The Heritage Rhode Island Red Site

[Asmorilda]

These are my husband's birds. They will be a year old around the 20th of June. The pullets started laying in January & are averaging an egg a day. We only have 2 pullets so the black bird you see in one of the pictures is an Orpington. I added an extra picture of one of them in the sunlight. The three cockerels are the same age as the pullets, all "nest mates". We will be saying goodbye to 2 of the boys soon.

 

[Fred's Hens]

These are my husband's birds. They will be a year old around the 20th of June. The pullets started laying in January & are averaging an egg a day. We only have 2 pullets so the black bird you see in one of the pictures is an Orpington. I added an extra picture of one of them in the sunlight. The three cockerels are the same age as the pullets, all "nest mates". We will be saying goodbye to 2 of the boys soon.





I like this photo. This shows WIDTH of a better male. See how wide this male is all the way back? This is what you desire.



Unless this is some kind of photographic anomaly, this bird should have been in th soup pot long ago. His back/tail angle is all wrong.






High tailed male. Wouldn't be my first choice for a keeper. Also looks thin bodied.



The backline isn't breat and neither is the tail. But since you've got the two females, you'll likely be forced to use her. Put 60 chicks on the ground and cull out everything faulty.



The even "flow" of the flat back into the tail isn't smooth here either. Same advice. Hatch out a bunch and cull hard.
I do love her front end though.





This male pinches toward the tail, but his back line is pretty level. Some of the combs are less than ideal, but combs cannot be your primary focus this year.

Just a suggestion. Might consider keeping the two better males and hatch from both in a systematic rotation. Mark the chicks and keep good records. Never really know where the better might come from.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Fertility Testing. First litle clutch of eggs. Four LF eggs, Ten bantam eggs.

 

[cmom]

Getting ready to do some test hatches too. Going to eat a couple too to see if they are fertile when I break the eggs open. All of my breeding pens have been set up for awhile except my Rose Comb Rhode Island Reds. They will be done today.

 

[cmom]

These are my husband's birds. They will be a year old around the 20th of June. The pullets started laying in January & are averaging an egg a day. We only have 2 pullets so the black bird you see in one of the pictures is an Orpington. I added an extra picture of one of them in the sunlight. The three cockerels are the same age as the pullets, all "nest mates". We will be saying goodbye to 2 of the boys soon.


This boy below has nice width. He would be my choice.





Tail to high







He looks a bit narrow.

This is a male I got a champion with and a female. The male cut his comb somehow but since it's not a defect he is in a breeding pen.
They were having some treats so not the best pictures.



This is my champion girl. Just as I snapped her picture she turned her head towards me.

These are some of my last years males.

Good luck with your birds and have fun...

 

[Fred's Hens]

Results of RIRs from the Orange Blossom Classic Poultry Show, Inverness, Fl.
Bantam -
Ulrich Farms - Matt and Joe Ulrich SCCL - BB/RB Both Shows
Large Fowl - White Show
Ulrich Farms - Matt and Joe Ulrich BB/RB - Ch American
Large Fowl - Blue Show
The Hen House - BB/RB Ch American


as reported by Skip Pesata

 

[Asmorilda]

Thank you, Fred, for your input on these birds. I had an idea about the males but was disappointed to hear that the pullets aren't better. As you say, we will have to use them since they are all we have & just keep trying for better ones.

 

[Asmorilda]

This is a male I got a champion with and a female. The male cut his comb somehow but since it's not a defect he is in a breeding pen.
They were having some treats so not the best pictures.



This is my champion girl. Just as I snapped her picture she turned her head towards me.

These are some of my last years males.

Good luck with your birds and have fun...

Thank you, cmom. That is the male I had thought we should keep. He still leaves a lot to be desired but he is our "keeper". You have some beautiful birds.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Thank you, Fred, for your input on these birds. I had an idea about the males but was disappointed to hear that the pullets aren't better. As you say, we will have to use them since they are all we have & just keep trying for better ones.

This is the very nature of the term "we get a start". It means simply that we got 6 or 8 or 10 birds as our "start".

The journey is long but rewarding. We don't buy the "end", we buy a "start". No different than anyone else, including me.

It's simply a numbers game the first year. Put 60 chicks on the ground and look for those 4-5 birds who have better expressions of the standard and move forward. Cull the rest. Sell, eat, etc.

I'm hatching every egg that my little bantam "start" lays this year and doing exactly the same thing. That's what this hobby is all about. Enjoy the journey. Perfection is the goal and is never attained. If it were easy to attain? We'd get bored quickly.

 

[cmom]

I sell my culls. I take them to a couple of our local swaps monthly where I know many of the people who attend and I sell them especially the pullets. I grow them all out after I hatch and keep the best and sell the rest which helps to off-set the price of feeding them for several months. People are eager to buy the culls because "they are so pretty" but beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. All of my breeding pens are now set up for this years hatch. I will be test hatching shortly. Fred is correct you hatch quite a few but only a very few will be breeders.

Also, congratulations to Matt for his Champion.

Results of RIRs from the Orange Blossom Classic Poultry Show, Inverness, Fl.
Bantam -
Ulrich Farms - Matt and Joe Ulrich SCCL - BB/RB Both Shows
Large Fowl - White Show
Ulrich Farms - Matt and Joe Ulrich BB/RB - Ch American
Large Fowl - Blue Show
The Hen House - BB/RB Ch American

as reported by Skip Pesata

The birds that won were very nice birds and congratulations to everyone.
My Rose Comb Rhode Island White pullet got BB/RB too at both shows but I'm the only one who shows them.
My Rose Comb Rhode Island Red, a pullet and a cockerel both got Best Variety and Reserve Variety. I know I'm the only one who shows them too but am happy with what I got. I'll work on them and hopefully next season I will do better. When I first started showing I didn't even place but have been doing better as the years pass. This is only my third year with my Rose Comb Reds.

My APA SOP book is from 1921 so I ordered a new one. I'm sure nothing has changed much except there will be the breeds that have been admitted since.