The Heritage Rhode Island Red Site

[RedRidge]

I will also add... I do not have near the experience as many on this thread, but the folks I have met on this thread have always been honest with me and never steered me wrong. Take their advice.

 

[SallyinIndiana]

I can handle the program, but where could I get the quality stock in order to be off on the right track, without getting ripped off again, LOL

What kind of comb are you looking for? Red Ridge has plans to sell limited rose comb chicks. I have seen others posting too about having either chicks or trios for sell.
For single combs, I have the fogle line and am very impressed. But he is not selling chicks this season. Maybe you could get eggs though. Or there are lots of us on here that have his line. I won't have extra chicks right away but others will.
Jim might have an opening on his list for chicks and he has multiple lines to choose from.

Avoid Ebay sellers unless you know who they are first. There are chicken shows, typically you can meet a good breeder there too.

 

[RedRidge]

Also... Next fall might be a good time to get trios. I know it's a ways away, but the nationals are in Knoxville next fall and should present a lot of options.
I know I will have some trios in the fall. Sometimes is easier to find trios in this breed rather than chicks.

 

[smarsh]

thanks for the input. I believe I have something lined out. I will have to dust off the incubator. the wife will be thrilled with that.

 

[chixmix]

Also... Next fall might be a good time to get trios. I know it's a ways away, but the nationals are in Knoxville next fall and should present a lot of options.
I know I will have some trios in the fall. Sometimes is easier to find trios in this breed rather than chicks.

When you all sell trio's, are they cousins, aunts, uncles? I know this may be a tall order, but I really would rather not have siblings in a trio.

I guess buying eggs from a few different breeders, of the same line, would not be a good idea?

Sorry for all the questions, I'm just wanting to be sure to get off to a good start, unlike what I ended up with currently.

 

[Fred's Hens]

That's even better, I have heard varying opinions on the new blood thing. Some say it is necessary and don't believe for a second that someone carried a flock that long with out it, and some say if done right, no new blood is needed. I would love to never have to add in a whole new mess of genes. What is there to look for indicating it is needed? Infertility maybe?

If a breeder "paints herself/himself into a corner" as they say, by not properly rotating the clans around or not working with a partner, a line can go stale. It is seen in lower fertility and in my experience, FWIW, in lower hatch rates and vigor of the chicks to thrive. This shouldn't happen, but alas, it does.

When that happens, the line needs to reach back to someone who "forked" off that line, say 10 years earlier. Same gene pool, but two flocks separated for 10 years develop distinction because of selective breeding. Swapping some cockerels at that point often bring the vigor back. A true outcross is sometimes needed, but again, outcrossing creates a multi-year project that requires a steady hand and a good eye to see it through. It may take as long as 5 years to set the new outcrossed line back into a steady state of predictable offspring.

 

[chixmix]

Thanks, sounds logical.

So when you guys have a good thing going, what is your cull rate?

 

[Fred's Hens]

When you all sell trio's, are they cousins, aunts, uncles? I know this may be a tall order, but I really would rather not have siblings in a trio.

I guess buying eggs from a few different breeders, of the same line, would not be a good idea?

Sorry for all the questions, I'm just wanting to be sure to get off to a good start, unlike what I ended up with currently.

A trio is best if is not a direct, sibling, hatchmates, same sire/dam situation. That's not ideal. Better they be closely related, but not that close. BTW, many breeders will not sell you eggs at all. The PO is deadly on the eggs, and I'm not talking about broken eggs, as that is overcome by good packing, but the jostling of the boxes through conveyors and such. Some breeders simply refuse the shipping of eggs and headaches involved.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Thanks, sounds logical.

So when you guys have a good thing going, what is your cull rate?

Let me turn that question around. When I hatch 50-60 chicks, I only expect three or four, perhaps 5 chicks to meet my goals for the next generation. That's all I'm looking for and all I wish to carry through the next winter. It doesn't mean that the other 50 chicks are not really good birds, it is just that for reasons of selection, they won't help me going forward. You might be surprised to know how few birds get carried through the following winter. With pen space and feed costs, keeping a hundred breeders is quite challenging and not as common as sometimes people think. Cockerels can be eaten. Pullets can placed in laying flocks for eggs. Birds can be sold at the time of cull. Hope that helps.

 

[SallyinIndiana]

Thanks, sounds logical.

So when you guys have a good thing going, what is your cull rate?

I think that would vary by many things starting with the percent of chicks that grow into loud crowing roosters. If 50 / 50 of the chicks are male, there will be culling down of the males around here as I already have as many roosters as hens. But culling can mean many things, starting with re-homing if the rooster is looking good. As for the hens I really really need hens this year so culling will be more of getting added to the mixed layer flock than re homed. I'm thinking I'll keep at most 6 breeder hens and 2 breeder roosters from this year hatch. But I'm really really praying for at least 40 chicks to hatch. So far I'm at 1.