The Heritage Rhode Island Red Site

[immyjay54]

Jim,
That hen is in my Rose Comb pen. I'm debating on moving her and the other Single Comb hen to the Single comb pen.

She is sure nice Jim. I just moved my chicks today to their 3' X 6' brooder in my basement where they will be for the next month or so then I will be splitting them up into two of these brooder pens. I am sure that I have 5 SC and 6 RC and the other one I'm not 100% sure yet but almost sure that it is a SC. Pretty good getting 6 of each variety. lol I sure was lucky with this batch of eggs.
I will be keeping mine separated and try to get a nice little flock of each variety.
Jim

 

[Robert Blosl]

Well I am surprised. You guys hammer away in honor of this great Red Breeder. I stayed at his house from 3 pm to 2 am talking reds about 30 years ago when I lived in Masefield Wisconsin. The next day I put five dozen eggs in my car and hatched about 35 chicks. That was my first Reds since I left home in 1967. His father George is who sent me my first trio in 1962.

I like the single comb male he caught my eye. I had a Rose Comb male from those eggs and he had a body much like this guy.

Here is a question. How long has it been in your view that Gary has crossed single combs onto his Rose Combs?

The reason is normally you loose the good Rose Combs on the Males and takes a few years be for they get back to normal.

Anyway keep the strain pure dont cross any thing into them and if you two breed them for many years you swap chicks or birds every five or so years for fresh blood and you can go on for ever.

Gary I am sure will mentor you. In regards to R I Red Genetics you know Gary's back ground. He is the only one who ever could talk that stuff and under stand it. If he took this code that was given the other day he might understand it but I still dont think the code will help you produce great colored R I Reds. Ask him about what the female hackle should look like and what happens when you have stripes or lacing in the female neck feather. This was the number one secret to maintain good color on a R I Red is the female neck feathers. This is how you keep the males clean in the neck area free of green feathers and smut or slate in the neck section. I have found if you do this then the number one gift from the gods in red heaven is you pull the feathers in the back of the saddle area of your reds hold the feather up to the sky and you will see a black blood red quill. When you have your reds with a quill color that dark you have hit the jackpot for red color. Then your wing sections will be dark red and you should have back or green going down the inside of the main tail feathers when you look at their color from the vent area. George was a big proponent of solid black beetle green tail to the skin. Not a two or three inch section of red at the inner base of the main tail feathers. Gary did a breeding method where he got two good females with the best tail color he had then breed back the best ckl with the darkest green to the skin back to the hens. He did this each year then picked the best ckl and mated it back to the two hens again. Then he did this for five years of inbreeding. On the fifth year all the chicks pullets and ckls from these two hens produced tails like George liked. This is what Ralph Sturgeon talked about in his booklet putting breeding pressure on a certain section of your bird. Now if you did this on three different family, such as head points, wings and tail then on the fifth year you start crossing the super family's and by the eight year you could have the perfect R I Red or the best one you ever raised. This is breeding Reds 104. Not many can do it or will do it but that's what I learned from Gary. I am happy for you guys and keep plowing away. bob

 

[mrheinz77]

Bob,
Do you know what line Mr Wilcox has?

Gary and I discussed the comb genetics some. I taught Biology and Chemistry for 11 years and have a passion for genetics. He said he has crossed the Single Comb and Rose Comb for many years. He keeps two families and does an outcross about every 5 years. Gary told me the main thing he sees in crossing the two varieties is a hollow center Rose Comb. I brought up the size of the Rose Comb and he agreed. We think it has to do with modifier genes but Gary did state that in one to two generations the comb can be fixed.

When Gary sets up Rollie's pens with him one has a Single Comb cock over Rose Comb hens and the other is a Rose Comb cock over Single ComB hens.

 

[melroseladi]

I have been doing a lot of reading about the RC and SC genetics since 1 of my little chicks appears to be a RC and I am thinking (at this point) it is a cockerel. I have read that the RC do have fertility problems (on the male side) due to some kind of genetic link between the RC genes and the sperm genes, but I think that issue can be easily resolved by having less hens being covered by the RC rooster.

Now my thing is, just how am I going to set up a breeding pen with this RC when I have only SC females and still keep the RC flock moving forward in line with the standard? Hope that makes sense.

Oh wait, I know the answer. Hatch more eggs!!!!!

Penny

 

[Chris09]

Now my thing is, just how am I going to set up a breeding pen with this RC when I have only SC females and still keep the RC flock moving forward in line with the standard?

Unless your RC Rooster carries SC all of his offspring out of that cross should be Rose Comb so in year two you should have all kinds of pullets to breed back to him.

Chris

 

[mrheinz77]

Unless your RC Rooster carries SC all of his offspring out of that cross should be Rose Comb so in year two you should have all kinds of pullets to breed back to him. 

Chris

The pen that Penny's Rose Comb came from had a Rose Comb cock (heterozygous) with a Rose Comb hen and two Single Comb hens. Still, bred to Single Comb pullets, 50% of the offspring should be Rose Comb

 

[immyjay54]

Unless your RC Rooster carries SC all of his offspring out of that cross should be Rose Comb so in year two you should have all kinds of pullets to breed back to him.

Chris

Thanks Chris, that is good to know. I kind of figured that you would know about this stuff since you have been raising them for a few years and got some very nice looking ones. lol

 

[Chris09]

Thanks Chris, that is good to know. I kind of figured that you would know about this stuff since you have been raising them for a few years and got some very nice looking ones. lol

Your Welcome,

I've been crossing SC/RC Reds for sometime now.

The Rooster is out of a RC/SC Cross and Sire to Hen and Young Rooster Below.

Hen coming out the door is out of a RC/SC Cross and Dam to the Young Rooster below.

This Young Rooster was out of the Rooster and Hen above.

Chris

 

[nicalandia]

Bob, as far as I'm concerned learning genetic coding is one thing & breeding chickens is another. There are people who are captivated by all those symbols but they don't seem to be the same people that are producing quality birds.

Breeding Quality birds with more Quality its not a "Science", its more of an art.. using genetic codes to predict what X breed mated to Y breed is a Science,

Amen brother Bill, preach it.

LOL Yes I agree to its nice to know and understand some of that jargon where applicable.

I was just in an interesting goings on here the other day with one of the color (geneticist) on here. I could not convince him that I knew the formula for creating a Delaware as Mrs. Kathy has done without giving him "proof in the pudding" so to speak (all the statistical facts/numbers)

Jeff

you may think you know the formula but you dont, at least you didnt provide enough proof of it, now keep in mind that when you are to start an debate about a scientific subject with me, you need to make sure you come prepared

 

[nicalandia]

I've been crossing SC/RC Reds for sometime now.




Chris

any particular reason you do this Chris? to reinvigurate the RC lines? or the other way around?