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There is only one Rhode Island Red.
There are 2 types/varieties of Rhode Island Reds. They are the Single and Rose Comb.
With the more common Single Comb Rhode Island Red you get variations and other breeds..
Production Reds, "Hatchery" Reds, New Hampshire, Sex-Linked ect. Now from those variations and breeds you can get more variations and breeds....
The New Hampshire and Production Reds where developed solely (no other breed added) from the Rhode Island Red and to a point a variation of the RIR but they are a breed and not a type of RIR... Now there are some people say that there is a variation of the Production Red breed that has Leghorn blood added to it.....
The Rhode Island Reds you get from Hatcheries ("Hatchery" Reds) are a variation of the RIR and to me closer to a Production than the true RIR...
There are even some variations in the color of the Exhibition Reds, Some are Dark Red and some are a Lighter Red it depends on how the breeder interprets the Standard of Perfection when it says that The RIR color should be "Lustrous, rich, dark red"...
The Standard of Perfection has the description of what a RIR should look like as of 1904 for the Single Comb variety and 1905 for the Rose Comb variety.
Exhibition Reds that are bread to the Standard of Perfection is what would be called a "True" Rhode Island Red. The others are variations and/or "spin off" breeds.
Chris
I had been woundering about this. I have some hatchery reds, they are ok, but if I could get my hands on the real deal