I would personally rate Rhode Island Reds about a 6. They are excellent layers; about on par with Australorps, and among brown egg layers only Sex Links with outlay these two breeds. However, unlike the Australorps and Orpingtons which are typically calm and gentle breeds, RIRs are often quite aggressive which brings up an interesting conundrum here and that is; are we talking about hatchery quality RIRs or heritage RIRs from a reputable breeder which are considerably superior to the hatchery quality RIRs. Unlike hatchery quality RIRs, heritage RIRs from reputable breeders are not nearly as apt to be aggressive and they are physically much superior with deeper bodies, darker mahogany feathering, and profuse black tail feathers.
