Hatchery RIRs vs. private breeder RIRs?

[Timmo]

I guess I'm not a pain in the vent then...heh.

Thanks for all the info you guys!

I'm somewhat new to all of this. Some older family members of mine, that basically lived off of their farms in and after the depression, look at me funny when I ask them about this kind of stuff. They were just birds to them I guess...I dunno. My gramma (who was a very young girl during the depression) grew up on homegrown vegetables and chickens, and she's the worst one....she doesn't even want to SEE a chicken! LOL

Maybe I'm a little odd, but I'm really interested in setting up a breeding flock to maintain standards of days gone by.

Thanks again for the info.

 

[EweSheep]

Beautiful birds! I got two of Bama chicken's RIR chicks..they were both roos! Now where is the girl I wanted?

 

[geareduplyn]

What a unique opportuity the backyard breeder has. Why not lavish all that time, money, and attention on some of the rare and endangered breeds. Get the APA or ABA standard for the breed and try to adhere to it. When this country was primarily Agricultural there were a great many small flocks that provided eggs , meat, and a trip to the local poultry show to see how well your birds measured up to your neighbors. I really don't understand why the small flock owner will accept the low quality birds provided by most hatcheries, because I really don't think most small flock owners have birds for the commercial purposes most of these birds were bred for. I mentioned rare birds, but you don't have to have rare birds to have purebreds. The RIR's pictured earlier in this thread do not even look like the same breed as the RIR's sold by hatcheries. Yet they are great egg producers, are great meat birds, because they are probably a third larger than hatchery supplied birds, and look truly spectacular in a garden setting.

 

[HorseFeathers]

our hatchery gal Hazel turned out pretty and layed well, that's all we needed!

 

[Davaroo]

I've registered at the RIR breeders website and have contacted more than a few of these people. I've learned a few interesting things.
- Hatchery RIR's (and other supposed purebreds) are watered down. They arent the "oldschool" RIR, which tend to be bigger and more vigorous.
- There is less atavism possible with true RIR's, since there has been more warranted control of the line development.
- True "oldschool" RIR's are harder to come by, usually only obtainable from dedicated breeders.
- There is a dediciation among private breeders that cannot be found in the mass marketing of hatcheries.
Breeders are trying to maintain purity of the strain above all. They work according to an ideal.
Hatcheries are trying to maintain their profit margin above all. They work according to a business model.
The two aren't neccessarily exclusive of each other; but leaning heavily one way or the other means compromises must be made.

If breed purity and continuance is your aim, the registered private breeder will be your best bet. Reputations are made or lost on how good their birds are, not on how many surplus males they pack in a box.

 

[HorseFeathers]

Davaroo- are you and elderoo the same person or do you just have the same avatar???

 

[Guitartists]

I think he changed him name

 

[Davaroo]

Now, would I do that?

 

[Break an Egg]

I have a question, I was told that the hatcheries usually sell production reds, which aren't purebred RIR's .

So aren't they just selling us a red chicken that could really be a cross, or anything?

 

[flyingmonkeypoop]

We used to have show RC RIR's for awhile and they were great layers and calm and very pretty, the rooster was really dark and so were the hens. I noticed that on the show RIR hens that I have seen, they tend to have a shiney lacing on their feathers.
The differences I have noticed are that show RIR's are more like a brick in shape, they have shorter necks and shorter tails,longer backs, lower tail angles, way darker in color, not so common, and more blocky heads.
The production RIR's have longer necks, longer tails, higher tails, shorter backs, longer heads, they are very light in color, and they are more common.

Those are just the differences I have noticed.