[[[[........OK, so I'll ask again...is there a significant difference between the Standard and the Heritage in regards to meat production?........]]]]]
I think you are asking for the information you want in the wrong way.
If you buy Rhode Island reds (good choice, by the way), it doesn't matter where you get the Rhode Island Reds, they are all going to be heritage birds. It is a heritage breed, so every one of them is a heritage bird.
"Standard" to me, would imply that the bird meets the Standard of perfection, and those will only come from a serious show breeder.
Rhode Island Reds of the far past were very extremely different from any Rhode Island Red that you can buy from a hatchery. But they are all "heritage".
If you don't intend to show, my suggestion would be to buy sexed pullets from a hatchery and then go and find a really nice rooster from a show breeder who agrees with your goals on what a chicken should be. Pick a rooster who is big, nice natured, and has large breast muscles.
Your production hens (from the hatchery) should lay lots of eggs and the chicks you hatch, sired by the large top quality rooster, should be good meat birds.
Now, what I would do, if I wanted chicken eggs and chicken meat, would be to buy a super high producing breed of laying hen and then buy Cornish Cross chicks in teh spring to raise to eat. You won't find one breed that does a good job on both meat and eggs, so I'd keep 2 breeds.
Since I don't keep chickens, I actually have birds that do a super job on both meat and eggs, with excellent feed conversion and great temperaments. But like I said, they aren't chickens.
I think you are asking for the information you want in the wrong way.
If you buy Rhode Island reds (good choice, by the way), it doesn't matter where you get the Rhode Island Reds, they are all going to be heritage birds. It is a heritage breed, so every one of them is a heritage bird.
"Standard" to me, would imply that the bird meets the Standard of perfection, and those will only come from a serious show breeder.
Rhode Island Reds of the far past were very extremely different from any Rhode Island Red that you can buy from a hatchery. But they are all "heritage".
If you don't intend to show, my suggestion would be to buy sexed pullets from a hatchery and then go and find a really nice rooster from a show breeder who agrees with your goals on what a chicken should be. Pick a rooster who is big, nice natured, and has large breast muscles.
Your production hens (from the hatchery) should lay lots of eggs and the chicks you hatch, sired by the large top quality rooster, should be good meat birds.
Now, what I would do, if I wanted chicken eggs and chicken meat, would be to buy a super high producing breed of laying hen and then buy Cornish Cross chicks in teh spring to raise to eat. You won't find one breed that does a good job on both meat and eggs, so I'd keep 2 breeds.
Since I don't keep chickens, I actually have birds that do a super job on both meat and eggs, with excellent feed conversion and great temperaments. But like I said, they aren't chickens.
