The Heritage Rhode Island Red Site

[bluebirdnanny]

My RIR are wonderful with being calm. Even the cockerel who comes running when I yell, "Come on, come on" He is almost always first to come into coop and calls the girls. He only cocks his head and gives a slight grunt when I pick up a hen and totally relaxes if I tell him it is ok.

Had them out free ranging all day with me from 11 on until 45 minutes ago. No problem at all telling them to coop. Easiest group I have ever had.

And had all but one hen lay today....but one egg was broken in the nest....smashed totally flat! Every single hen used the same box.

 

[Yup44]

We've found one on occasion cracked or busted and still puzzles me how because the shell is very hard

 

[Fentress]

We butcher HRIR cockerels last weekend. .. Great size and flavor. .. very pleased wuth the results andi don't say that lightly since I have raised Cornish crosses each fall in the past four meat birds since we have never found a good dual purpose. We finally found that with these Underwoods. They won't new butcher size in 8-10 weeks but they free range well and the flavor is excellent at 6 and even 10 months.
As far as dual purpose cattle, that's why i raise Dexters. A 62% carcass with less than half the feed of an Angus and I still get an extra 1.5-2 gallons of milk a day above the calf's needs. ;-)

I am wondering to what degree, if any, does free ranging keeps weight off of the birds. Do you free range everyday or just on occassion. I have finally gotten a meaty heritage breed (if the eggs hatch) so I am deciding how to manage the cockerels I will have this year.

Thanks

 

[RedRidge]

We butcher HRIR cockerels last weekend. .. Great size and flavor. .. very pleased wuth the results andi don't say that lightly since I have raised Cornish crosses each fall in the past four meat birds since we have never found a good dual purpose. We finally found that with these Underwoods. They won't new butcher size in 8-10 weeks but they free range well and the flavor is excellent at 6 and even 10 months.

As far as dual purpose cattle, that's why i raise Dexters. A 62% carcass with less than half the feed of an Angus and I still get an extra 1.5-2 gallons of milk a day above the calf's needs. ;-)

I am wondering to what degree, if any, does free ranging keeps weight off of the birds. Do you free range everyday or just on occassion. I have finally gotten a meaty heritage breed (if the eggs hatch) so I am deciding how to manage the cockerels I will have this year.

Thanks

My poultry is out all day every day except Jan and Feb (or those in breeding pens in the spring). I use electro netting to rotate them... cockerels are usually rotated much further away from the coops because I don't necessarily coop them at night in as nice a shelter because they don't need nesting boxes. .. something to roost on is adequate so portable tractors are easy... I don't take them back to the coops. I have Maremma so I don't have to worry about predation.
The other thing is... The HRIR are simply not uptight or frantic like some breeds. They are very calm and laid back. I am sure part of this is just their temperament and part is because they develop a bond with the Maremma. They simply don't have to worry about protecting themselves and their flock... they know the Maremma have it under control. Consequently they don't expend excess energy. They forage, they dust, they sleep.
Imo, the standard bred Reds are truly the best all around birds. I love them.

 

[Fentress]

My poultry is out all day every day except Jan and Feb (or those in breeding pens in the spring). I use electro netting to rotate them... cockerels are usually rotated much further away from the coops because I don't necessarily coop them at night in as nice a shelter because they don't need nesting boxes. .. something to roost on is adequate so portable tractors are easy... I don't take them back to the coops. I have Maremma so I don't have to worry about predation.
The other thing is... The HRIR are simply not uptight or frantic like some breeds. They are very calm and laid back. I am sure part of this is just their temperament and part is because they develop a bond with the Maremma. They simply don't have to worry about protecting themselves and their flock... they know the Maremma have it under control. Consequently they don't expend excess energy. They forage, they dust, they sleep.
Imo, the standard bred Reds are truly the best all around birds. I love them.

