Rhode Island red standard of perfection

[barceloscbc]

I am passionate about the Rhode Island Red breed and I am looking for knowledge, to be able to have birds in the SOP, where can I find out more details about what is evaluated and what do I have to observe to be able to have birds worthy of an award?

 

[Amer]

Purchase an American Standard of Perfection to learn your breed Standard and how to evaluate all birds (many people think it is worthless to buy and SOP for just one standard, but it actually has a lot of very useful general info for all breeds in the first 50 pages that is just as important as the breed standard, telling you how to select a healthy, productive bird and all the general defects and disqualifications.)
You can order the SOP on the APA website (or used, but if anyone charges more than 70 dollars for it they are scamming you.)
Right now, the 55th edition is under revision, but for the meantime, you can borrow the SOP from the library and you can make photocopies of the useful pages.
The Rhode Island Red Club has a website with a gallery that shows exactly what very good specimens are supposed to look like.
https://rirca.poultrysites.com/index.php/photos
If you are serious about RIR I would recommend joining the club and if you have Facebook, join their Facebook group.
Anyway, to start with I will tell you how I interpret the Standard of the Rhode Island Red, but be sure to refer to the actual Standard rather than my paraphrase.
All this information I credit to the American Standard of Perfection:
The Rhode Island Red is to be a long, rectangular bird (many people describe them as brick-shaped) with a low tail, well spread tail, 20⁰ above horizontal on males, 10⁰ on females. The back transitions smoothly to the tail. Large wings carried horizontally. Cock 8.5 lbs, Hen 6.5, Cockerel 7.5, Pullet 5.5
Birds are to be a lustrous, rich dark red right down to the fluff. The tail feathers are to be lustrous greenish black on the male, except for the sickles which approach the saddle. The main tail feathers (the 14ish long ones) on the hen are to be lustrous greenish black but the top two may be edged with red. Hens will have black tips on the end of the lowe neck feathers. Primary wing feathers should have a clean black lower edge. There should be no mossiness (meaning black flecking) anywhere in the plumage.

 

[barceloscbc]

Purchase an American Standard of Perfection to learn your breed Standard and how to evaluate all birds (many people think it is worthless to buy and SOP for just one standard, but it actually has a lot of very useful general info for all breeds in the first 50 pages that is just as important as the breed standard, telling you how to select a healthy, productive bird and all the general defects and disqualifications.)
You can order the SOP on the APA website (or used, but if anyone charges more than 70 dollars for it they are scamming you.)
Right now, the 55th edition is under revision, but for the meantime, you can borrow the SOP from the library and you can make photocopies of the useful pages.
The Rhode Island Red Club has a website with a gallery that shows exactly what very good specimens are supposed to look like.
https://rirca.poultrysites.com/index.php/photos
If you are serious about RIR I would recommend joining the club and if you have Facebook, join their Facebook group.
Anyway, to start with I will tell you how I interpret the Standard of the Rhode Island Red, but be sure to refer to the actual Standard rather than my paraphrase.
All this information I credit to the American Standard of Perfection:
The Rhode Island Red is to be a long, rectangular bird (many people describe them as brick-shaped) with a low tail, well spread tail, 20⁰ above horizontal on males, 10⁰ on females. The back transitions smoothly to the tail. Large wings carried horizontally. Cock 8.5 lbs, Hen 6.5, Cockerel 7.5, Pullet 5.5
Birds are to be a lustrous, rich dark red right down to the fluff. The tail feathers are to be lustrous greenish black on the male, except for the sickles which approach the saddle. The main tail feathers (the 14ish long ones) on the hen are to be lustrous greenish black but the top two may be edged with red. Hens will have black tips on the end of the lowe neck feathers. Primary wing feathers should have a clean black lower edge. There should be no mossiness (meaning black flecking) anywhere in the plumage.

Thank you for your attention and for sharing this. I’m currently living in Brazil, and I’ve noticed that while many people talk about the standard Rhode Island Red, when you look closely, some key traits—like the five points on the comb—are often missing.





Since I’m currently unable to import birds from the U.S., my plan is to focus on selective breeding based on the official standards. I’ve already requested to join the Facebook group, but I haven’t been accepted yet. I’ll make sure to study the link you shared. Thanks again!

 

[Amer]

Thank you for your attention and for sharing this. I’m currently living in Brazil, and I’ve noticed that while many people talk about the standard Rhode Island Red, when you look closely, some key traits—like the five points on the comb—are often missing.





Since I’m currently unable to import birds from the U.S., my plan is to focus on selective breeding based on the official standards. I’ve already requested to join the Facebook group, but I haven’t been accepted yet. I’ll make sure to study the link you shared. Thanks again!

The reason I didn't mention the number of points is because a lot of people give it too much importance. Most single combed breeds require 5 points. Every point more or less than required is a half point deduction, of little importance when the whole bird is worth 100 points. The comb is only worth 5 points total, out of 100! The body shape is far more important than the comb. When I judge combs, I think having an even, proportional looking comb is more important than judging the exact number of points.
You are from Brazil? That would have been a useful detail to know. You could put that information in your profile...
Well in that case...
Who will judge you if you use the Australian Standard, which is based on the American Standard of Perfection anyway? It would be difficult to obtain the American SOP.

https://www.openpoultrystandards.com/Rhode_Island

 

[Amer]

The tail angle for the Australian SOP is incorrect but everything else seems to be the same...

 

[Amer]

 

[barceloscbc]

View attachment 4104471

Thank you so much for sharing this valuable material. I’m truly grateful to have access to such a well-documented reference on the Standard of Perfection. Being in Brazil, it’s often a challenge to find detailed resources aligned with the American standard, and this contribution will certainly guide me in refining my selection process. I’ll keep studying and working hard to get as close as possible to what’s described. Excited to keep learning and improving my Rhode Island Reds