25 RIR's shipped Dec. 29 Brooder pics on page 2 Thoughts???

[LSU2001]

Hi All,

I have 25 RIR straight run chicks set to ship December 29. I ordered them from Double R discount in FLA. and I live in South Louisiana. I have my coop almost ready and am setting up my brooder today. I plan to use a 120 quart ice chest with a couple of heat lamps for the first week or so and then block off a part of the coop as the chicks grow. Does anyone have any experience with RIR chickens?

I would love to hear anything about the breed. I chose them on advice of my dad who raised hundreds of chickens at a time as a boy and I liked the idea that they are a dual purpose breed.

I would like to know if they tend to be broody or if they refuse to brood, are they personable, etc.
Thanks in advance,
Tim

PS. This is my first experience with chickens

 

[bigredfeather]

I have RIR and I love them. The hens are very personable. The rooster, well he isn't. I have read that this is typical of RIR roosters. On the egg laying part, mine have been great. Almost everyone of them is still laying everyday and it has been very cold. I have not butchered any yet, so I do not know how good they are to eat. As for the broody part, I'm not sure. I think some of it has to do if they are pure breed RIR's or a production RIR. The pure breeds I think tend to be more apt to go broody, but production RIR's not so much. I actually just bought an incubator to hatch some of our eggs. I am going to add pullets to laying flock and roos I will eat.

I say excelent choice! Enjoy your chickens. But beware, chickens are very addictive.

 

[head4dmtns]

Congrats are your first clutch (?) of chicks!! We had 25 RIRs delivered in Oct, they're almost 10 weeks old now. We're still new to this chicken thing too, but we love our RIRs. So far they seem to be very hardy and are tolerating the cold pretty well. We keep a heat lamp on them in the coop when it's below freezing.

So far the chickens seem to be very personable. I don't have any experience with other breeds to know if they're all like this, but ours seem to love being with us. When we let them out to free-range they follow us around the yard. And when we enter the coop they're always at the front ready to greet us.

I don't know much about broodiness, as ours aren't that old yet. I can't wait until they start laying eggs. I'm looking forward to reading what some other people say about the breed.

 

[halo]

I think 2 heat lamps is waaaaay overdoing it. A regular 100 watt bulb will give them plenty of heat, especially in an enclosed area that you are planning. Two heat lamps will be too much. Watch how they act, if they are huddling all the time, you'll need more heat. I have found that they don't really need as much heat as recommended, and its very easy to make it too hot for them.

 

[LSU2001]

Ok Thanks,
I guess I will buy one and experiment with the heat inside the brooder.
Another question I have is a red heat lamp better than a regular yellow light.
Tim

 

[bigredfeather]

Red light will help prevent them pecking at each other. I was also told a white light makes them eat more. I don't know if that is true or not. I would still use two heat lamps in case one burns out while your not around. Spread them far enough apart that the heat rings on the floor are not overlapping (about 3 ft apart). I put their food and water inbetween the heat lamps. I hung one lower than the other (one 18", the other 24") so chicks that wanted more heat could go under the lower one. As they get older, you can probably remove one of the heat lamps.

 

[LSU2001]

Thanks Bigredfeather,
I guess I will start with two lights and see where it goes from there.

I would really like to hear people's experience with Rhode Island Reds. I am getting that they are fairly personable and that the roos tend to be mean.

My plan is to raise the chicks until I can tell the roos from the pullets and then separate them. I plan to process most of the roos keeping two to service the hens. I guess it all depends on how many pullets I actually get with the straight run order.
Tim

 

[Laskaland]

Quote:

Good luck!!
RIR are a beautiful friendly breed!!! What a PERFECT way to start out the New Year!!
CHristina

 

[saboyd]

We started out this past April with some RIR and they have been good layers and while the rooster isn't all that friendly, he is a very handsome dude!

We also have two RIR hens; one of them has NO personality (a little moody some days) but she has been broody since November 11th (hatching some) and since she is still setting, I placed more eggs under her to she what she will do and she is still hanging in there...

The other hen is much friendlier. As a matter of fact, she follows me around like a puppy and if I stand very long, she will fly up to my arms wanting to be held. I will hold her and rub her head and she will close her eyes like she is sleeping. She is a sweetheart for sure.

 

[kristenm1975]

I'd read that it's wise to have two heat lamps just in case one breaks down. That makes sense especially if you are not at home during the day. Hate to come home to frozen babies.