The Heritage Rhode Island Red Site

[Matt1616]

Thank you Rip and everyone else. Rip, you earned your money Saturday...you handled a bunch of birds.

Matt

 

[Ripster]

Thank you Rip and everyone else. Rip, you earned your money Saturday...you handled a bunch of birds.

Matt

Thanks Matt. I enjoyed judging the show very much. However, the last class I did was the English and those big old Australorps and Orpingtons just about did me in. Y'all grow 'em big that's for sure. Whew...slept like a baby after that one. LOL

 

[cmom]

Congratulations to all of the winners at the CFPBA show this past Saturday in Inverness, FL.

I tried to get some pictures of Matt's cock bird but he didn't want to pose for me.

 

[Matt1616]

cmom, It was nice to see and visit with you this weekend.


Matt

 

[SallyinIndiana]

Congratulations to all of the winners at the CFPBA show this past Saturday in Inverness, FL.

I tried to get some pictures of Matt's cock bird but he didn't want to pose for me.

Lovely comb. My best rooster got frostbite in the below zero temps. Mine will lose his comb points gradually as the weather warms up.

 

[chicksneedhelp]

I have a Rhode Island Red that looks very much like the heritage pix but I didn't get her from a breeder. She seemed to mature much more slowly than her peers - a New Hamphshire Red and a Barred Rock. They are all about 9 months old now, and she rarely lays an egg although the other two regularly lay one daily. The rooster is crazy about the other two girls, but pretty much ignores her. Have had to remove the roo for a while for the other girls' sake, and now the RI girl chases the BR away from treats and pecks at her (she's the roo's favorite). Any thoughts or advice on how to best manage this situation? Anything I can do to encourage the RI girl to lay?

 

[cmom]

cmom, It was nice to see and visit with you this weekend.


Matt

Hi Matt, It was a great pleasure talking with you too. You gave me a lot of great info. I candled the eggs tonight from the pullets and they are looking good. Hopefully I'll get some nice chicks. More descendants of the Reese line.

Alieda

 

[cmom]

I have a Rhode Island Red that looks very much like the heritage pix but I didn't get her from a breeder. She seemed to mature much more slowly than her peers - a New Hamphshire Red and a Barred Rock. They are all about 9 months old now, and she rarely lays an egg although the other two regularly lay one daily. The rooster is crazy about the other two girls, but pretty much ignores her. Have had to remove the roo for a while for the other girls' sake, and now the RI girl chases the BR away from treats and pecks at her (she's the roo's favorite). Any thoughts or advice on how to best manage this situation? Anything I can do to encourage the RI girl to lay?

If she is a true Heritage she will likely start to lay quite a bit later than most breeds. I have some that started not long ago at 9 month. They are just starting to lay pretty well. At first the eggs were sparse but now I'm starting to get more eggs from them. They are just about to turn 10 months. Quite surprisingly their eggs were good size from the beginning. I put a few under a broody but tonight took them away and put them in an incubator because when she gets off of the nest the others want to lay their eggs in that nest and I don't have any open pens right at the moment to put her and her nest. I have one pen open but some other birds are going into it tomorrow.

I have some pullets & hens that want all of the treats too so I spread them out so everyone can get some. You may want to change the feed to a high protein feed. I am feeding my Heritage and show birds, Show feed which is a grower/finisher and 20% protein. There are some brands that sell egg maker feed which is 15% to 20% protein. A lot of people swear that egg maker feeds help their chickens make eggs.

 

[chicksneedhelp]

Thank you! I thought she might just be a little different! I will look at the kinds of feed I have and see about any changes needed. They are so much fun!

 

[RedRidge]

Breeding question of the day...
I have something unusual I am curious how others handle. In one of my breeding pen trios the two hens lay in very different places... they are my #1 trio so they have the largest pen, about 9x12, so this is easy to do.
So... Over the last 3 weeks I have begun marking their eggs separately (instead of just pen I am denoting hen number). Now I realize this will mean even more record keeping and toe punching, but the big question is... is there any advantage to tracking them separately other than being able to tell exact laying percentages per bird? Iow, What are the pros and cons of tracking, beyond hatch, the dam of each chick?
Would love other folks opinions as I think thru this...