Red birds-The difference

[TheTwoRoos]

Many people for some odd reason get RED BIRDS mixed up,and say they are all alike.All red birds have something that is unique,lets start with New Hampshire vs. Rhode Island red.

New Hampshire's were first made in the 1900's ( cannot say exact because everyone says a different time),but it was made somewhere around that time.It was created for meat,and egg production.The bird that was selected to make them was the Rhode Island red.New Hampshire's are medium sized,yellowish orange chicken,with black tips,or covered black tail feathers,and have black on the neck feathers.They are often competitive,and sometimes are aggressive with other birds.But besides that, they can be sweet chickens,it all depends on how you treat them.They can lay from a lightesh brown,to dark brown.They lay large eggs.They usually have big,red combs.

The roosters can weigh up to 8 pounds once fully grown,the hens can weigh some where around 7 or 6 pounds,the cockerals can about 7 1/2 pounds,while the pullet weighs some where around 6 or 5 pounds.

The Rhode island red was actually made with some Malay blood.They are aggressive with other birds,and lay light or lightly dark brown eggs.They are medium egg layers.They area hardy breed,and can take bad house keeping a little better then most.You would expect about the same weight limit from them as just about the same as the New Hampshire.They are somewhat smaller then the NH.They come and two different varieties,rose comb,and straight comb.They have yellow shanks,and have black on the neck feathers,tail feathers,and sometimes the wings.rose comb varieties can be smaller then straight combs.

 

[Blackberry18]

Thanks for the explaining this; I do realize a lot of people get confused about these two breeds. I like both, but a lot of my friends prefer New Hampshires for show, since show-quality Rhode Island Reds are hard to find. I also realize that a lot of places refer to New Hampshires as "New Hampshire Reds" which is actually an incorrect name for the breed since there is no other color variety (Rhode Island Red is correct, because there are also Rhode Island Whites). They are simply New Hampshires.

Could you explain the difference between Rhode Island Reds, New Hampshires, and Production Reds? A lot of people confuse and use these names interchangeably. I usually think of Production Reds as either hatchery-quality New Hampshires or Rhode Island Reds, and/or crosses between the aforementioned breeds that have increased egg production (A few places actually have sent "Production Reds" to my friends which were actually Red Sex-Links, but I think that is one place's mistake and the two birds are quite different in terms of appearance and breeding). Am I correct in thinking that?

 

[TheTwoRoos]

Production reds and Red Sex Links are two different birds.

Production reds were made with combining a Rhode Island red rooster to a New Hampshire hen.They are considered a Hybrid.They are generally a reddish/brownish color.They lay X large eggs.They are not huge birds.Usually males weigh 5 pounds while females weigh only about 3 or 4 pounds.They may have some black on their tales.

Sex links are escpecially unique because they can be sexed at birth.they also are a good hardy breed.They large eggs,and make great pets.Accept you would generally think the roosters would look almost like the hens,but actually,they look very different.Red sex link roosters have brown covering the back,and wings,and the rest is white,while the Red sex link hen is speckled white and reddish/brown.

 

[TheTwoRoos]

The red hen in your pic is a red sex link.

 

[Blackberry18]

Production reds and Red Sex Links are two different birds.

Production reds were made with combining a Rhode Island red rooster to a New Hampshire hen.They are considered a Hybrid.They are generally a reddish/brownish color.They lay X large eggs.They are not huge birds.Usually males weigh 5 pounds while females weigh only about 3 or 4 pounds.They may have some black on their tales.

Sex links are escpecially unique because they can be sexed at birth.they also are a good hardy breed.They large eggs,and make great pets.Accept you would generally think the roosters would look almost like the hens,but actually,they look very different.Red sex link roosters have brown covering the back,and wings,and the rest is white,while the Red sex link hen is speckled white and reddish/brown.

The red hen in your pic is a red sex link.

Thanks a lot! I was already clear on the Sex-Link differences, but just mentioned that my friend has often received Sex-Links when they ordered Production Reds. I had three Red Sex-Links a while ago (along with some "Black Sex-Links" which I think were just hybrids that looked like Black Sex-Links at birth), but they have all died now.

 

[TheTwoRoos]

Your welcome,sorry about the deaths.