The Heritage Rhode Island Red Site

[NikonD2xer]

My Underwoods hatched mid to end of July laid the 1st egg Dec 30th i think. I have gotten 8 eggs from 2 red girls ( I think ) since the Jan 1st. Guessing from observation of who is investigating the nest boxes. Right now I have my two cockerels, six pullets and my four hatchery leghorns all together I do have lights on them.
They handled the nasty cold pretty well. I did have some minor frostbite combs on a -10 100% humidity night with no heat. IR heater now when needed -10 and below.

I wanted rose combs but mine came from a mixed pen and all I ended up with was 1 rose comb pullet

This is my first year with chickens and all i have to go by way of experience is 40 year old memories, the reds I saw the the MN state fair this past summer, and the photos everyone is posting on here (mainly). My underwoods seem a bit smaller than i think they should be too. I think I remember back quite a while ago people saying that late hatches don't quite reach their true potential or at least be behind the curve ????

Don't get me wrong. I love these birds. I can hardly wait to have all kinds of them running all over the place.

I need to dig the gear out and get some photos.

 

[RedRidge]

Ok, you've got me curious about weights now... I will weigh a few of my boys today and letcha know how much they weigh.

I have rose combs, so I didn't have any problems with combs getting frostbite, but I do have one cockerel who apparently got his huge wattles down in the water when he was drinking and the bottom half of his wattles are black. I suspect they will slough off. They do not normally drinking from bowls (actually, they have never had a drink from anything other than poultry nipples) but I simply couldn't keep the nipples thawed out with the bitter temps so put heated bowls out for them. Apparently that was NOT a good idea. The pullets were all fine, but the wattles on the boys are just too big to avoid getting wet. We rarely have frostbite problems here in TN, but then again we rarely have temps below zero here in TN either.

Interesting your comment Nikon about the mixed pen. Rose Comb is dominant over single, so usually in a mixed pen you will get more RC. All of mine are RC except one. Well, actually, I had 2 cockerels I ate who were RC, but only one pullet. As it turns out, she is one of my favorites, so after talking with Gary and analyzing toe punches we decided to breed her. Don't discount those SC genetics... they will get you to RC very easily. Wish you were closer I'd give you one or two RC roos.

My hatch is a May hatch and they began laying in Dec. Underwoods born earlier in the year should begin laying by 26 weeks, but later hatches will mature more slowly. Apparently they do catch up in their growth eventually, but it will take them a little longer to get there.
I wanted much earlier hatches this year for fall maturity for earlier culling (I like to have all my extras gone before the end of Oct/Nov), so when they began laying in Dec I decided to add a light the first week of Jan (about 15 hrs/day).
Most (if not all) are all laying now (I got 7 eggs the other day out of 8 pullets) and my second batch of eggs goes in the bator today - yeah!!

Only 4 of the 8 are with roos in breeding pens, and moving them to the breeding pens a few weeks ago didn't slow them down one bit.
Both sexes are so easy to deal with... I don't hesitate to turn my back on the roos who are quite sweet, and the girls are even more laid back.
My original plan was to quit hatching by the end of March, but I have been rethinking that. I'd really like to attend the nationals next Dec (since they happen to be here in TN), so... in a perfect world I'd like my cockerels at least 9 months old next Dec and my pullets to be right at POL. So a late hatch or two should provide me with a few pullets to show who are at just that right age. Much older than POL and the pullets put so much energy into egg laying they really don't "shine" as they do right before. And of course the cockerels just get better with age.

So... a few hatches in Jan and Feb, and I have some folks wanting hatching eggs, so those will leave in March. Then I will do a hatch or two in April.
Dats the plan anyway... but we all know how plans change. I'm expecting more than 100 lambs over the next 6 weeks and calving begins in March, so I may be "babied out" by the time April gets here.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Sorry I thought you said a while back you had Underwood birds. So who did you get your original birds from then?
Rob

We have three lines. We have some Kittle birds from long ago. They need work as the previous owner of the line paid no attention to selective breeding for 10 years. They are egg layers, but their type needs a lot of work. I believe we mayl see improvements this year on this venerable old line.

