The Heritage Rhode Island Red Site

[cmom]

Quote:
I have done pretty well showing my birds. Originally I went as an observer and later I took what I thought were good birds according to the APA SOP. At first I placed OK but not great. Each year when I picked my birds for my breeding pens I really studied the birds and put what I thought were the best females with the best males and every year my birds have improved at the shows. Most every year I do get a new male from Matt to put with some of my females so I'm not in-breeding. I now have 4 nice males for my RIR females. My original male died but I do have an offspring from him that won a champion at a show. I do use another back-up male in a pen with my Single Comb RIR's for my Red Sex-Links.(I put the female RSL's in my general population pen and the male RSL's go into the freezer). I just got my bachelor pens emptied so now I can set up those coops and pens for my breeders. Now I have to separate and really see what I have. I know not all will make the cut and they will go into a general population coop and pen. I have some large coops and pens and I have some males picked out to try flock breeding. A fellow breeder on BYC suggested I try it. He said it works well for him. I have some very nice males that have been together their whole lives and may use them and try in one of the large coops and pens to flock breed. As long as the males have grown up together they are fine in the same coops and pens. I do have a couple of my RC RIR males in one and a couple of my RC RIW males in another pen, all with females. I do have to separate the females and move some of them to other coops and pens. So far they have been good. Good luck and have fun.

 

[cmom]

Quote: Ask any questions you have. We all had a beginning to the start of our flocks. I had my first flock nearly 50 years ago. I was pretty green and didn't know dirt but decided I wanted some chickens. There was no computers and not as many ways to get information as there is today.

I agree, you never know what you might find at a swap meet. There are quite a few people that will call their birds "Heritage" but are far from it when you look at them. (some people don't like pure standard Rhode Island Reds referred to as "Heritage" but the thread starter titled this thread "The Heritage Rhode Island Red Site" to get people's attention to recognize the pure Rhode Island Reds) As I have mentioned before, I do take some of my birds, mostly cockerels, to swaps as they are easy to sell because they are very nice looking birds. They get good feed and people can tell when they look at them. Quite often people ask me what I put on the birds feathers to make them so shiny, I tell them, people and birds are the same (you are what you eat) which applies to all critters and people. Good luck and have fun.

 

[laurend82891]

Hi guys! I'm looking for some RIR hatching eggs from a good bloodline. I've never had this breed so any advice or leads on eggs would be very much appreciated!
Thank you!

 

[Asmorilda]

You never know what you might find, even at a swap meet. The key is to learn how to recognize standard bred birds so you will know and have confidence in what you see. Even breeders may not always have good stock. A lot of learning is available in the earlier pages of these threads. Good luck.

Swap meets were not my first interest but when I saw them mentioned on the same site as the poultry shows, I had to ask about them. I am trying to learn. My husband's roosters seem like they meet the standard for the breed. The two pullets he has, well...one looks decent but the other is not as nice looking. I wouldn't say any of them have every quality but each one has most of them as far as I can tell but then again, I know so little about the subject. I have read some of the older threads & visited some of the websites suggested. Thank you for the encouragement.

 

[Asmorilda]

I have done pretty well showing my birds. Originally I went as an observer and later I took what I thought were good birds according to the APA SOP. At first I placed OK but not great. Each year when I picked my birds for my breeding pens I really studied the birds and put what I thought were the best females with the best males and every year my birds have improved at the shows. Most every year I do get a new male from Matt to put with some of my females so I'm not in-breeding. I now have 4 nice males for my RIR females. My original male died but I do have an offspring from him that won a champion at a show. I do use another back-up male in a pen with my Single Comb RIR's for my Red Sex-Links.(I put the female RSL's in my general population pen and the male RSL's go into the freezer). I just got my bachelor pens emptied so now I can set up those coops and pens for my breeders. Now I have to separate and really see what I have. I know not all will make the cut and they will go into a general population coop and pen. I have some large coops and pens and I have some males picked out to try flock breeding. A fellow breeder on BYC suggested I try it. He said it works well for him. I have some very nice males that have been together their whole lives and may use them and try in one of the large coops and pens to flock breed. As long as the males have grown up together they are fine in the same coops and pens. I do have a couple of my RC RIR males in one and a couple of my RC RIW males in another pen, all with females. I do have to separate the females and move some of them to other coops and pens. So far they have been good. Good luck and have fun.

