The Heritage Rhode Island Red Site

[Fred's Hens]

Anyone going to the Chattahoochee Valley Poultry Association Show Feb 20-21?
Hoping to learn a few things myself, first time for me. can someone tell me how big a show this is?

That is, by all accounts, a top notch show. By all means attend if you're interested in this fancy.

 

[Daubie]

Hello, I am new to the forum but have been lurking for several weeks. I have found a lot of answers by searching the site but still have a few questions. My wife and I have 20 acres of hay pasture and would like to free range chickens for meat/eggs. I would greatly appreciate any advice to our questions below. We are wanting about 1 dozen eggs a day and wanted to let some of the hens brood their eggs and we would raise the chicks for meat (starting out maybe 25 for meat)

We both like the looks of the heritage RIR and have just a few questions.

1. Average egg production from hens

2. Quality of meat (love fried chicken)

3. Average weeks to raise for meat

4. If we are really missing the boat with RIR is their another bird we should be looking into

If anyone has a breeder to recommend please send a PM. Thank you so much in advance for any advice.

Daubie

 

[Fred's Hens]

Hello, I am new to the forum but have been lurking for several weeks. I have found a lot of answers by searching the site but still have a few questions. My wife and I have 20 acres of hay pasture and would like to free range chickens for meat/eggs. I would greatly appreciate any advice to our questions below. We are wanting about 1 dozen eggs a day and wanted to let some of the hens brood their eggs and we would raise the chicks for meat (starting out maybe 25 for meat)

We both like the looks of the heritage RIR and have just a few questions.

1. Average egg production from hens

2. Quality of meat (love fried chicken)

3. Average weeks to raise for meat

4. If we are really missing the boat with RIR is their another bird we should be looking into

If anyone has a breeder to recommend please send a PM. Thank you so much in advance for any advice.

Daubie

Honestly? These aren't likely the birds for you, really. The Reds aren't particularly broody for one thing, as most breeders have bred away from that over the years. They are relatively slow growing and they're aren't like the hatchery stuff or modern birds that can lay up a storm. They lay well, but "well" will mean 180 eggs a year, not the nearly 300 years of a top laying modern hybrids. The meat will never rival they modern broilers in either time to market nor in feed cost ratios. Lots of folks have what I'd call romantic ideas of these old line birds and folks come and go with them as a result. Two years and out, Bob Blosl used to say. Hope that's helpful to you in making some decisions.

 

[cmom]

Quote:

I agree with Fred. I have a few Reds and RIW's in the freezer but they were around 6 / 7 months old when they were processed. Because they were able to free range and have large pens, the meat isn't quite the same as you would buy at a grocery store. Mine were more muscular so the meat isn't quite as tender. With meat birds they grow fast and are processed when they are around 9 to 12 weeks old. Probably if I was to get a so called dual purpose bird I would look into Orpingtons. They tend to go broody more often than most other breeds and are good sized, but not the greatest layers. When I raised them, I got around 4 eggs a week from each bird. Most of the birds averaged an egg every other day. I hope this helps. Good luck and have fun...

 

[Daubie]

Thank you for the replies "romantic" yeah probably! I remember how much better the meat and eggs were from my grandparents free ranging birds and want to get back to that. Obviously only needing at most 1 dozen eggs a day doesn't require going to production birds and I don't like these colossal chickens being sold in the stores today as I have always thought the smaller fryers of my youth were better.

Historic note: My father was a poultry judge in high school and won the national poultry judging contest twice. I remember him having a whole drawer full of ribbons from the mid fifties. A teacher took and sold some of his eggs he was breeding for faster growth and it turned him off and never had chickens again.

I will look into the Orpingtons and see what else is available, have read the Dorkings are a good bird also.

Daubie

 

[RhodeRunner]

Thank you for the replies "romantic" yeah probably!

