The Heritage Rhode Island Red Site

[dinkyzoo]

Hello, can anyone give me information on breeders of large SC RIR in California or nearby states? Thanks so much!

 

[cmom]

My very last hatch was from Dexter's son Junior. Only 2 chicks out of 18 eggs, one male and one female hatched. The older boys are picking on him so he has his very own cage and gets let out to free range with an SC pullet that is a little older (Penny). They get along ok but Penny is the alpha. Penny goes into to her cage every evening and now he is going into his which is right next to Penny's. Their cages are kept in the garage and they go into the garage and into their cages.

 

[cmom]

@cmom , you might recognize this guy. It's Dexter's boy at 15 weeks old... He, his hatch mate, and a couple of the older chicks had a light case of fowl pox (dry), but most of the sores are gone and they're recovering nicely.

My very last hatch was from Dexter's son Junior. Only 2 chicks out of 18 eggs, one male and one female hatched. The older boys are picking on him so he has his very own cage and gets let out to free range with an SC pullet that is a little older (Penny). They get along ok but Penny is the alpha. Penny goes into to her cage every evening and now he is going into his which is right next to Penny's. Their cages are kept in the garage and they go into the garage and into their cages.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Hello, can anyone give me information on breeders of large SC RIR in California or nearby states? Thanks so much!

Message sent. Check private messages.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Then how come by hen went from this to this in a couple months? She was already about 12 months old, so she couldn't have matured too much more. I was thinking it was the feed.

I've seen you post that before and attribute the perceived difference in shape to feed quality. Again, good feed is very important but it cannot transform the shape or type of a bird. They're born with that.

Capturing the true shape of a bird in an instant of photography? It is nearly impossible. Birds look entirely different in 100 consecutive photos. They slouch, they hunch, they move, they re-position themselves.The protrusion of the front not noticed in the first photo is mostly due to the problem with photos generally. Also, the second photo was taken following a period of the period having filled herself. That could as easily be a pendulous crop full of feed as much as anything else.

You have fed her well and do continue to do so, but you cannot really change a bird once you have them. They are what they are.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Usually fed grains and veggies from the home or local farms, and whatever grass, bugs, and critters they could catch. If I remember correctly, a lot of those breeders fed only buttermilk for a few days after hatching... and fermented feed was a popular chicken food.

Yes, that is correct, although I'm unsure about how popular fermented feed was. The science of poultry diet has evolved and continues to do so. But, those top breeders of the Red in the early to mid 1900's fed their birds VERY well, according to the science and intuitions of the time period. Poultry was hugely profitable back then (hard to imagine now) and any modern perception that poultry men and women of that era just tossed some scratch grains and forced the birds to scavange to survive is an uninformed perception. The old literature is filled with their recipes and feeding programs. The birds were very well fed.

 

[waddles99]

I've seen you post that before and attribute the perceived difference in shape to feed quality. Again, good feed is very important but it cannot transform the shape or type of a bird. They're born with that.

Capturing the true shape of a bird in an instant of photography? It is nearly impossible. Birds look entirely different in 100 consecutive photos. They slouch, they hunch, they move, they re-position themselves.The protrusion of the front not noticed in the first photo is mostly due to the problem with photos generally. Also, the second photo was taken following a period of the period having filled herself. That could as easily be a pendulous crop full of feed as much as anything else.

You have fed her well and do continue to do so, but you cannot really change a bird once you have them. They are what they are.

Now I'm confused. So no matter what I feed, she will still have that brick shape? I agree with how birds can look different in photos, and I admit that part of that photo was just the shot at the time. But seriously, in person, she looks so much more full now than she did before.

So, essentially, the birds brick shape is what it is no matter the feed?

 

[Ur-ur-ur-urrr]

Now I'm confused. So no matter what I feed, she will still have that brick shape? I agree with how birds can look different in photos, and I admit that part of that photo was just the shot at the time. But seriously, in person, she looks so much more full now than she did before.

So, essentially, the birds brick shape is what it is no matter the feed?

I think what Fred was saying is that if a bird has proper "type", it will have the brick look... and good feed will help accentuate this shape. A mal-nourished bird will have a smaller breast and the brick shape won't be as prominent. At the same time, if a bird doesn't have he correct type, no amount of food, no matter how nutritious, can put it there.

 

[waddles99]

I think what Fred was saying is that if a bird has proper "type", it will have the brick look... and good feed will help accentuate this shape. A mal-nourished bird will have a smaller breast and the brick shape won't be as prominent. At the same time, if a bird doesn't have he correct type, no amount of food, no matter how nutritious, can put it there.

I totally agree with that. The way I see it having good genetics is the foundation and good feeding is the building. Obviously you cant have good type if the genetics aren't good. But I thought what was being said was that regardless of feeding the type will always be good with good genetics, which is definitely not what I have learned.

Take this as an example. Would a person be born a bodybuilder just because they were the child of one?

 

[Ur-ur-ur-urrr]

I totally agree with that. The way I see it having good genetics is the foundation and good feeding is the building. Obviously you cant have good type if the genetics aren't good. But I thought what was being said was that regardless of feeding the type will always be good with good genetics, which is definitely not what I have learned.

Take this as an example. Would a person be born a bodybuilder just because they were the child of one?

Lol... no. Just because someone uses supplements and manipulates their muscles doesn't mean it becomes genetic. If someone is born with genes that promote large muscle, then their offspring will often (not always) inherit those genes. Just as with my example, not all reds will display the same genetics of their parents... which is why we are forced to cull.