To all the folks who want "real" Reds.
Here are some pointers, for what it is worth.
1. Use proper APA/ABA language. For heaven's sake, don't ask for "hens" when you mean pullets and DO NOT ask for "roos" as breeders don't actually raise marsuplials. We breed birds. Use the proper term cockerel for a young male or cock(bird) and older male. It is simply imperative to use proper terms or most breeders simply "dial you out" and ignore your inquiries: end of story. To be foretold is to be forwarned. Is this rude? No. It is simply the reality and you can either sink or learn to swim, the choice is up to you.
2. Breeders are now hatching chicks. That is what breeders may offer you this time of year. It's late winter/early spring. Last year's crop of semi-mature birds were all sold off last fall when the breeder made her/his selections. Do not expect mature birds this time of year as breeders won't have them. To expect otherwise is to display a lack of understanding of the cycle of breeding, hatching, grow-out, selecting, showing and selling off excess stock.
Many top breeders sell excess pullets/cockerels on the sales floor of the exhibitions near you. Go to the shows!!!!! They're all listed, by month and location at PoultryShowCentral.
3. If your breeder isn't a member of the RIRCA and/or well known in the APA/ABA yearbook and/or exhibition world think twice. Lots of folks propigate far less than standard bred poultry. Take your time and start with great birds or all you'll have is sub-standard, near hatchery stock cull birds. 90% of the folks selling Reds are NOT breeders and wouldn't have a clue about how to breed birds properly. They've merely propigators, which anyone can do, and are looking to sell birds/eggs/chicks. They'll often brag about who they got their birds from or whose "line" they are. Blah blah blah. Don't put a lot of stock in any of that. It may shock you to know that there are likely less than 20 top breeders of LF Reds in the entire US.
4. Many, many breeders, of all kinds of breeds, will not sell fertile eggs. Backyarders and rip-off website egg sellers often do for the sheer profit. Don't be offended by a top breeder informing you they do not sell eggs via shipping. There's a very good reason why not to do this, so take it a positive sign the breeder is sincere about their birds.
5. Ask the breeder questions about the size of their breeding pens. If the breeder has a "rooster" (sic) over 14 females? That's a propigator, not a breeder. If the "breeder" you're talking to doesn't use proper terms such as cock, hen, cockerel, pullet? Yeah, you're not talking to a breeder, rest assured.
Ask your breeder if they exhibit. Ask them if they're a dues paying member of the APA/ABA or RIRCA?
6. Do not let the first words out your mouth be, "What line do you have?" Allow the breeder to tell you about her/his birds and why they like the birds they have. Spend time listening, less time trying to speak.
7. If all you want is some reddish females to lay lots and lots of eggs in your backyard? You DO want those production reds, not true bred Rhode Island Reds. Real Reds are very good layers but will never, ever lay like the hatchery/feedstore stuff. Be realistic about what you really want birds to do for you. Do you intend to learn about breeding? Do you intend to exhibit your results to have your birds judged?
It takes time to learn about the breeding/exhibition world. Join the APA or ABA, join the Reds Club, attend sanctioned exhibitions in your area. It takes four years, sometimes five years, to get through college. It takes just about that same amount of time to learn about this breed, it's history, the lines, the breeders and exhibitors and who is who in this world. The internet is full, stuffed full, of really crummy information. Much of it is simply wrong or based on backyard caliber information.
8. Avoid the concept of "Heritage". Until this johnny-come-lately concept gets sorted out? It's largely a marketing gimmick and a huge bungled mess of confusion. There is a small element of truth in the term, but right now? Avoid the concept almost entirely as it is currently being abused as to have zero meaning whatsoever and folks are getting ripped off right, left and center.
9. In the Red's Club shield, at the top of this page, see the motto. Meat-Standard-Eggs. The "standard" refered to there is not the size of the bird, but the Standard, the breed standard for the bird. That standard is well defined. Unless your potential birds are bred to that standard, they aren't "real" Reds. Period. Do yourself a HUGE favor and buy the standard. It will be bundled in a book, along with other breed standards and sold by the American Bantam Association and/or the Amercian Poultry Association. It is amazing that folks will spend a ton of money of wrong headed things yet complain the Standard costs them $59 postage paid. Folks, the Standard is the Bible, so-called, for serious poultry people. Read the words of the standard, not just the photos or pictures included.
This is a magnificent breed, truly. If you get serious about a breed, the Reds can provide a life time of enjoyment.
Much of the material above is quite honestly distilled from (this thread's starter) Bob Blosl's own words; lessons he shared, while still living. Bob was no minor diety and didn't know everything about breeding birds. (who does?) But, his heart was passionate for the breed and he'd surely be pleased to see folks still falling in love with the breed that so captured his imagination.
There are only a handful of really top breeders who drift through this thread and may not have the time nor inclination to post very often, but they're here and would be glad to answer your questions. They will not likely correct every tid bit of "mis" information that sometimes gets posted here as that too is too taxing and time consuming, after all, anyone can post in here.
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Just give some of them a chance to get back with you.
And remember… listen, listen, listen to what they share.
Fred
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