The Heritage Rhode Island Red Site

[NestingHillsSC]

Here is the Big Boy again. What yea thinking so far?? I know there only 4 months but need to start thinking on who I should breed. Only have 2 roos. The other is nice, but a lot smaller. Is too big a bad thing??

 

[FOGELLY]

Here is the Big Boy again. What yea thinking so far?? I know there only 4 months but need to start thinking on who I should breed. Only have 2 roos. The other is nice, but a lot smaller. Is too big a bad thing??

You are still at least 6 months away from making breeding choices. The smaller one may very well be the bigger one by then or the one with the best TYPE. With only 2 cockerels you probably will need to use both, unless one is seriously faulty. Type will be the determining factor. I have not had many that grow out and end up weighing much more or less than the standard. Maybe 1 pound at the most. Ron

 

[NestingHillsSC]

OK. I know I'm a ways away. I guess I like to start thinking about things in advance. The smaller one does have nice type. Very brick like.

 

[FOGELLY]

Anthony, it is just our nature. We all think ahead. I had to learn to enjoy watching them develop and change from cute, to ugly, to beautiful.

Ron

 

[NestingHillsSC]

Anthony, it is just our nature. We all think ahead. I had to learn to enjoy watching them develop and change from cute, to ugly, to beautiful.

Ron

I am! The hens are molting again. Losing there tail feathers and wings feathers hanging. lol I have noticed that since there losing there tail feathers the ones growing in dont have much if any of the red lacing around them. More just black colored.

 

[AletaG]

Hello all,
Just discovered this thread. I recently got started in our new home with 4 prod. RIR's (actually, didn't know there was a heritage strain until today) and have a few as yet to be ID'd dutch game bantams. Starting to think I'd really like to breed the chickens, and I'm really liking the idea of the laying hens lasting longer than a couple years... Where could I purchase eggs to start a breeding group? How many Roos vs hens would you suggest to start and how many eggs would be needed to head in that direction?

Thanks everyone!
-Aleta G.
Olympic Penin, WA state

 

[Fred's Hens]

It can be tough to get eggs this time of year as most folks have broken up their breeding pens and heat makes fertility drop a bit and it just harder to store and/or ship eggs.

You'd likely be better served looking into some juvenile birds, I would speculate.

 

[RedRidge]

Quote:
Interesting comment... so you don't necessarily thing they will be a lot different in size as adults?
I have 20 SC Underwoods who are 7 weeks old right now... I believe about half cockerels and half pullets...
They vary A LOT in size... I have a couple that are twice as big as the others... and one who is just a runt.
I haven't yet banded any of them because no one has really "jumped out" at me yet... but I'm getting to the point where maybe I need to consider that.
With 20 it's still just a "mob" when I enter their pen. LOL The runt stand out, and the largest one... but I'm spending more and more time every day just sitting on a milk crate and watching them and they are definitely all different.
I really hate to carry all 10 cockerels through next winter, but fear I will have to as I don't have the confidence to cull that young.

 

[NestingHillsSC]

Yea, Ron tells me to wait for at least 7-8 months before culling. I only have 10. 2 cockerels and the rest pullets. So I was told not to cull till after I breed them this coming year. Right now the pullets going through there molt again. Losing there underneath wings feathers and there tail feathers. So not much to look at right now. Except there size. They have grown a lot. They are getting quite large. I can't wait for the next 4 months to see how they mature.

 

[RedRidge]

Yea, Ron tells me to wait for at least 7-8 months before culling. I only have 10. 2 cockerels and the rest pullets. So I was told not to cull till after I breed them this coming year. Right now the pullets going through there molt again. Losing there underneath wings feathers and there tail feathers. So not much to look at right now. Except there size. They have grown a lot. They are getting quite large. I can't wait for the next 4 months to see how they mature.

Well 8 months old is January for me, so I can't imagine keeping 10 cockerels until then, but I may end up doing that... just got a late start this year