I remember how much better the meat and eggs were from my grandparents free ranging birds and want to get back to that. Obviously only needing at most 1 dozen eggs a day doesn't require going to production birds and I don't like these colossal chickens being sold in the stores today as I have always thought the smaller fryers of my youth were better.

Historic note: My father was a poultry judge in high school and won the national poultry judging contest twice. I remember him having a whole drawer full of ribbons from the mid fifties. A teacher took and sold some of his eggs he was breeding for faster growth and it turned him off and never had chickens again.

I will look into the Orpingtons and see what else is available, have read the Dorkings are a good bird also.

Daubie

I’m not sure, if you should toss the concept of reds aside. Even if it is romantic

The reality is, there is no such thing as a perfect dual-purpose bird. If you want serious production, you have to go the production route (aka hybrids.) But, I agree with you. The slower growing birds taste better! And if you can accept that and fewer eggs, then Rhode Island Reds are about just as good as any other dual-purpose fowl.

You can look into Orpingtons, Dorkings and other breeds. I’ve raised both. Two years in, and then out actually. hehehehe The Orpingons where too fluffy, lazy and ornamental for me, and they consumed lots of food! The Dorkings where great, but they lacked vigor and where seriously difficult fowl to bred and raise.

My father raised heritage Reds when I was a child, and all ways said, “The only chicken worth raising is a Rhode Island Red.” Eventually, he tried Rocks and Dominique's and liked those too. lol

When I was in my younger years, I had to try every fancy and heritage breed possible. Now as an adult, (much to my father’s satisfaction) I’m back to raising Rhode Island Reds. They are simply put great birds.

 

[cmom]

I have not had the experience with a lot of different breeds. I did suggest the Orpingtons for the simple fact that they tended to be more broody than the other breeds I have had. The other breeds may have birds that will go broody but you can't make a bird broody so I suggested checking on a breed that has the tendencies to be more broody, if you want a dual purpose bird for eggs, meat and to hatch and brood chicks. As I said there may be several other breeds that will suit your purpose. This is just my opinion. Good luck with whatever you decide and have fun...
Some of my older Red girls out for a stroll.

One of my Buff Orpington's with her chicks.

 

[RoseMarie1]

I have not had the experience with a lot of different breeds. I did suggest the Orpingtons for the simple fact that they tended to be more broody than the other breeds I have had. The other breeds may have birds that will go broody but you can't make a bird broody so I suggested checking on a breed that has the tendencies to be more broody, if you want a dual purpose bird for eggs, meat and to hatch and brood chicks. As I said there may be several other breeds that will suit your purpose. This is just my opinion. Good luck with whatever you decide and have fun...
Some of my older Red girls out for a stroll.

One of my Buff Orpington's with her chicks.

Cmom I really like the cage you have them in! Do you have more pix of it? My brooder box is just too closed in and is very hot in the summer for the chicks since it's mostly all wood. I really like that because they have an area they can get in to keep critters from trying to get at them at night.

 

[RoseMarie1]

Reese, Nelson, Rademacher, Flannigan, Underwood & Anderson. I would not care to comment on the lines that I don't raise because I haven't handled a lot of those other lines and looking at them in the cage only tells part of the story. I would say the lines that are out there in the highest numbers are Reese, Nelson and Flannigan but I don't know if 'more popular" would be the proper way to describe them...maybe "more available" would be a better description.

Matt

Mine is from the Reese line. I bought 3 more hens to go with my 7 about a week ago. They originally came from mine (eggs) and he wanted to go back to productions so I bought the girls from him. I only have one roo with them and was wondering if I needed to put another roo with them since there is 10 heans. I have 5 in which to choose from.

Need to get rid of 3 roos. lol

 

[RoseMarie1]

I just recently set up some of my pens but have to fix a few before I put birds in them. I changing from chicken wire to welded wire. Probably a couple of months I'll be getting eggs. I just put the males in with the females.

Cmom you'res are laying now? Mine aren't laying and hasn't in 2-3 months now.