Rhode Island Red

My hens and rooster of this breed are not only loving and cuddly but also gorgeous! I simply adore Rhode Island Reds and I think I will always have one among my other breeds in the future. The only downside being how huge my rooster is, he is perfectly well behaved so no issues he just takes up a lot of space and may not be the best for those who don't have a whole ton of room for big birds like he is.

Raised with Danish Brown of same age. She'll come to me when I go to feed them. She's not often big cackler. When she does I check on her because it's usually a cat or mockingbird near their run.

She's been great throughout hot 110+ weather here in the desert. Isn't bothered by constant strong winds and gusts. Doesn't try to leave the run.

Edited to add:
Friend's RIR purchased same place same day is very aggressive. Will come at one and peck feet leggs anything she can reach. She comes at you. Also tolerated heat and high winds well.

When we started out with chickens I had no idea what I was getting when I went to TSC because I didn’t know what was in stock. We purchased 3 cinnamons and 3 RIRs. The RIRs always let me handle them while they were babies and were very curious and Intelligent compared to the cinnamons. However now that they are older we only have two of each breed and one of the reds is to put it nicely a terror. I’ve seen her charge and knock over the other chickens, she crows like a rooster in the mornings. She’s very loud and likes to hog the nesting boxes and gets crazy loud when the other girls go into the coop while she’s nesting. When I go in to change their food and water she chases after me pecking and has “bit “ my arm before and left a scar. However they all get along fine and we haven’t had any issues the last 7 months but I don’t like her that much. My other three are docile and sweet but don’t like to be held. I wouldn’t get this breed again personally.

I've had Rhode Island Reds all my life, since 7 years ago. While they're a good, hardy egg-laying breed and can be quite tame when you handle them a lot, they can be quite aggressive to new additions to the flock and stick to a very intense pecking order.
When Roosters are not handled properly - as in they are not picked up and petted a lot - they can be prone to attacking strangers. Roosters should be raised from chicks to adults to prevent attacking, and if you have more than one rooster, they should be raised together, too, to prevent fighting.
The Roosters also grow very long spurs which can sometimes cut into the hen's back, and can be quite aggressive and protective over the hens to people and to other roosters.
While this is being said, Rhode Island Reds are also very great when it comes to being broody moms. I've had quite a few hens go broody and they can raise chicks that they've hatched, and even adopt chicks that aren't their own.

Mine both turned out to be ROOSTERS, and they are large, healthy, meaty birds but mine are just pets, we don't eat them. They will attack and flog anyone. Mean to my flock of younger birds. Beautiful but NOT a good PET chicken (the males anyway...I cannot report on the females, I don't have any)

Maybe my situation is rare and uncommon, but I've found my RIR, Alice, to be a sweet chicken. She is always first in line to follow me and has a natural curious nature. Alice, unlike other accounts of a power-hungry, aggressive RIRs, is not close to it. If anything, I'd say my Jersey Giants are more dominant than she is! Additional points for being a prolific egg layer!

Now, that's just the hen. My RIR rooster was a horrible bird. Regardless of breed, sometimes roosters are just mean.

I have five RiRs they are docile towards me and actually quite smart and funny. How ever i gave them a two star because they are very aggressive to new chicks and do not like to be handled even though i have handled them since they were chicks. They do not like to lay their eggs in the nest box and actually will fly over a barricade fence

Older (#2) in a flock of 4 mixed is quiet, friendly, & gets along with ALL others, even a pullet that's not hers. Younger (#3) is loud, mean to the pullet, and pushes everyone else out of the way to get to food and treats even if there are several piles available. Heat tolerant (115F here in AZ) as long as you provide water for them to stand in, make mud, mist them and the coop, and give plenty of water and cold, wet fruit & veggies (like cucumber, watermelon, cold cooked corn, lettuce, etc.)

I have had two Rhode Island Reds with very different personalities.

Nutmeg was the sweetest hen I have ever had, and she simply loved being held and snuggled. She was talkative and always low in the pecking order due to her small size. When putting her with younger, smaller hens, she was aggressive towards them and established herself as the dominant hen quickly.

My other RIR, Apple Pie, is at the top of our current pecking order and VERY bossy. She is aggressive towards the other smaller hens we have and loves chasing them away from food. She is tolerant of being held...for a little while.

Neither hen ever seemed to have problems with the cold or foraging.

Overall, it seems to me that this breed can show various different traits depending on the chicken. They do seem to be aggressive towards others in order to be the top chicken but can be lovable and sweet.

Sunny was one of our first hens when we first started keeping chickens. Being slightly older than the other girls, she was the obvious top of the pecking order, and everyone needed to know it! But once that was settled, she became a very sweet leader who never abused any of the other birds. She laid an egg everyday like clockwork, and it seemed to encourage the other birds to do the same Just got a few chicks to add to our flock, and one is a RIR, as we wouldn't be without one.

We had four, including a roo, but are down to three. One we raised; two we picked up locally after being told they were a year old. The roo repeatedly attacked me. He was beautiful and did a great job protecting the girls, but was loud crowing all day. Neighbors complained so we found him a new home. Two of the three hens are aggressive. Aside from pecking, they chase the others away from waterers/feeders. One 'plowed' the other hens right off the roost! The one we raised is the most aggressive and has attacked my husband (only once). They can also be noisy (one squawks all day). Of the three, only one lays consistently; one doesn’t lay at all and hasn’t for some time (in her defense, we think she is much older than one year). This breed does seem to be cold/heat tolerant and lays very nice large brown eggs, but my experience is they are aggressive, flighty and only average layers; I wouldn't own them again.

I have had RIRs for almost a year now. I got them as chicks from Rural King and raised them into the funny chickens they are today. They are very good egg layers and pretty colors. RIRs are good bug eaters. I only have RIRs so I don't know how well they act with other type chickens. I recently hatched 3 eggs that were from my chickens and my hens and my Rooster were being very aggressive to them so had to separate them. Any time I come outside they come running because they think I have treats for them but they do love me.

Very friendly not afraid of my dog. Will chase other non chicken birds away

As I've said before I love them and they seem to me to be a very hearty type of chicken easy to keep happy and produce eggs often I haven't actually ate one yet but I'll keep you posted

i am a new chicken owner and i love my girls they are sweet and come running to greet me when i go to the coops i bought them from a local farmer. i have so enjoyed them

I have a RIR named Rosie who is three years old. She's the sweetest girl ever. I pick her right up with no objections, and she always hangs out with us when she's free-ranging and we're outside. She's gentle and quiet, and a absolutely LOVES grapes. Granted, we raised her from a week old which is probably why she's so good with people. Either way she's the friendliest of my three hens. Good girl, Rosie.

We did used to have another, who was a bit rougher and liked to pick on newcomers, but she wasn't a bad chicken. We just have her a timeout and she was nice again. Rest In Peace, Ginger.
Pictures of Rosie.

I love this breed. I started with four hens and a cockerel. They are beautiful and very friendly. I had read that cockerels are aggressive but I haven't ever had a problem. The hens are excellent layers. The eggs are a nice brown colour and good-sized. I struggled to find Cons with this breed but the hens can pick on younger hens. Other than that this breed is great and I highly recommend it!

My RIR, Waffles, is a perfectly lovely bird in that she is healthy, curious, and a great layer. That said, she will be my last RIR. She's been at the root of every flock dynamic issue that we've had. She relentlessly bullied my poor Australorp until I introduced 3 new pullets and now she relentlessly terrorizes them. I wouldn't recommend them to anyone who wants to keep a mixed flock, especially in a backyard situation where space is limited. Who has room for a bully when there are so many wonderful breeds?