Rhode Island Red Thread!

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I just picked up 6 one day old Rhode Island Reds two days ago and we are having a blast with them. My 8 year old has been pestering me for some time to get them so we went to the local feed store and picked them up. We wanted egg producers and something that was hardy so we went with them. Maybe someday down the road we'll branch out but for now we are very happy with the RIR's.

I'm searching now to try to find out all the information I can about them...
 
They are one of the common breed of chicken, and they are one of my favorite. They are very hardy and friendly, they actually originated from Rhode Island, and they are their state bird. They are a dual purpose bird which means meats , but, mainly for eggs. They are great producers! They can lay as many 5 or more eggs in a week, and mature fairly fast. My week old ones already have there wing feathers and are starting to grow their tail feathers!! Hope that helped you out a little.
 
How dark shoud the RIR be? My husband and I picked some up, and they are a very nice dark red, but some pictures on the internet show them as almost a black?

Can't wait to start getting eggs from them!
 
They should be a tinted red or a little darker no where near black... I know i can't wait to eat there eggs either! haha!
 
pnptrapp said:
How dark shoud the RIR be? My husband and I picked some up, and they are a very nice dark red, but some pictures on the internet show them as almost a black?

Can't wait to start getting eggs from them!
Click to expand...

The heritage RIR can be very dark red (mahogany) and can appear almost black in dimmer lighting. The "production" reds are a lighter red and don't have near the beautiful sheen of the heritage strains of RIR. I've got 5 babies about 3 weeks old and they are growing well. I also have three young roos ~8 months I picked up to put on a flock of production reds and australorp hens. Simply introducing new blood into a laying flock.
 
WalkingWolf1 said:
The heritage RIR can be very dark red (mahogany) and can appear almost black in dimmer lighting. The "production" reds are a lighter red and don't have near the beautiful sheen of the heritage strains of RIR. I've got 5 babies about 3 weeks old and they are growing well. I also have three young roos ~8 months I picked up to put on a flock of production reds and australorp hens. Simply introducing new blood into a laying flock.
Click to expand...


how many hens do you have for 3 roos??
 
billyb said:
They are one of the common breed of chicken, and they are one of my favorite. They are very hardy and friendly, they actually originated from Rhode Island, and they are their state bird. They are a dual purpose bird which means meats , but, mainly for eggs. They are great producers! They can lay as many 5 or more eggs in a week, and mature fairly fast. My week old ones already have there wing feathers and are starting to grow their tail feathers!! Hope that helped you out a little.
Click to expand...

Yes, very helpful. Thank you. So we gave them some grit the last two days and today they got their first taste of mealworms. It looked to me like they would rather run around chasing each other than eat them though... It was pretty comical.

I know a question was asked about color and I think all six of mine are different. From a darker red with some almost black stripes to a light red with yellowish sides/wings. In the 4 days we've had them, their wing feathers have really become more pronounced. My wife has been taking quite a few pictures every day so we should be able to tell the growth a little better.
 

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