We also have a few birds from Ron Fogle. Big, gorgeous birds with some of the best type you'll ever see on a Red. Finally, we have the Nelsons from Jim. I took Ron's birds down to the boy's farm in So. Kentucky. I'll be heading down there next month and we'll breed them. I don't know how well they'd do this far north, but they'd likely adjust if given a year or two.

Up here, at my place, I'll focus on the Nelsons. Going to be working with a nearby partner and hope to add another cooperative partner next year. It's going to take a cooperative of folks, working together, to do justice to these strains and these wonderful old Reds.

 

[NikonD2xer]

It is good to know that i will end up with more rose combs down the road. There is so much info to absorb i can't keep it all straight. I have a heated water bowl for mine too and quite a few times that has not been warm enough to stop it from freezing over completely.

I know what you mean about how gentle these birds are. I have a 2 1/2 year old nephew thinks holding a rooster is the third best thing he can do when he is down on the "farm". Number one on the his list is driving grandpa's john deer tractor and number two is eating eggs he collected from "HIS" chickens.

 

[smarsh]

It is good to know that i will end up with more rose combs down the road. There is so much info to absorb i can't keep it all straight. I have a heated water bowl for mine too and quite a few times that has not been warm enough to stop it from freezing over completely.

I know what you mean about how gentle these birds are. I have a 2 1/2 year old nephew thinks holding a rooster is the third best thing he can do when he is down on the "farm". Number one on the his list is driving grandpa's john deer tractor and number two is eating eggs he collected from "HIS" chickens.

I like that story. Make a farmer out of him.

 

[melroseladi]

Three of my Underwoods went broody during our coldest spell I can remember. I lost 1, Henroo, who was my favorite. Even with a heat lamp I guess she just couldn't make it. I didn't have much hope for the other 2 but they are hanging in there and still setting. I went out yesterday to find 1 cute little chick in the nest with her mom, (coloring looks to be a female). She still has 3 eggs under her so I guess I will see if she is able to hatch out any others.

I found with my Underwoods that while they began laying pretty early, they were not good layers in the beginning. Very inconsistent. But dang when the cold weather hit, they have become laying machines. My SC rooster has a bad leg so I am hoping to get a replacement rooster out of any that hatch. I have some RC eggs in the incubator. I decided to just increase my flock and then next season work on doing some real selective breeding. I do have my RC rooster and hen separate from my SC, and have 2 SC hens in with my Rhodebar rooster.

Penny

 

[ronott1]

Three of my Underwoods went broody during our coldest spell I can remember. I lost 1, Henroo, who was my favorite. Even with a heat lamp I guess she just couldn't make it. I didn't have much hope for the other 2 but they are hanging in there and still setting. I went out yesterday to find 1 cute little chick in the nest with her mom, (coloring looks to be a female). She still has 3 eggs under her so I guess I will see if she is able to hatch out any others.

I found with my Underwoods that while they began laying pretty early, they were not good layers in the beginning. Very inconsistent. But dang when the cold weather hit, they have become laying machines. My SC rooster has a bad leg so I am hoping to get a replacement rooster out of any that hatch. I have some RC eggs in the incubator. I decided to just increase my flock and then next season work on doing some real selective breeding. I do have my RC rooster and hen separate from my SC, and have 2 SC hens in with my Rhodebar rooster.

Penny

I am sorry you lost one!

That is great news about the settling in and laying well!

 

[RedRidge]

Hmmm... makes me wonder if it was really the cold? Course being means no exercise so. ..
When we were so cold for days (and expecting that again this week) my Underwoods didn't miss a beat. The cull cockerels who aren't breeding are all loose with various other cull cockerels and I lost several of those others to the cold, and even more combs and toes to frost bite, but the Underwood are all big and healthy without a mark on them. You'd think I'd been feeding them prime feed and the best housing the way they look. Hardy little buggers.

 

[RedRidge]

Oh and the girls are laying almost daily... I'm hatching every 5 days.
No heat and a screen door on each pen, and lights on a timer for only 2 of the 4 pens. So. .. fingers crossed that this next cold front won't do me in.

 

[SallyinIndiana]

3 out of 4 of my eggs from my RIR have hatched this morning. The last is pipping.
2 out of 3 mutts hatched too, the third did not make it.