds were aggressive also and never friendly after reaching maturity. Would never own again.
Pros: They lay good, friendly to me + other chickens, their cute.
Cons: UMMMM.... NONE.
I love them. They lay every day and are friendly toward me and the other chickens. Their not noisy.
Pros: Sweet Natured, Happy, Good Layers.
Cons: Noisy Layers, Feisty, Bossy.
Sweet Natured, Great With Kids, Lay Well, Noisy For Around 20-30 Mins When Laying, Feisty & Bossy Towards Other Birds.
I Have 4 Of These Hens And There Amazing & Each Have Different Personalities.
Peppa: Very loving, loves a cuddle when you can catch her, fights with anyone who wants her food or to be the boss, shes very feisty with all hens & cockerels, very clever.
George: She tries to be the boss but fails, pecked me a few times and run off, shes a spoilt brat.
Peppa: Loves to boss anyone new or smaller than her or the cockerels, mixes in well generally.
Fluffy Wee: Has a go at the other chickens rarely, Loves a cuddle, not very clever, got into the duck pond and had to save her.
Purchase Price
8
Pros: Good egg laying, pretty
Cons: Can be mean to other chickens, have trouble laying, skittish, not the most people friendly
My prod. red has trouble laying every morning, she will squat and sequel like theres no tomorrow it takes her about 25 to 30 minutes to lay once she sits down, Normally for my GSL they have no trouble laying. She also hates being touched and is very skittish, she even bit my poor GSL comb off, i would only recommend for experienced flock owners who only wants eggs
Pros: Sweet, tame and docile.
Cons: Bossy and aggresive
My production red is sweet, docile and loves being held, she comes when you call her and not to mention one of the best egg-layers! I have never seen a chicken lay such big eggs! The only problem is, she can get very aggressive with the other hens and will hurt them if they even go near the feeder. She pecks them when they try to share the nesting box with her. I still love her though and would get another one just like her!
Pros: Great layers, Nice, and good looking
Cons: i have none
i got one at auction with a RIR and she has layed since the day i got her.
Pros: great producer
Cons: too social at times
I have two production reds. They began to lay right at 4 months and almost always give me an egg each a day. They have been handled a lot between me and my kids and are our friendliest chickens. Almost too friendly. If I let them out of the run they will peck at me till I feed them or hold them. My kids love them because they always approach us and they can pick them up without a chicken chase. They are loud layers, but I share eggs with my neighbors occasionally to buffer the noise burden.
Pros: Early and constant Layers
Cons: Loud, a little mean
I have 3 production reds. They started laying at 4 months, while my other chickens didn't begin until 6 months or later. They are all loud and will not allow you to touch them.
Pros: They lay 6 eggs a week without fail. Hardy in both our hot summers and freezing winters.
Cons: Bad flockmates.
My production reds were 1/2 the birds in my very first flock raised from chicks. They tolerate their Buff Orp. flock mates just fine but it took an agonizingly long time for them to let the next years chicks in without trying to kill them, even though one was a Brahma rooster that was as big as them (he was the focus of most of their lethal hate) and I kept them separate but visually accessible for 6 weeks before trying to meld them. Ali runs her coop with an iron beak and will tolerate no disrespect. They were handled a lot as chicks and are neither friendly nor skittish with humans and they tolerate my chicken safe dog really well. They tolerate their health checks fine and Ali had to have double bumblefoot surgery recently, she was calm and accepting through the entire process. They have been strong and healthy birds that are only occasionally loud. They take treats out of our hands gently and readily. I would certainly own more but only if I had 2 coops so they never have to have new mixed breeds blended in with them since they are seriously vicious with interlopers.
Pros: Eggs, Blend in with Enviorment
Cons: Mean
I have a PR rescue named Bonnie. She is pretty nice to people, but not nice to other chickens. She is maybe 3-4 years old and still laying nicely.
Purchase Date
2013-12-21
Pros: Great layers of BIG brown eggs- even in winter, can be really friendly, readily available
Cons: You never quite know what breed mix you're getting, wont breed true
We have two hens that we bought at the local Tractor Supply Co. at a steep discount because they were getting big. They were advertised as "Production Red Pullets". To me though, they look very much like Red Sex Links. Our experience with these hens has been great! Our two PR's live with 18 Rhode Island Red hens and 3 Rhode Island Red Roosters. All are true free-ranged. Our PR's are SUPER friendly, great foragers, and quite predator wary. They lay HUGE beautiful brown eggs even through winter. We actually got a couple with a double-yolk this December :) They follow us around the yard scratching and eat bugs out of my sons hands, letting him get very close even though he sometimes screams and chases them (we try to prevent that!). We are very pleased with this bird and would try them again.
Purchase Price
1.00
Purchase Date
2014-03-12
Pros: Great layers,friendly
Cons: Aggressive toward other birds
My 3 production red hens are by far 1 of the best hens on the farm,I will add more info:
Do really have a Production red?
A production is a pure brown bird with,occasionly a few white tail feathers,and rarely,a few white specks on the neck,many of you BYC members likely have red sexlinks considering feed stores don't know what they have.

