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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.
Pros: Great layers.
Big glossy brown eggs.
Great feed to egg conversion ratio.
Good response to low-density feed
Cold hardy.
Heat tolerant.
Calm.
Adores humans a lot.
Cons: The feather color wasn't appropriate for showing and exhibition.
Also, my strain was bred for egg production and not for a dual purpose.
Very aggressive to other chickens, not only to newcomers.
Good forager, but not as good as Mediterranean Breeds.
Pros: Prolific egg layers, big brown eggs, friendly, sweet personalities, great with kids, some strains live past age 10
Cons: Some strains don't live very long (up to 4 years)
My very first chicks as a kid were Rhode Island Reds and I have adored the breed ever since. Over the course of my life I have ALWAYS had Rhode Island Reds because there is so much to love about them. I have never had a poor experience with hens or roosters. Even Rhode Island Red cross-breeds are great. The only negative thing I can think of is that some strains are short lived.
Pros: Very hardy bird; lays lots of eggs.
Pros: They are pretty, they lay big eggs
Cons: Well in some cases it’s a con but mine have never been broody!
I have two of them and they both have so much personality and always run to me when I go to them! They are so gentle and lay of lot of big eggs!!!!
Pros: Love their keepers
Want to be involved in everything
Very Smart and Consistent
Beautiful
Funny
Large/XLarge Brown Eggs Nearly Everyday
Cons: Hard to integrate "new" birds into the group
2018-09-09 003.jpg 2018-03-19 001.jpg 2018-05-30 Chickens 014.jpg 2018-06-07 009.jpg 2018-06-07 027.jpg This is my first "firsthand" experience with raising chickens. We purchased our RIRs at about 3 days old. We raised them in the house in ever expanding boxes until it was warm enough to put them in a coop. We did take them out on sunny days to play in the yard in a metal puppy pen. They love to free range and pick and scratch everything. They follow us around thinking we might scare up some vittles for them some how. If my husband is digging anything, they know that is an opportunity and flock to his side. They give us hours of entertainment. They jump on our laps for rubs and hugs. When they started squatting upon approach was the sweetest. However, if a bird was not raised with them, they are very intolerant and almost bullying. They chase them around for the fun of it. They do not hurt them, just bully them. 10 hens, 10 eggs per day - the little white egg is from my Leghorn.
Purchase Price
$2 Each
Purchase Date
3/10/18
Pros: Pretty
Heat Tolerant
Frequent Laying
Calm
No aggression
Cons: Smallish eggs
Digs in yard CONSTANTLY and destroys plants
Dislikes being handled
After a year of owning two Rhode Island Reds, I'd have to say I won't get them again.

While good at fending for themselves, they haven't made great pets (least tame of my hens) and tend to lay small eggs. They do well within the flock, but their foraging instincts make them more destructive than any of my other hens. If you don't keep them in a run, prepare to say goodbye to your lawn and garden.
Pros: I cannot say enough how much I love and admire this hen. She is affectionate, calm, independent, spunky, and funny.
Cons: She poops... A lot.
Purchase Price
$5.00
Purchase Date
June 5, 2018

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Pros: Friendly, Docile, Hardy, Heat Tolerant, Egg Laying Machines, Good Forage and Free Range, Aware of Predators
Cons: Small Frames for Meat, Medium Sized Eggs
All around good birds. Very docile and easy to manage. I fell in love with chickens all over again when I got them. I also learned more about handling them and taking care of them when I got this breed. Because they’re so easy to manipulate I learned how to palpate the birds to determine breast size, girth at wings, breast bone width, and laying bone!? spacing, lol.

It’s a perfect starting out breed. If you’re not sure what breed to go with, you almost can’t go wrong with RIR’s. Even the rooster is fairly docile. Very prolific eggs layers of medium to large brown eggs. One thing they don’t like is being interrupted in the nest box, and they will actually YELL at you in sort of an angrily surprised yet comical high pitched voice, almost like you walked in on a butt naked woman in the rest room. Haha! Smallish frame for meat, but could do in a pinch, but the real bonus of these birds is how friendly and mild mannered they are. Two thumbs up. Get some!!
Purchase Price
$10
Purchase Date
06/15/2017

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Pros: Great layer, very friendly, likes attention
Cons: Can be bossy
I love my RIR- Poppy. She has lots of personality, but can be a bit bossy.
Pros: Friendly, great layers, cold hardy.
Cons: None.
We've had easter eggers, cuckoo marons, barred rocks, orpingtons, and wyndotts. Hands down, the rhode island red is the best chicken we've ever had. Both males and females are super friendly. They'll hang out with us all day long, sit on our laps, shoulders, even our head!! They even follow us around the yard like dogs. Can't imagine not having this breed around. Not to mention, pretty much nothing lays more eggs.

