Please tell me about your Rhode Island Reds!!

[No Coop No Problem]

I love my reds. They're universally charming birds. Out of my mixed flock of around 100 chickens, only the reds will come up to my family and sit with us. They're always very assertive, curious, yet still polite about it

Somehow they outrank all of my chickens here in the pecking order, except for the Asil

 

[GlicksChicks]

I love my reds. They're universally charming birds. Out of my mixed flock of around 100 chickens, only the reds will come up to my family and sit with us. They're always very assertive, curious, yet still polite about it

Somehow they outrank all of my chickens here in the pecking order, except for the Asil

I wish my Reds ended up like that. They definitely were at the top of the pecking order. They could hold their own against other chickens. Sometimes I thought my BR roo was scared of them

 

[The Coop Crew]

Keep an eye on them. I would not recommend keeping them around smaller birds like Dorothy. It could cause problems.

And for your sake, I hope they are all hens.

We won’t keep roosters so we’re good there. I also will not stand for any other hen bullying my Dorothy so if that happens they will not stay around very long

 

[GlicksChicks]

We won’t keep roosters so we’re good there. I also will not stand for any other hen bullying my Dorothy so if that happens they will not stay around very long

Do your best to socialize them. It is important.

I wish you the best of luck with your new little ones!

 

[The Coop Crew]

Do your best to socialize them. It is important.

I wish you the best of luck with your new little ones!

Thank you! We definitely will! We handle them everyday and plan to do so as long as they’ll let us!

 

[GlicksChicks]

Thank you! We definitely will! We handle them everyday and plan to do so as long as they’ll let us!

Hopefully doing that will work your way to having good RIR! Maybe someday I will try again with them, but not at the moment!

 

[The Birb King]

Well they are great egg layers, but they are very aggressive towards other chickens. I just sold mine because of how aggressive they were. They would attack any new hens I introduced, and they rippped some skin off my spitzhaubens face.

 

[No Coop No Problem]

Well they are great egg layers, but they are very aggressive towards other chickens. I just sold mine because of how aggressive they were. They would attack any new hens I introduced, and they rippped some skin off my spitzhaubens face.

I was reflecting on why it seems most people's experience with RIR differs greatly from my own. I suspect it's coops versus free-ranging

Some breeds will absolutely not tolerate confinement. Maybe reds are one of those

 

[GlicksChicks]

I was reflecting on why it seems most people's experience with RIR differs greatly from my own. I suspect it's coops versus free-ranging

Some breeds will absolutely not tolerate confinement. Maybe reds are one of those

I do believe reds are one of those. They can get irritable in closed spaces.

 

[HenriettaPizzaNolan]

I recently had to put down my 1 RIR hen due to reproductive issues (she was old), but she was one bad@ss hen! Keep in mind this is just my story of 1 hen, but still. I got her as an adult from a rescue farm that got her from an abuse/neglect situation, so she was never the kind of chicken to hop on your lap, but she wasn't mean or aggressive - just wanted her space. We have gone through two head hens in our pecking order, and our RIR was always a strong second mate. While our other two head hens were very bossy and controlling to everyone, they always had a respect toward this RIR and woul never try to peck her or take her food. While the other head hens would be pretty brutal to new entries to the flock, my RI was stern but fair - never going over th top to be mean to young pullets or assert her power. And also, this RIR was an absolutely AMAZING hawk-spotter! She was spot one sitting in a tree 5 yards away and would just be there growling at it. She was letting the flock know there was a predator and they would all hide. Who knows how many times she saved their lives!

People say a lot of negative things about RIRs, but I think they are great (besides aggressive roosters). Maybe they aren't a lap chicken usually, but they have amazing instincts, lay a lot of eggs, and are just very practical and pleasant chickens to have. Enjoy them