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It's always safest and best to start with the best trio that you can find and afford. Starting with eggs or chicks is rolling the dice, in any breed, any line. The advantage is you KNOW what you're getting, you know what the quality is, strong points, weak points, etc.

If you come down to any of the shows in Washington State, you shouldn't have a hard time finding something to take back, in egg form or bird form. Quite a few breeders from Canada come down to our shows.

I agree with Fred, the more precise your record keeping the more information you have the less variance you have in future matings because you KNOW what they produce, and you know exactly where they came from to reproduce similar specimens.

For large fowl cocks I prefer to use a 4'x4' pen. Also have used the Mastiff/Great Dane size dog crates with great success (which are almost that size, think they're 40"x48")

Yup! I was agreeing with you. Sorry if sounded otherwise, sometimes what I type doesn't come out quite right. I was just saying you (generic you) could make faster improvements by hatching even more. If you hatch 300 birds and only keep 3 or 4 of those Odds are in your favor of getting even...

Emphasis mine obviously, but I think (and hopefully you agree) that's a minimum. And that number is birds to select from for yourself. If you hatch 100 and sell 75 of them and only raise out 25, that doesn't cut it either if you want to make progress. The more you hatch the faster progress...

One of my mentors once told me that there is no maintaining in poultry. You're either making progress or going backwards. For a given breeding 10-20% are going to be superior and worth breeding from to push your line forward. 10-20% are going to be inferior and should be culled, dead, period...

Yikes that sounds rough. Curiosity makes me ask if you use lights on the birds during winter months to try and get better laying or just let them go naturally?

I'm not a member (which makes sense since I do not yet have RIR's, a situation I hope to remedy in the next year or so when I can expand my operation). I plan to join the club, of course maybe that makes more sense to join now before I acquire stock. My winter production has been way down...

It is very uncomplicated. I love that system and have used it before.

Hah I was typing when you posted this. I'll gracefully exit this conversation since I don't currently have Rhode Island Reds. I will mention that my Langshans (which purpose wise and size wise are identical to Rhode Island Reds) the pullets are "fully mature" by your definition around 9-10...

Yes. There's other differences too. My point is mainly "slow" is not what people think it is for the most part. Also, the New Hampshire was developed in the early 1900's, it's 2014. We have better nutrition, understand more about genetics and how they work, and other minor technical advances...

It's a common thing, and it's really becoming an issue (imo anyway), because to keep productive traits you have to breed hard for them and cull hard. Due to the growing number of people that try and view chickens as pets instead of a food production animal, and therefore aren't willing to cull...

Or longer in some people's posts and comments. And I think the more people tolerate the glacial grow out times the worse it gets, and the less people will be interested in "heritage" SOP birds, and will stick with the production stuff because it...produces. Here's a comparison, look at our...

Usually I just lurk this thread, but everytime I hear something like this I have to speak up. 6 months/24 weeks was a very common goal for birds to mature (to the point of being laying or slaughter weight for males), going way back if you read the literature. People had to rely on the birds...

No. Extra points are literally a 1/2 point cut out of 100. Don't worry about it. If he's your best bodied bird, use him.

Heritage works, the term should be Standard bred but then people assume they're just show birds that can't do their job. Still searching for a simple two sentence or less explanation of Heritage that one can use to differentiate and cut the confusion.

Gorgeous birds. Don't seem to mind the snow one bit! I always get so envious coming in this thread.

Pre-lay pullets you can judge for future production based on capacity, get hands on, do they carry the width from shoulders all the way through pubic bones? How much space is there between the pubic bones? Between them and the keel (breast bone)? Year old hens, are they unthrifty and carrying a...

Hah! I think it's a bunch of nit picking over the definition of "line". I just say it doesn't matter what you call them, they're good Reds. I send people your way for information on the different "lines", "strains" whatever people want to call them. The focus in my mind should be how to...