The Heritage Rhode Island Red Site

[Ur-ur-ur-urrr]

His son carries his wings much higher and did OK at the shows. He got Best Variety and Reserve Variety.

Sorry, I didn't mean it like all his offspring would carry the trait, as the hens will often offset flaws of the cock. I meant if the trait is allowed to remain in the flock, it can become problematic. If you start to you see it in the hens, it's gotten really bad. It's genetic, and (if I understand correctly) can be difficult to get rid of.

Glad to hear his son got BV and RV. If he was in competition with numerous RC's, that's very good. Unlike myself... who would come in 2nd or 3rd place in a one man competition...

 

[cmom]

This is my 3rd year with the Rose Comb Reds. Maybe I will get a champion RC RIR but I'm not going to hold my breath.

 

[Ur-ur-ur-urrr]

This is my 3rd year with the Rose Comb Reds. Maybe I will get a champion RC RIR but I'm not going to hold my breath.

Well, life is full of surprises... and you never know what the next egg holds. My motto is "pesistence pays off", so keep pecking away and see what hatches.

 

[waddles99]

Are rose comb RIR harder to breed than SC? Sorry if it is a stupid question, it just seems to me that since it is much less common than SC RIR, it would be not as developed and still have a long way to go.

 

[Matt1616]

Are rose comb RIR harder to breed than SC? Sorry if it is a stupid question, it just seems to me that since it is much less common than SC RIR, it would be not as developed and still have a long way to go. 

Rosecombs have traditionally been very difficult to breed at the same level as the Single Comb. Many people suggest that it is linked to the Rosecomb gene. It pretty much holds true in every breed that comes in both combs. For this reason the Rosecomb varieties have not developed as large of a following for breeders that are breeding to the SOP. They did however have a following in the northern states for the advantage of not having to worry about frostbite in the winter.

Matt

 

[Fred's Hens]

The Chantecler was quite popular in Canada for the reasons Matt mentioned. The Buckeye (which some believe has virtually the same type as the Chantecler, but don't really want to open that hornet's nest) is also solid contender in the non-single comb type fowl. And there are 'Dottes and others. I mention these two because they were direct competition to the Red's development historically. Some say that Miss Nettie just narrowly missed beating the Reds into the SOP by a technicality or she might have claimed the "red" portion of the name. All water over the dam now, but interesting tidbits from history. All of which is perhaps why the rose comb Red wasn't normally what people invested in back when frontier farm birds were a very valuable buisness and breeding them was actually quite profitable. Times have changed.

There have been some extraordinarily good breeders of the RC Red over years, however.

 

[Fred's Hens]

If we winter over SC Red males up here, we can't show them as Cocks. The frostbite is just too brutal on combs. We can only show cockerels. It's pretty much just life in the north. The coastal south doesn't worry about frost bitten combs, but there are other heat and humidity issues that Red breeders there must over come. It's always something, eh?

 

[Ur-ur-ur-urrr]

If we winter over SC Red males up here, we can't show them as Cocks.  The frostbite is just too brutal on combs.  We can only show cockerels.  It's pretty much just life in the north.  The coastal south doesn't worry about frost bitten combs, but there are other heat and humidity issues that Red breeders there must over come.  It's always something, eh?

Since frostbite isn't a major concern here in MS, I won't even consider RC birds. With the summer temps we have here, SC's have an advantage because the large comb is a heatsink... helping to keep the birds cooler. RC's have to rely on wattles, fluffing, and opening and dropping their wings. Although my other birds have made it fine in the heat, I can't help but wonder how my reds will fare. I feel they'll be okay, since they're amazingly adaptable to a variety of climates. I'm still taking extra measures to make them as comfortable as possible without renting a controlled-climate storage room. New coop is open underneath, and so far it's staying very comfortable inside in full sun...

 

[cmom]

Quote:
True, I raise both RIRs and RIWs in the Rose Combs. I do make Sex-Links with both my SC RIW females + SC RIR Male and get beautiful RSL's. The same does not work with the RC RIW females + RC RIR male. I still get RC Sex-Links but not the same as with the SC.

 

[cmom]

Quote:
You should have some very happy birds. I have wire in the bottom of my coops under the roosts. I have a good rake with a very long handle to rake out the poop that goes into my compost pile.
This was when we were building this coop.