The Heritage Rhode Island Red Site

[henpeckedmuch]

Others have told you the truth, let me say it another way.
We all like puppies, when we see some for sale and are told that they are pure breed but don't have papers, we want to believe the seller. We know that they will make fine pets and give us a lot of enjoyment. I have a "White West Highland Terrier" just like I'm describing. Perhaps you have seen the "Westie" advertising "Caesar's" dog food on TV? But, I don't expect to ever show my pet at the Westminster dog show. Neither will I try to sell her offspring as anything other then pet quality. If I at some future time desire to have a better quality "Westie" for whatever reason, I will not go to a puppy mill or a pet shop to find one. But, instead I will do some research, find a reputable breeder, and purchase the best I can afford.
A good place to find a breeder of Heritage Rhode Island Reds Is on this thread. Ask around. Go to a poultry show, ask questions. Listen for the names of Don Nelson, Rademacher, Autry and others that B.. Blosi and NY reds on this site know of. Be patient!!!!
This is just my advice perhaps it is worth every bit of what you paid for it.

 

[henpeckedmuch]

Hear is a question for you.
The tails on some of my nearly started pullets have three to four rows of feathers towards the end of their tail that progressively have more black in them. That is to say the last feathers are all black with the beatle green tint. Then the next row in are mostly black with a little mahogany around the ends. The third row has a little more mahogany around the end, and the forth row only has a small amount of black and are mostly mahogany. While some other of my hens have one or two rows of black/greenish tail feathers and the rest of their tail feathers are all mahogany.
Which of these two occurances are more desirable?

And another question, What is meant by the term pinch tailed?
Does it describe the tail as seen in profile as not fanned out? or perhaps the tail seen from behind not having the proper width?

 

[catdaddyfro]

Hear is a question for you.
The tails on some of my nearly started pullets have three to four rows of feathers towards the end of their tail that progressively have more black in them. That is to say the last feathers are all black with the beatle green tint. Then the next row in are mostly black with a little mahogany around the ends. The third row has a little more mahogany around the end, and the forth row only has a small amount of black and are mostly mahogany. While some other of my hens have one or two rows of black/greenish tail feathers and the rest of their tail feathers are all mahogany.
Which of these two occurances are more desirable?

And another question, What is meant by the term pinch tailed?
Does it describe the tail as seen in profile as not fanned out? or perhaps the tail seen from behind not having the proper width?

I don't know the answer on the tail feather colors as I haven't studied enough about RIRs like I have NHs and BR as I've just gotten a start in RIReds. But I can answer the pinched tail ques. and it is both ways you asked in your ques, A pinched tail from the side view; is when all the tail feathers are all bunched together at the top to make look like only a couple of feathers, not fanned /, fanned < and the rear view pinched tail; the feathers are all squeezed together and touching each other from the top ones to the bottom the correct spread tail should be wide apart a the the bottom narrowing up to the top two feathers touching and should represent the look of a Tee-Pee. spread ^ not spread/pinched l

Jeff

 

[flewdacoop]

i only paid 2.75 a piece for them and did not buy them to breed either just for the eggs but i relay don't want to sound dumb when i say i have RIR's and someone else says they are not pure breed are they correct or is this a pure breed just not a show class RIR? sorry for so many questions i have been raising chickens for only about 3 months and started out not knowing anything.. just knew i wanted eggs and i wanted to raise them.

 

[FOGELLY]

i only paid 2.75 a piece for them and did not buy them to breed either just for the eggs but i relay don't want to sound dumb when i say i have RIR's and someone else says they are not pure breed are they correct or is this a pure breed just not a show class RIR? sorry for so many questions i have been raising chickens for only about 3 months and started out not knowing anything.. just knew i wanted eggs and i wanted to raise them.

Your chickens are going to be just fine for what you want. You stated you wanted eggs and chickens to raise, they are perfect for that purpose.
They will give you much enjoyment.
I know you did not get them to create stress in you life, so relax don't stress and enjoy them.
Let them teach you how to care for a flock of chickens.

