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.
Rhoda, our little RIR loves humans. Followed me around the whole first week we had her. She tends to be off on her own a lot or just with my buff orpingtons who are very docile, whereas the others will all be congregated together. Extremely friendly with my whole family.
Rescued two RIR last year, and later lost one to a predator but both were very reliable layers. The one we still have lays such big eggs that you can't close the egg carton - we've even gotten jumbo size cartons and her eggs are sometimes too big even for the jumbo carton. Love this breed!
I'll agree that rhode islands are good egg laters but with breeds out there suh as the australorp who also lay as well and are friendlier I would say that the rhode island is not the bird for the backyard flock. Mine always picks on the younger ones
Pros: Lays flavorful eggs almost everyday, great foragers
Cons: Roos can be aggressive
I have had Rhode Island Reds for over a year and they have proven to be great layers. They lay large to xlarge eggs and are friendly. Had trouble with two roosters that became aggressive and hurt some of my hens
, but we took care of them and there was no damage to the hens we couldn't heal. If you're intruducing a new batch of chicks to them, you may want to watch them and make sure the oldre ones don't hurt the new ones. Overall, they are a good breed and can survive really cold temps.
Pros: They lay just about every day of the week they're perfect egg layers!
Cons: Not the greatest at Ornamental activities.
Rhode Island Red are awesome sweet chicken that you most definitely should have! I have five Rhode Island Reds and they lay about 5 to 6 times a week (most of them do but some don't even lay!). I would not suggest for them to be ornamental birds and meat birds too. If your looking for egg layers this a chicken you NEED to get!
Pros: Sweet, kind to baby chicks, great as a pet, happy, thankful
Cons: Pecks humans
We named out rhode island "Sunny" when she was a little yellow ball of fluff. Sunny has been my favorite chicken until she recently started pecking people's feet. I now wear boots to avoid this. Other than that, she is very friendly and will let me pet her. She is smart and thankful for the food. She was picky at first about where she would lay, but eventually gave up the fight and now lays in the coop. I love her and am very happy that she is a part of my egg unit.
Pros: Sweet, friendly, great forager, excellent egg layer
Cons: Have to make sure they come from friendly stock
I haven't had a lot of chickens, but here's what I've noticed about RIRs: when they're sweet, they're the best bird in the world, and when they aren't, they're pure evil. Breeding seems to matter more with RIRs than with other breeds that are almost always sweet. I got an RIR chick from a great breeder, and she such a doll! Love love love that girl!
Cons: Cackle a lot and not a mellow as other breeds
I have several RI Reds. They lay nice big brown eggs, lots of them! Pretty red color.
The only cons are: they like to go into the coop when another hen is laying, and just cackle non-stop! If I'm working next to the coop it gets annoying, so I chase them out into the yard. Also, if RI's get spooked they'll fly over a fence if its not high enough.
RI's don't seem to ever get broody, so if you want more you need another broody breed or an incubator.
Pros: everything great!, good layers, sweet personalities, really smart, social,
Cons: none
the only reason i dont own any now because mine got killed and i personally think they cant be replaced. they were the friendliest chicken breed i ever had and tons of funny. they were never uptight like ive read on some reviews and mine always hitched a ride on my shoulder. i loved this breed. and still love this breed
Our reds are adolescents right now and in our little flock of 7 pullets, are clearly the followers to the grey leghorns. They are docile and friendly, and very curious.
Cons: Can have aggressive behavior if not corrected
We love our Lady Jumper (RIR), female! My son picked her out - she is his bird. She was the largest of all the babies we got and at this age now (several months later), everyone has pretty much evened out in body size. She had some aggression issues as a chick towards the other chicks, but with a few consistent attitude adjustments, she has realized that life is much better when she is compliant, rather than attitudinal. She is regularly rewarded for her good behavior with grapes, blueberries, raspberries, cherries (no pits), fresh bugs, mealworms, crickets, etc. She has been trained to be a "good girl" through food reinforcement and she learned and it worked! Highly recommended - I can't wait to get her eggs, I think they are going to be some of the best from the entire flock. Recommended if you will spend the time in correcting aggression issues.
My RIRs are very dominant, and are at the very top of the pecking order. They're not gentle with the others when it comes to food and attention. But, they are also good layers, friendly birds, inquisitive, good meat birds, and have soft feathers.
This was a good chicken who was medium friendly. She didn't like to be held but she liked to perch on my shoulder, which was funny. However, one day I came home to a distraught sister bird and I found the RIR dead of unexplained causes. A friend told me this breed tends to lay so much that they wear themselves out and just die early. She was only 3 years old or so.
I got three Rhode Island Reds, Muffin and Sleepy and Penny, and they are all super cute. They are quite noisy and somewhat dependant on my white Cochin, who likes to mother them even though she is only a week older.