Interesting. I keep my birds very similar to you, with electronet, but I do not have the dog, so my flock is on alert re: hawks. Because, I don't have the dog, I need a cock with the flock because I think he helps with the hawk alert system. My losses to hawks are minimal, but that is because the birds do a good job of taking care of themselves. It did not register with me that this would be a calorie burn.

So you always keep your cockerels/cocks separate from the main flock? If so, that solves a lot of the cockerel managment issues that I am going to have, like re-introducing a cock that has come back to the flock from a breeding pen or re-introducing a cockerel to the flock that was selected from the grow out pen, if I have a grow out pen/pasture, the advantages of which I understand. Someone said that moving a cock into the flock at night, while they are on the roost, is effective. That the resident cock is more willing to accept what ever he wakes up to? Has any one heard that or done that?

Thanks for your help!

 

[NestingHillsSC]

Just hatched 17 chicks from mama and papa!!

 

[RedRidge]

My poultry is out all day every day except Jan and Feb (or those in breeding pens in the spring). I use electro netting to rotate them... cockerels are usually rotated much further away from the coops because I don't necessarily coop them at night in as nice a shelter because they don't need nesting boxes. .. something to roost on is adequate so portable tractors are easy... I don't take them back to the coops. I have Maremma so I don't have to worry about predation.

The other thing is... The HRIR are simply not uptight or frantic like some breeds. They are very calm and laid back. I am sure part of this is just their temperament and part is because they develop a bond with the Maremma. They simply don't have to worry about protecting themselves and their flock... they know the Maremma have it under control. Consequently they don't expend excess energy. They forage, they dust, they sleep.

Imo, the standard bred Reds are truly the best all around birds. I love them.

Interesting. I keep my birds very similar to you, with electronet, but I do not have the dog, so my flock is on alert re: hawks. Because, I don't have the dog, I need a cock with the flock because I think he helps with the hawk alert system. My losses to hawks are minimal, but that is because the birds do a good job of taking care of themselves. It did not register with me that this would be a calorie burn.

So you always keep your cockerels/cocks separate from the main flock? If so, that solves a lot of the cockerel managment issues that I am going to have, like re-introducing a cock that has come back to the flock from a breeding pen or re-introducing a cockerel to the flock that was selected from the grow out pen, if I have a grow out pen/pasture, the advantages of which I understand. Someone said that moving a cock into the flock at night, while they are on the roost, is effective. That the resident cock is more willing to accept what ever he wakes up to? Has any one heard that or done that?

Thanks for your help!

I do both. .. I keep at least one cock with the hens, sometimes two. But the remainder are together on another party of the property.
As far as introducing or recombining? It doesn't matter of it is hens or cocks, I always move my to different groups at night from roost to roost.

 

[immyjay54]

I realize it may be considered BYC blasphemy, but I wash every egg I set. Hatched 13 of 14 last Sunday. The 14th was infertile, so I'm counting that a 100%. You might be surprised how many breeders sanitize their setting eggs.

Sally, these are Fogles. You remember the sire(s) I used.

Haven't posted much lately but thought I better be getting back on the stick and thought that this would be a good place to start. Sorry Fred. ha,ha

I read this and just got to thinking back years ago. I had an old hen that would fly out over the fence and went in the weeds and started her clutch.; I kept wondering why she was out every day and finally I saw where she was going. When she came off the next, she hat 7 eggs at that time. She would fly back in with the rest of the chickens and this went on until she had 14 eggs in her nest and she began to set. During this period it rained very hard some days, very hot some days, cool some evenings. She came off the nest about three weeks later and had 12 little biddies. Now were those eggs washed, I'd say so. were any of them dirty? probably
I think sometimes that we go a little overboard with these hatching eggs.
Jim

 

[Yup44]

I've managed to get a few reds and they sure are skiddish, would like to find a few more for breeding purposes .

 

[Yup44]

Is it normal for the Mohawk strain to be so skiddish or stand offish?