Ron Fogle

 

[cmom]

i only paid 2.75 a piece for them and did not buy them to breed either just for the eggs but i relay don't want to sound dumb when i say i have RIR's and someone else says they are not pure breed are they correct or is this a pure breed just not a show class RIR? sorry for so many questions i have been raising chickens for only about 3 months and started out not knowing anything.. just knew i wanted eggs and i wanted to raise them.

Your chickens are going to be just fine for what you want. You stated you wanted eggs and chickens to raise, they are perfect for that purpose.
They will give you much enjoyment.
I know you did not get them to create stress in you life, so relax don't stress and enjoy them.
Let them teach you how to care for a flock of chickens.
Ron Fogle

I agree. The birds are going to fine for your purpose for eggs. You have Rhode Island Reds and they are good layers of large brown eggs. Here is a good article about Rhode Island Reds by the thread starter http://bloslspoutlryfarm.tripod.com/id29.html

 

[immyjay54]

flewdacoop, You are not being dumb. You like a lot of us on here are just not as well learned as some of the ones that have been raising the heritage lines for a long time.
I have had chickens for many years and when a kid, my parents always had lots of them. They were a mixture of many breeds that mom and dad had for eggs to feed our family and sell a few eggs to help pay the feed bill.
A couple of years ago I got 25 pullets, 1 cockerel RIR from McMurray hatchery. I raised them for approx 6 months and got to lurking on BYC and saw what the old time RIR's looked like. WOW, I was hooked. I started reading up on them and trying to find out which were the top lines. Anyway, I now have some gorgeous juvenile RIR's growing up and hope to have a couple really nice flocks of them in a few years.
My hatchery birds did supply me with lots of eggs and I enjoyed them but just decided I would like to raise the old time strains.
Be happy with what you have and if you decide you would like something different later down the road, get yourself some of the pure, old time birds and you will see the difference. I don't think there is any difference in the taste of the free range eggs no matter what color the chicken is. lol They are all good.

 

[Chris Herzog]

Hear is a question for you.
The tails on some of my nearly started pullets have three to four rows of feathers towards the end of their tail that progressively have more black in them. That is to say the last feathers are all black with the beatle green tint. Then the next row in are mostly black with a little mahogany around the ends. The third row has a little more mahogany around the end, and the forth row only has a small amount of black and are mostly mahogany. While some other of my hens have one or two rows of black/greenish tail feathers and the rest of their tail feathers are all mahogany.
Which of these two occurances are more desirable?

And another question, What is meant by the term pinch tailed?
Does it describe the tail as seen in profile as not fanned out? or perhaps the tail seen from behind not having the proper width?

Take a sec and go look at the German NH thread. You may have to go back a page or two but we were just talking about pinched tails and Banjo put up some good pics of different breed birds with and with out pinched tails. A lot of good info on the topic.

Chris

 

[Chris Herzog]

i only paid 2.75 a piece for them and did not buy them to breed either just for the eggs but i relay don't want to sound dumb when i say i have RIR's and someone else says they are not pure breed are they correct or is this a pure breed just not a show class RIR? sorry for so many questions i have been raising chickens for only about 3 months and started out not knowing anything.. just knew i wanted eggs and i wanted to raise them.

Like everyone has said....you have RIR's and it's actually the other way around. You have the more common RIR or what everyone thinks of when you talk about RIR's. We have the less common looking RIR. Whenever, I bring culls to sell at the local swaps people always ask me what kind of birds I have because most have never seen any like the ones I have.

Chris

 

[cmom]

I agree with all of the posts. Since it has only been three months that you have had your birds, enjoy them. Later if you decide you want a different breed then go for it. I started my pure (Heritage) Rhode Island Red breeding program just a little over a year ago. I researched and studied the breed as I had regular RIR's and had been going to as many shows as I could. I saw so many beautiful Heritage RIR's that I decided I wanted a flock so I bought some birds at the shows for my Heritage RIR flock. I also bought eggs that were supposed to be Heritage but when I hatched them out they weren't as dark but had the correct shape and looks. I now have RIR, Heritage RIR, Buff Orpingtons, Rhode Island White Single Comb and Rose Comb and Red Sex Links. Next I want to get some show quality Barred Rocks. Have fun and enjoy...