How do you tell the difference between production red and RIR?

[Waveron]

What is the main difference or are you able to tell at a glance? I have four red chickens... Two of them are darker, almost brown does that mean that they are RIR? Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[ArizonaDesertChicks]

It might depend on where you got them. This is what I found on the Murray McMurray (hatchery) website when I clicked on their "Rhode Island Red" description:

"No other heavy breed lays more or better eggs than the Rhode Island Reds. Our "production" strain is keeping up the fine reputation of this old favorite."

I'm thinking that hatchery RIR's are most likely production reds, while true RIR's have to be purchased from a breeder. Kind of like the americauana / easter egger deal -- easter eggers from a hatchery and americaunas from breeders.

 

[cybercat]

I would check feathersite to see the differance between Prodution rir and true RIR. True RIR are almost black.

 

[bigredfeather]

My production RIR's have white under feathers in lieu of the black feathers a pure RIR would have.

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[MissPrissy]

Our broody hatched some RIR eggs last spring. There is nothing in this world like the color of a breeder quailty RIR and a hatchery RIR. My RIR rooster was so deep in color that in the shadow of the roost he looked nearly black.

 

[ArizonaDesertChicks]

We bought a production red from the feed store (labeled as production red, not RIR).

Here she is at 7-8 weeks:

again at 19 weeks - She doesn't have any white feathers (never has) and does have dark/black feathers in her tail, but I don't think she's as dark as a true RIR.

 

[spydertoys]

Quote:
Those look like Golden Comets to me..the other Production Red is called a Red Star...both are a RIR cross. They are Production Hybrids.

 

[sonarjay]

the differences ive been able to tell is production red chicks are yellow where as rir are a dark red. by the time they are grown the rir are deep mahogany colored and huge and productions are just red and smaller.

 

[ArizonaDesertChicks]

Feathersite has production reds pictured on their RIR page and does not have a separate page for the PRs. According to feathersite, PRs are actually just hatchery RIRs (not a mix) - bred for production instead of color, etc.

http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/CGP/Reds/BRKRIR.html

Golden Comets are a RIR mix and they are listed on feathersite's sex-link page.

http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/CGP/Sex-links/BRKSexLink.html