Cherry Eggers Vs the Real Rhode Island Reds

[Robert Blosl]

In your experiences ordering chickens or getting them at feed stores what is the difference between a Cherry Egg er and a Real Rhode Island Red. Do any of you have Real Rhode Island Reds???

Many order Rhode Island Reds and when they com pair them to the pictures in the catalogs or what they see on sites that talk about the history of Rhode Island Reds they are different.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

The most obvious difference in "RIR" from hatcheries is the colour. It is not the deep, deep, almost black, mahogany of the exhibition birds, and often the birds also have white in their plumage, a classic sign of their being red sex-links. Cherry Egger is one of many names for sex-links.

Next obvious differences are size and type. Hatchery birds tend to be much smaller, and their type is not usually the brick shape it should be.

 

[K-12 Chickens]

I just ordered some Cherry Eggers along with some Barred Rocks. Guess I'll have to see how they turn out later on!

 

[catdaddyfro]

I remember in the mid eighties it was the first time I was ever aquainted with the "Cherry Eggers" brand name. It was a new fad at the time way before the sex-link fad of today hit. To me I never noticed much difference in them than a typical red production/factory type egg laying hybrid. Some hatchery brochures even went as far as advertising them to lay a cherry/red colored egg LOL but to me they are nothing more than a production red(hatchery type RIR) whether it is developed as a result from a sex link cross or a true to type production red bird "one is six-/half a dozen another" to me. But they do lay lots of big brown eggs if that is what you really need.

Jeff

 

[ValleyPoultryFarms]

I personally preferred cherry eagersnor red stars over RIRs.mbut RIRs are good if you may wish to show them. My rhode island rooster took reserve champion prize at the fair this year.

 

[FOGELLY]

I personally preferred cherry eagersnor red stars over RIRs.mbut RIRs are good if you may wish to show them. My rhode island rooster took reserve champion prize at the fair this year.

Can you post a picture of you RIR? I always enjoy looking at a good Real RIR.

RON

 

[mississippifarmboy]

I've had both.

Production reds / cherry eggers / red comets.... whatever you want to call them - are fast growing, medium size birds that lay great the first year, maybe the second year too, then are usually burnt out. Great for fast eggs and lots of them. Body size is medium with not a lot of meat if you eat the culls like we do. Nothing wrong with them. Here is some I had for around 20 years.



They are cheap, easy to find and raise, will provide you with tons of eggs to eat or sell. I personally don't have any problem with them at all. I think there is room for both kinds in this world. Like I said, I raised them most of my life.



But once you see in person a true, bred to the Standard Of Perfection, heritage type Rhode Island Red....


It's apples to oranges.

Here are some pictures from my current flock taken this afternoon.



Compared to the hatchery birds I've had, these are at least 50% heavier and gentle as lambs. I'm getting almost as many eggs and these should lay for years. Eggs are larger and more uniform too. Feed ratio is better with my new birds and I've lost none as chicks except to predators. The hatchery birds I lost an average of 5% in the brooder alone and another 5 to 10 % before they started laying. The hatchery birds started laying at about 5 months old, these started around 8 months old. But where the hatchery birds were grown by 8 or 9 months old, these are still growing and are almost a year old.

I'm hooked!




Just my 2 cents.....

edited because I can't spell.

 

[draye]

The most obvious difference in "RIR" from hatcheries is the colour. It is not the deep, deep, almost black, mahogany of the exhibition birds, and often the birds also have white in their plumage, a classic sign of their being red sex-links. Cherry Egger is one of many names for sex-links.

Next obvious differences are size and type. Hatchery birds tend to be much smaller, and their type is not usually the brick shape it should be.

No a Cherry Egger is not a sexlinked chicken.
It is a crossbreed chicken. New Hampshire x Rhode Island Red. I've never seen a CE with white in thier plumage.

 

[draye]

mississippifarmboy,
Nice looking Reds you've got there.

 

[HallFamilyFarm]

mississippifarmboy, VERY NICE RIR!

We had some Cherry Eggers one season. Dad loved them.He also wanted to keep a CornishX as a flock sire. (That did not turn out so well). Dad finally realized I was right when it came to poultry. They were a great layer, but not so well on foraging. The next season I sold them and stayed with my Heritage Buff Orpingtons.

Come to think of it, Dad came home from work one day with this box of chicks under his arm. So I guess Dad had some CherryEggers one season that I had to care for. "We" never had them! Dad did! He never brought me chickens again.