Rhode Island Red

I will never have RIR again, although great egg layers, they are pecky and loud. of all my chickens these and the leg horns are the worst birds I have for temperment. good egg layers, lay all year round and for years but they peck me if i get close to them.do not like them!

This breed is the mainstay of our free-range homestead flock. These birds forage very well for their own feed, with strong feet and legs. They are alert but calm, reasonably quiet at laying time, and dependably lay good-sized eggs year round (our flock is on a 15 hour light regime to maintain production). Most hens accomplished their molt with great speed, going practically bald before rapidly replacing feathers and returning to production. We have had very few predator problems with these birds, as their color is inconspicuous, and they are alert. Productive life was very good, with most lasting a full 2.5 years before production started to slack off, with some lasting to the 3.5 year mark. We actually still have one hen in production from our first batch---she's 4! These girls were good about laying in nest boxes, and did not have issues with weak shells. It was rare for one to rebel and take the trees rather than their roost poles. Carcasses were average for yard chickens, with time to slaughter weight being about the same as other purebred yard birds (crossbreds are a much better choice for meat production IMO).

None of the RIR's ever went broody.

All RIR roosters that we tried to keep for breeders turned very mean and nasty before reaching 18 mos.

Overall, this breed is well worth adding to a homestead flock.

I love my (PR) RIR's . They are friendly birds, lay extremely well and the roosters are excellent flock protectors.I have several that are so friendly, they will not get out of your way!!

One big disappointment we had was when we butchered one for the first time. the breasts are not very big on the roos and the hens are really small.I am sure if you get yours from a breeder they will far surpass what mine did, but I wrote this since a lot of people get them from hatchery stock.We were new to chickens and did not know the difference between hatchery and breeder quality.

I do love my PR's and will probably always have some, but the breeder quality Reds seem to be a lot bigger and much deeper in color.
Hope this helps anyone looking for PR's...
OOPS...didn't see there was a review list for PR's...so this is in the wrong place.

Right now I have RIR's that come from Wolford Kittle line, I also have eggs in bator right now Adrian Rademacher line, chicks coming in a few weeks from Dick Horstman, chicks coming from County Line that are Gary Underwood line, eggs coming from fella in Mass that are Don Nelson lines and on list to get chicks from Matt1616 that are Mohawh line.

They are very good egg layers!!! My girl is very skidish... My whole flock is that way but all come from various bad situations.... I have not been doing it long enough or had enough to give a accurate review.

Our RIR is a great layer, giving six to seven medium sized light brown eggs each week, even through winter.
She is sweat natured, and is the first to come running asking for treats.
She's the smallest of our flock, and was picked on till we shipped off the more aggressive and dominant Gold Comet.

She's only 20 weeks so no eggs quit yet. She is a very funny girl who will start chattering as soon as she sees someone in the yard. She will follow you around talking. Easy to pick up. I would only put talkative as a negative since I get nervous about neighbors getting bothered, but she is much quieter than the yappy dogs next door. She makes me smile the most.

great layers

Our reds seem smarter than the others--they get out of the day-run most easily, allow us the catch them by taking up their hilarious defensive posture of stop, "squat" and extend wings, and they follow anyone shaking a can of cracked corn. This gets the attention of the other birds, who then follow the reds back in to the run. My buffs are more beautiful, but I like the spunk and egg frequency of this bird.

I got Rhode Island Reds as a gift when my grandfather died. They are GREAT layers, (quite a few eggs a day) Though they tend to hide their eggs, i didnt find out how many they were laying till i found there stash!! My rhode island (rosy) is extremely affectionate, and loves being held and pet. She gets along well with my Ancauna(i think thats what she is) and even got along well with our old rooster(that we had to get rid of) I have had her since she was 2 weeks old, and she is the best !! I definetly reccomend this breed!

I've had 9 of these so far. 2 have been really friendly and the rest like to keep some distance. They are calm good birds. They lay really large brown eggs.

These where about a year old if I remember right.

In my area (Montana) I have quickly discovered that cold hearty birds are a major pro, and these birds sure are! Not only are they sweet (yet noisy in the mornings) they make great brown eggs. I noticed that as chicks (I have two) one was very timid and the other was very outgoing and adventurous. Now they are about a year old and both fit in well.

We absolutely love our 6 RIR hens. They were given to me as a gift when they were only about 3 weeks old and they have totally changed our lives. My son is on disability and lives with me so he takes care of them while I'm at work and they come running when they hear his voice. They think we are their parents, so they trust us implicitly, let us hold and pet them, and we have a regular routine with them that we follow on a daily basis. We get 6 eggs a day and we don't have to have a rooster around because we don't want to expand the flock at this time. They are beautiful, healthy hens and seem to get along well with one another. There is a little competition at times, but nothing that seems to be a threat. I highly recommend them as pets - but I don't know if I could eat them after getting so attached. I think they would be a great pet for children to raise. We handled them all of their lives. so they are used to human contact. The one problem I haven't been able to solve is to find a green vegetable that is safe for them to eat without having destroy the plants in our yard. If anyone has any suggestions, I would appreciate it.

had a RI red that was queen of the coop. She passed away at 8 1/2 years. She had given her window seat to her chosen head chicken about 3 months before she died. She was gentle to all the new girls as they came except for her window seat.

They are great egg layers.

pretty nice birds

I have two RIR hens, Radish and Rosie. They're not keen on being picked up, like some of my other hens (quieter breeds), but their curiosity makes up for it. They love free ranging, and they love to run up to us when we're out in the yard to see what we're doing.

Rosie was the runt of my first batch of chicks. It took her longer to reach full size and start laying than Radish or my other hens, but when she got there, she more than made up for it.

I'll always own a RIR or two. Not sure if I'll ever get a roo. The spunkiness of hens becomes downright aggressiveness in the roos. Protective instinct gone haywire? Not good for a pen. I'd only get one if I had an acre or more and let the flock free range all day.

I started my flock of sixty six with half Rhode Island Reds and half Barred / Plymouth Rocks. All the males with the exception of Igor our "special needs" Red Roo are now in the freezer. This spring I will order more Red hens as they are smaller, eat less, and produce more than their Rock sisters. That being said the next round of meat birds will include Rocks not Reds.

I love this chicken because they lay large brown eggs, and we like the brown eggs better than the white ones. They seem to be richer. They are very easy going, the hens anyways. We have a mean red rooster, but we like attitude, so it's ok, besides we are hoping he will protect the flock.

in my opinion this breed is probably the one of the best chicken breed ive ever had the pleasure to own in my life. They lay large beautiful brown eggs every single day even during the winter their winter hardy the only problem i can see with them is that they are extremely aggressive