FYI - We live in upstate NY, closer to Canada than NYC. Our summers will hit the 100's with relatively high humidity, and our winters can easily hit -30. These guys do great in all of it.
Pros: Pretty extream weather hearty. We have eight in South Coastal Texas, very humid and hot and our Reds are thriving.
They prefer the coop in heat of day. They are great with our other animals and love humans!
Sweet girls, and gentlemanly Roo.
Cons: They can get pushy when they want something they're not supposed to have. The more the no-no is hidden or put under lock, the more they try to break in to check it out...so Very curious and determined breed. Not really a con, but FYI.
Breed is much heartier than stated. They are a handful, just like any redhead❤️
Pros: Regular layer when young, good with free range
Cons: Noisy, flighty, noisy, mean, noisy, bully, egg eater
Don't know if we just lucked into a truly odd rir or if they are like this but ours is the LOUDEST hen we have ever had. Not suitable for residential situations at all. She is easily frightened, mean, and will attack if you startle her. When she lays we get about 2 a week because she pecks into them before we can get them. She has ruined up to 3 eggs a day for us by going around to different nesting boxes and pecking the eggs. Mean to bantam hens.
Pros: Beautiful huge brown eggs. Deep yellow yoke.
Cons: I believe she is planning an excape..lol. oh noooo...chicken run..lol...
My birds are just lovely I plan on purchasing more Reds...
Pros: Stunning coloration, Great work ethic, hardy
Cons: Can be mean-spirited to flockmates
They do well in a run, pastured or free ranged with great egg laying ability all year round. Easily cared for and very undemanding though they are known to be aggressive with other flock mates. Well worth trying them out and come in two varieties, Commerical and Heritage.
Purchase Price
$3.99 per piece
Purchase Date
1991
Pros: Lays Year round except for their short yearly molt, intelligent, lovely color
Cons: Prone to flightiness if not tamed as a chick, non-setter
Rhode Island Reds are dependable layers of large red-ish brown eggs. They make a great pet if tamed at a young age. I would not recommend raising them for meat or for sitting on eggs. They do well in cold weather if a shelter/heat source is available. On a scale of “not cold” hardy-“cold hardy” they are in the middle.
All round they are very nice birds:)
Purchase Price
$3.00 as chicks $30.00 for full grown hens
Purchase Date
2014
Pros: Big brown egg everyday, quiet, docile, very vocal, friendly, large, consistent, dependable.
Cons: My Rosie had a prolapsed vent, and had to be put down due to the infection at just 18 months of age. The vet said that this is common in high production chickens. No other cons.
My Rhode Island's are very docile and sweet, Big Red even lets me hold her and pet her. Everyday I know I'm going to find big brown eggs from these girls. If you're in it for the eggs, these are your go-to girls!
Purchase Price
5
Purchase Date
October 2017
Pros: Large, tasty, brown eggs
Cons: Once you start eating their eggs you won't be able to stand eggs from anywhere else.
Some do not like to be picked up.
We bought a large carton of unsexed Road Island Red chicks over the Summer. They turned out to be about half female, half male. The males we raised over the summer and butchered. They make great chicken soup for the winter.
The females started laying at 21 weeks. At 6 months they are laying eggs that are almost large. I get about 6 eggs per week, per hen.
They are beautiful, friendly birds. When I come in the coop, at meal times, I get a rapt audience that follows me around the yard.
When I collect the eggs I have had a few that will squawk at me and run off, but I've never had a hen peck at my hands or feet.
Purchase Price
$2.00
Purchase Date
12 June
Pros: Hardy breed. Reliable, almost daily layers of extra large light brown eggs. Very curious and friendly to humans.
Cons: Can be aggressive to flockmates over food.
We have always had a few RIR hens in our mixed layer flock. They have been among our most reliable layers, even through the winter. They have proven to be hardy in all types of weather and have been resistant to any disease outbreaks we have had over the years. They are a bit noisy around the coop, especially when laying as others have noted, but that is not of concern to us, and actually it's kind of nice to be alerted to eggs in the box. It may be more of an issue in a neighborhood with ordinances. Our RIR are good garden companions, chatting and following us around, always on alert for insects and other morsels of food. They are excellent tillers, and we turn the garden and mulch beds over to them in the fall. Overall, we plan to always have some of these in our flock.
Pros: My rooster is the sweetest and most perfect boy, always behaved perfectly and is like a little baby to me. My hen is also loving and cuddly
Cons: Very huge rooster
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.
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