The Heritage Rhode Island Red Site

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qball53 said:
Don't know what happened to the quote? We have pulled one Texas Rat Snake from a nest box. It had swallowed an egg and it was about 3" behind it's head. I was surprised the egg had not broken.... quite a lump in that snakes throat. We have also pulled out two cotton mouth snakes and one copper head from the nest boxes. A couple weeks ago the wife was picking up some tin in the yard and a 14" copperhead baby wiggled past her. Before she could react a chicken ran over and grabbed it and began beating it on the ground. Then the chase was on, all the chickens started chasing that chicken wanting a piece of that snake. Two nights ago when the wife went out to close up chickens she hollered for me to get the shot gun. Three feet from the back step was a 2.5' cotton mouth. Last summer we had a chick get loose. I was herding it along the house behind the shrubs to the end where the wife was waiting to retrieve it when it emerged from behind the bushes. When she saw the chcik she reached down and grabbed it BUT hanging on to the other end of the chick was a 3' cotton mouth! The snake and the wife both let go but the chick was already dying from the bite. Really have to keep an eye open around here for SNAKES.
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Yea same here. Funny you mention the chickens and a snake. The Light Brahmas caught a small copper head awhile a few weeks ago. they all chased the one who had it around the 32x64 area like 4 times. I so wished I had a vid camera. Then it finally dropped it killed it then eat it. I was dying laughing. But the funny thing is they won't touch an earthworm. They pick at them but won't eat them. Only my PRIR will.
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They just must not taste good to them.
 
So glad to live in PNW; on the W side of the Cascades, very, very rare to have anything other than garter snakes. On the other hand, finding HRIR is very hard, and it looks as if Mumsy and I will be a lonely club of 2. Is there a club or something for the West? I've been slogging (no offense intended, as a SAH mom of 2 and new flock mistress of 21, one surviving cockerel attack and having some sort of under skin fluid collection I am fighting...) through Mr. Blosl's HRIR site and how to properly set up a breeding program. I thought I was doing well to find 3 coops w runs, he's saying I need *four*?? Just for the HRIR! No room for fun or just random layers or the cute little banties...

How do the rest of you do this? I did find a lady in Port Orchard who HAD HRIR, but she'd bred hers to store production reds, and the originals are long gone!?!?!?
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I - was - very - polite. But am gnawing my nails in frustration.

Anyway, time to go make dinner. And hand feed that chick again.
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You do not have to have four breeding pens. Heck you only need two. Lets say you have a pen one and two and Mummsy has pen three and four. You can swap birds every once in a while.

That was a article I wrote twenty years ago. Today its very hard to afford four family lines. Need to breed smarter and with fewer birds.

Today you can have a male say ten months old in a pen a two hens two years old. Then mate the best two daughters back to that male. Then the next year mate the two best females back to him again. You could do this for three years. You could have a female or two that are just outstanding. Mate the best male back to the two hens for three years. This is line breeding and then in three years pick a good male from the opposite pen and females from the opposite pen and do it again. Then on the seventh year get a new super bird or two from a partner or form Ron in Arkansas or some one that has his line. Introduce the new blood start all over again and you can do it with a hand full of chickens.

No need today to have four breeding pens with say one male one back up and four females. If you hatch ten chicks per female you will have way to many chicks to raise

Hope this helps. Each decade you may have to change your plans. I like to go in three year cycles in breeding.

Also yesterday I mentioned only a hand full of people in the south east to consider getting show Reds from. That's about all the folks I know that show so that's why I mentioned their names. Their may be more just don't know who shows and who don't. You will find out when you go to the shows.

There are not a lot of people who show their large fowl reds and not many who breed them. That's why its hard to locate any.

There is a show in Washington State you can attend and a few good fairs. You need to subscribe to the poultry press and they will tell you where they are. Also, type in Poultry Shows in Washington in Goggle and you should find them. Jim Volk in Onalaska and Larry Urban in Rochester who is a APA judge will know the shows and when they are as well. bob
 
Robert Blosl said:
There are many people who have very nice Standard Breed Large Fowl in the South. Bobby in North Carolina is the Dist Three Director for the Red Club has nice birds, Steve in Georgia and Matt in Alabama has some great birds. Chris in Louisiana has some great Reds and so many more that I can think of right now. What I would do is get me a note pad and take notes, be patient and go to some shows and see the birds, take video's of them and pictures side ways, over the top to check out width of back in front from the rear shots ect. If you want to show them make sure you get a strain or two that has good type. Most have very good color or dark even color.

I wrote a article on how to get stared with RI Red large fowl on my web site you should read it. This article was written for guys just like you. You can get a good breeding trio or two pair from one strain not cross birds strains and the next year have some nice young show birds to compete with.

Be patient, there is a show in December in Pensacola Fla that will have some nice Reds, then at Lake City in Jan and then the big one in Newnan Georgia in Feb.
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RedRidge said:
Same here Dennis, but I won't have anything til late fall... and then only cockerels...
I've got Underwood Rose Combs but they are only a few months old and I am just starting with them.
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Story of my life :) Thanks though...
 

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