Ask any questions you have. We all had a beginning to the start of our flocks. I had my first flock nearly 50 years ago. I was pretty green and didn't know dirt but decided I wanted some chickens. There was no computers and not as many ways to get information as there is today.

I agree, you never know what you might find at a swap meet. There are quite a few people that will call their birds "Heritage" but are far from it when you look at them. (some people don't like pure standard Rhode Island Reds referred to as "Heritage" but the thread starter titled this thread "The Heritage Rhode Island Red Site" to get people's attention to recognize the pure Rhode Island Reds) As I have mentioned before, I do take some of my birds, mostly cockerels, to swaps as they are easy to sell because they are very nice looking birds. They get good feed and people can tell when they look at them. Quite often people ask me what I put on the birds feathers to make them so shiny, I tell them, people and birds are the same (you are what you eat) which applies to all critters and people. Good luck and have fun.

cmom, Since I've never been to a show, I am excited to go & see how it all works & the various breeds that are there. I hope it will be a learning experience for me & for my husband. He doesn't use the computer so any information or research to be done is my job. I'm pretty sure he would like the poultry shows though. We aren't breeding any of our birds yet. The pullets just started laying the day after Christmas. We are trying to decide which rooster to keep for breeding. Again, not for showing but to keep the best traits going in our birds. All three roosters have the brick shape, the right back shape(don't know about the length though.. still need to learn about that), feather color & features including the gorgeous shine & the right look to their tails. Two have nicer combs than the other one but all of them have black streaks or spots on their combs. It isn't frost bite so I'm wondering if it is from my bossy Lavender Ameraucana rooster. All of our RIRs, including the pullets, have yellow legs but they have some reddish/brownish coloring to them too. I noticed your birds seem to have no red or brown to their legs. Very pretty, they are. I still need to learn more about the standard for the pure RIRs. So much I don't know yet. We are in the process of building more coops & runs so we can separate the roosters & have pens for breeding pairs when we get to that point. When we do start the breeding process, I'm thinking we should incubate the eggs rather than let the hens go broody & raise the chicks. We have so few pullets/hens that we don't need an interruption in egg laying. Do you let your hens raise their chicks or do you incubate the eggs you want to hatch?

 

[cmom]

Hi guys! I'm looking for some RIR hatching eggs from a good bloodline. I've never had this breed so any advice or leads on eggs would be very much appreciated!
Thank you!

First I would like to say

I have created a sign-up sheet for those who would like hatching eggs. I do have a list going and the names on this sheet will be added to my existing list.

Also more information is available on my website
http://www.hilltop-farm.info/eggs

The list for eggs
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1UFRu2kUq6bxhwniHyV9oT0ROazGWeDhj949rvQs7BgM/edit?usp=sharing

 

[cmom]

Quote:
This first picture is off some on the color. The legs are yellow with the horn coloring going up the toes and legs. Some have more and some have less of the horn coloring but the Reds should have some. I have let some of my birds hatch and brood her chicks but mostly I put them in my incubator.





If I have just a few eggs to hatch I use a styrofoam incubator.



My incubator.

I use my styrofoam incubators as hatchers. Makes it easier to keep track of whose chicks are in what hatcher.


One of my Buff Orpingtons with her chicks shortly after they hatched.

 

[laurend82891]

This first picture is off some on the color. The legs are yellow with the horn coloring going up the toes and legs. Some have more and some have less of the horn coloring but the Reds should have some. I have let some of my birds hatch and brood her chicks but mostly I put them in my incubator. If I have just a few eggs to hatch I use a styrofoam incubator. My incubator. I use my styrofoam incubators as hatchers. Makes it easier to keep track of whose chicks are in what hatcher. One of my Buff Orpingtons with her chicks shortly after they hatched.

Wow! Your birds are beautiful! Have you found the styrofoam incubators to be a pain in the butt? That is what I have been reading while trying to decide on an incubator. I have only hatched with broody hens and therefore I have been lazy

.

 

[waddles99]

This is an interesting pen...is the top fenced? I would love to have something like this except hawks can be a problem. Are they a problem with you as well?

 

[cmom]

Quote:
Some styrofoam incubators are better than others but if you learn to incubate in one you can hatch in anything. I use mt styrofoam incubator if I have just a few egg otherwise I use my cabinet incubator. Here is a good thread for using styrofoam incubators. The thread is for Little Giant but the same can apply to most styrofoams.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/601352/little-giant-incubator-tricks