The Heritage Rhode Island Red Site

[ronott1]

My RIR have excellent leg color but my RB do not. So I fed a high quality feed with marigold for about 8 months to see if there was a difference. I figured since I had birds of all ages over that period of time it would be a good trial period for a couple of groups.
I no longer feed that feed. It was the FRM gold that I know so many people on here like.
I'm sure it's a good feed but it had other ingredients I didn't want and my birds look just as good on my own ration without marigold. And the RB who need more yellow showed no improvement in leg color over that 8 months in any age group.
So... My conclusion... leg color is genetic. Just my opinion.

Leg color is determined by 3 to 5 genes. It is not super simple and there can be variations in the color based on those genes.

The study I quoted found that marigold extract increased the yellow in Broiler chickens. They could have a different gene make up.

You will notice the leg color of yellow shanked hens that are good egg layers fading out over the laying season. Like a lot of things it is both genetic and pigment related.

No, you cannot take a white legged chicken and make it have yellow legs by feeding marigold extract. The Genes are not there for that.

 

[RedRidge]

My RIR have excellent leg color but my RB do not. So I fed a high quality feed with marigold for about 8 months to see if there was a difference. I figured since I had birds of all ages over that period of time it would be a good trial period for a couple of groups.

I no longer feed that feed. It was the FRM gold that I know so many people on here like.

I'm sure it's a good feed but it had other ingredients I didn't want and my birds look just as good on my own ration without marigold. And the RB who need more yellow showed no improvement in leg color over that 8 months in any age group.

So... My conclusion... leg color is genetic. Just my opinion.

Leg color is determined by 3 to 5 genes. It is not super simple and there can be variations in the color based on those genes.

The study I quoted found that marigold extract increased the yellow in Broiler chickens. They could have a different gene make up.

You will notice the leg color of yellow shanked hens that are good egg layers fading out over the laying season. Like a lot of things it is both genetic and pigment related.

No, you cannot take a white legged chicken and make it have yellow legs by feeding marigold extract. The Genes are not there for that.

There ya go. Ronott1 said it much better than I did. Thank you ;-)

 

[cmom]

Quote: I feed my birds Show Gold which has marigold in it. I have been using it for around a year now and have noticed more yellow in the legs. Matt1616 also feeds his birds the same feed. I had tried to get it for months but the company was only selling it at that time by the ton then eventually offered it by the 50# bags. It is a bit more expensive but is also higher in protein. This is all I feed my birds now. The do get a grain and seed mixture as treats in the evenings when I go out to collect the eggs. My older girls started laying at around 9 months old.

This is one of my older boys when he was a youngster. Sadly when he was about 3 years old I found him dead in his coop.

 

[forgetful]

I see there are mixed opinions on leg color. I'll try the Show Gold and see if it works. I can't see it hurting anything.

I feed my birds Show Gold which has marigold in it. I have been using it for around a year now and have noticed more yellow in the legs. Matt1616 also feeds his birds the same feed. I had tried to get it for months but the company was only selling it at that time by the ton then eventually offered it by the 50# bags. It is a bit more expensive but is also higher in protein. This is all I feed my birds now. The do get a grain and seed mixture as treats in the evenings when I go out to collect the eggs. My older girls started laying at around 9 months old.

This is one of my older boys when he was a youngster. Sadly when he was about 3 years old I found him dead in his coop.

That's a beautiful bird, cmom. Do you have any advice as to the gender of my birds? Does it seem to you that I only have one cockerel, or should I simply wait a little longer?

 

[cmom]

I see there are mixed opinions on leg color. I'll try the Show Gold and see if it works. I can't see it hurting anything.

Quote:
It's kind of hard to tell from the pictures. I would be very surprised if you had only one male. Mine are about 50/50. I did have some chicks hatched by a broody and out of 12 I got 2 pullets and the rest were males. One of the chicks may have been a pullet but a hawk came down with my husband standing next to their pen and scooped one of the chicks up so I'm not sure if the chick was a he or she but of the remaining 11, 2 were female and the rest males..

 

[forgetful]

That's crazy about the hawk! We've had coyotes during the middle of the day, but they've kept their distance. I would definitely be surprised, as well as a little disappointed. Should I regard his lack of tail feathers as anything important, or can I dismiss it?

 

[smarsh]

At nearly 20 weeks I am starting to look for eggs. I will have to say that the RIRs are pretty in person (chicken) than in posted images. I am quit pleased with their appearance wondering the yard. I am not to happy with my rooster, not dark enough. I had to make the decision early on the rooster that was staying, and I didn't give the small dark one time to prove he would grow out of being small. All but one of the pullets are very dark, two are very nicely shaped. This one was convinced the camera was food.
.

 

[SallyinIndiana]

my RIR hens did not start laying till closer to 28 weeks at the soonest. Different lines start laying at different ages. But 20 weeks seems early especially for the heritage breeds.

 

[RedRidge]

Mine didn't lay until 26 weeks, fwiw

 

[Matt1616]

At nearly 20 weeks I am starting to look for eggs. I will have to say that the RIRs are pretty in person (chicken) than in posted images. I am quit pleased with their appearance wondering the yard. I am not to happy with my rooster, not dark enough. I had to make the decision early on the rooster that was staying, and I didn't give the small dark one time to prove he would grow out of being small. All but one of the pullets are very dark, two are very nicely shaped. This one was convinced the camera was food.
.

If they are pure bred RIR's then I would not expect them to start laying at 5 months. That would be very early for a pure bred Red to lay. I would expect in the 7 month range.

Matt