1 of my hens:
Pros: Good layers, not flighty, Hardy, Good foragers, food motivated
Cons: can be aggressive, hates to be cooped up
I i have 1 production red who is the only survivor of a devastating raccoon and fox attack. She gives me an egg almost everyday during summer, and even lays some in the winter. She is always the first to greet me and ask for a treat. If i leave her in the coop, she starts yelling at me to let her out. Sometimes she will use her beak to tell me what she wants, but not too often. I would totally recommend this bird to anyone wanting a great layer.
Pros: People friendly, ok layer.
Cons: Can be agressive.
I only have 1 Production Red named Jojo so I can only review from what she's been like. She started laying around 22-25 weeks old and I got around 5 eggs from her and she quit. Her eggs were round which was ok since she was a new layer. Around 2 weeks later she started back and again with round eggs. Like seriously, a perfect circle. A bit hard to squeeze in an egg carton. She is a little aggressive. She picks on newer chickens even after they've been there for weeks. She tried to pick a fight with my Buff Orpington rooster... big mistake. She has a nice personality (towards people and chickens she knows well), really curious but I'd rather stick with Red Sex Links. She's not going anywhere though. ;)
Pros: Very curious and kind, like to be held and like people.
Cons: Health issues and over-large eggs, a little stupid.
I had two Production Reds, Sweets and Willie. Willie disappeared from the yard (probably a fox), but we still have Sweets. Willie loved to eat eggs, but I did not really care, because they were hers anyway. They were both very loud with a deep, raspy BAC BAC BAC. They loved treats and food, but were not very smart with predators. You could kind of tell they were a bit dull, but I loved them anyways.
Sweets lays a huge egg every day, with a double yolk at least 3 times a week. It takes her a while in the nesting box. I do not like this at all because I have heard so much about their poor health and early deaths. I wanted her for a pet only, so I wish she would just stop laying so much. It is not natural.
Pros: Prolific layer, friendly, not broody, easy to hold, hardy
Cons: Loud, mean to new birds
Red productions easily steal second place (second only to Faverolles) on my top breeds list! They are amazing layers; serving up large dark brown eggs almost every day. I haven't missed an egg for nearly a month now. I simply love these birds!
We had one of the coldest winters this year (-50 F on many nights) in history, and with an uninsulated coop and a heat lamp, they all made it through without any real special treatment. We also got eggs throughout all of winter, the only reason of getting less was that they froze solid. They are not broody one bit, only sitting on eggs a few minutes after laying and then moving about their day. They are a bit flighty, but once you have hold of them they become very gentle and quiet. If you are a beginner, red productions are the best chicken you can get to guide you into chicken business, and I mean it.
Take caution to introducing more chickens to your flock, though. The hens can become cocky roosters around new birds; pecking and squawking without an end. It's best to introduce as many birds as you already have, so they are even or outnumbered and therefore, relatively powerless. They can also be a bit loud, but unless you have the best hearing around this isn't really an issue.
If you can handle a little noise, and don't mind buying a few more than a couple chickens later on, then this chicken is a great chicken for you!
Pros: Good layers, hardy in cold and warm climates
Cons: Can be aggressive to other breeds
My parents bought six production reds two years ago. One died suddenly with no reasonable explanation for cause of death. Last year, my parents decided to add another couple of different breeds, and the productions did not take kindly to them. The first addition was a Splash colored Ameraucana (Betty). The productions could tolerate her in their coop as long as she was in a crate, but if she was in close proximity, they would gang up on her and try to kill her. My mother bought a second coop just for her, but it was too late. Betty flew over the fence and was killed by a dog.

The production reds are not an overly friendly breed to people, but these were okay around people. Even my children enjoyed holding and chasing them. My daughter even enjoys hugging. :)




If some one who has this breed, and encounters the same problems, you can try what I did. I wanted to conduct an experiment based on chicken behavior. My mom wanted to get different breeds as before, but was afraid the past would be repeated. I took one of my mom's younger chicks and set outside the big coop (if this didn't work, she still had the second smaller coop she ordered before). The most aggressive would run at the fence to get to the chick. I took the two most aggressive home to my coop, disoriented them where they have to get used to different breeds and obtain a new pecking order. They did not show any aggression towards my chickens, not even the 10 week old babies I had already integrated in with a few older ones I had. The three my mother had left over were tested with a chick with close supervision. None attacked it, but they wouldn't let her integrate either. Eventually, we overwhelmed them with four Ameraucanas. Eventually, the Ameraucanas integrated, and no more issues evolved. The two I took never showed any more aggression.

SO, overall, this breed is a good layer of large brown eggs, even in winter months. They can form their own click and become aggressive to other chickens, but can be reformed if required. They are great with kids, though they won't willingly come up for attention.
Pros: tend to be very affordable, widely available in hacheries or feed stores, large eggs, good personality
Cons: Shorter life span, individuals can eat a lot
I love these birds for production. If you want bang for your buck with a little bit more personality, the production red is a good compromise. Very large eggs with very good laying rate. Can mature a little late but most of mine on time. Some birds eat a lot more than others, which tip your feed to egg ratio. This tends to be one in a few though, so its no big deal to me. Mine are all super easy to catch. Good personalities. Can be prone to a shorter lifespan and production falls with second generation, so always re-order. Nice color and a nice bird.
Pros: Beautiful docile sweet-tempered
Cons: none!
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I've named her Marilu Hen-ner and she is the sweetest girl I've ever met!
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