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- #3,591
Robert Blosl
Rest in Peace 1947-2013
I have read thousands of pages on Rhode Island Reds and hatched about two thousands reds in 20 years. My brain can not come up for a reason. I see them, but I don't worry about them. I don't worry who is a pullet and who is a ckl. One year I sent ten chicks to a friend in Ohio and kept the chicks to four weeks old. I kept the chicks that walked around like little body builders, bricked up like no buddy's business, legs dead center, well spread level back, I said boy these are going to make great breeders. I kept those chicks and sent every buddy the ones that were not show champions as four week old. My friend called me back about six months latter and told me he had ten of the most fantastic pullets he ever saw all looked like peas in a pod.
I ended up that year with I think three pullets and 30 of the nicest ckls you ever saw. Stupid me. So that idea did not turn out very well.
I think there is something to the sex on the three stripes. maybe the are pullets.
in my Mohawk bantams I am looking for the darkest down color I can get, beak color that is almost totally horn, and if I see a blue down color over the wing area I do back flips as this is a lost gene from the 1930s that showed up last year.
For history purposes you can tell the new folks 30 years from now this: In or around the 1930s a fella from Florida sent a runt Rose Comb pullet to Perrin Johnson the originator of the Rhode Island Red Bantam to cross onto his bantams he was trying to make. His strain was crossed with cochins and old English bantams onto large Fowl Rhode Island Reds of that time period. They where not very dark back then like today and his stain was still pretty large about a pound or so over standard bantam weight. This female was dark as can be. The strain of old Rose Combs had a color that was unreal they said they would turn these birds outside just before dark about a half a hour before dark the color would turn to a bluish dark hue.
They said when these Rose Combs where hatched they had this blue like down color on them. So maybe this will help a little. Keep records on these chicks to see what you may see.
There is something I would like you all to look for this year when your females start laying and your males are 7 months old and fully feathered. Pull some of the saddle feathers from your males say four of them. Then get you a 3x5 index card and hold it up right long side up. The about two inches form bottom take a razor blade or very sharp knife and make a half inch cut across the card. Then about a quarter of a inch above this cut make another cut. Then slip all four of your feathers into this slit to hold your feathers in place. On the card write the name of the bird or his band number for identification. Also, look at the quill color when you pull it out of the birds back or saddle areas. What color is the quill? Is is rustic red, dark red, or the ideal color which is the reason for writing this message blood red or black.
Example: When I first saw Matt 1616 Reds that he got from Greg in Illinois I saw dark red quill color but not blood red like I had 15 years befor he got them. No big deal but this is my method of strength of color in Reds. Then he got two old pair from Florida that I sent Simmons 20 years ago. Bingo. Black Blood Red Quills.
Then one day I was moving some of the ten chicks I raised for Matt that where half and halfs. For the heck of it as I was moving this one male to a new pen I pullet his saddle feather out and BAM Blood Red. These half and halfs brought over the blood red quill color from the Florida cross.
If you don't have the blood red quill color it may take you ten years to get it to show up and 1000 bird hatching. However, if you cross a half and half or a pure Florida bird onto your Illinois or Colorado strain you should be able to introduce this good trait back into my old Mohawk line. Just a thought.
Going outside to move chicks around. I got 12 15 day old silkie chicks coming into the post office this moaning. Mr. Silkie is going to have some friends this year to hank around with. A trade with a new partner in Red Bantams.
I ended up that year with I think three pullets and 30 of the nicest ckls you ever saw. Stupid me. So that idea did not turn out very well.
I think there is something to the sex on the three stripes. maybe the are pullets.
in my Mohawk bantams I am looking for the darkest down color I can get, beak color that is almost totally horn, and if I see a blue down color over the wing area I do back flips as this is a lost gene from the 1930s that showed up last year.
For history purposes you can tell the new folks 30 years from now this: In or around the 1930s a fella from Florida sent a runt Rose Comb pullet to Perrin Johnson the originator of the Rhode Island Red Bantam to cross onto his bantams he was trying to make. His strain was crossed with cochins and old English bantams onto large Fowl Rhode Island Reds of that time period. They where not very dark back then like today and his stain was still pretty large about a pound or so over standard bantam weight. This female was dark as can be. The strain of old Rose Combs had a color that was unreal they said they would turn these birds outside just before dark about a half a hour before dark the color would turn to a bluish dark hue.
They said when these Rose Combs where hatched they had this blue like down color on them. So maybe this will help a little. Keep records on these chicks to see what you may see.
There is something I would like you all to look for this year when your females start laying and your males are 7 months old and fully feathered. Pull some of the saddle feathers from your males say four of them. Then get you a 3x5 index card and hold it up right long side up. The about two inches form bottom take a razor blade or very sharp knife and make a half inch cut across the card. Then about a quarter of a inch above this cut make another cut. Then slip all four of your feathers into this slit to hold your feathers in place. On the card write the name of the bird or his band number for identification. Also, look at the quill color when you pull it out of the birds back or saddle areas. What color is the quill? Is is rustic red, dark red, or the ideal color which is the reason for writing this message blood red or black.
Example: When I first saw Matt 1616 Reds that he got from Greg in Illinois I saw dark red quill color but not blood red like I had 15 years befor he got them. No big deal but this is my method of strength of color in Reds. Then he got two old pair from Florida that I sent Simmons 20 years ago. Bingo. Black Blood Red Quills.
Then one day I was moving some of the ten chicks I raised for Matt that where half and halfs. For the heck of it as I was moving this one male to a new pen I pullet his saddle feather out and BAM Blood Red. These half and halfs brought over the blood red quill color from the Florida cross.
If you don't have the blood red quill color it may take you ten years to get it to show up and 1000 bird hatching. However, if you cross a half and half or a pure Florida bird onto your Illinois or Colorado strain you should be able to introduce this good trait back into my old Mohawk line. Just a thought.
Going outside to move chicks around. I got 12 15 day old silkie chicks coming into the post office this moaning. Mr. Silkie is going to have some friends this year to hank around with. A trade with a new partner in Red Bantams.
