The Heritage Rhode Island Red Site

[pathornton]

Legs are bright yellow with horn color down the front. Not sure why it doesn't show up in photos well. Taken with phone

 

[Fred's Hens]

Glad to give you my 2 cents, but although been around birds for 50 plus years, I'm still a nubie in the Reds, to be honest. That said, I've absorbed everything I possible could about the breed the last 5 years in working with them.

The Standard isn't always upheld by judges, even at the most prestigious shows. Sorry to tell you. I'm not always pleased by what is chosen that doesn't reflect the standard well. I find it highly discouraging. So, to me? It's the standard and only the standard.

Look at this Red that kicked butt in a 1200 bird show this weekend in Columbus, at the Ohio National. This bird deserved the kudos and attention given it. Congrats to Bobby Anderson.




Note the tail angle. The standard instructs us what the tail angle of the male and female must be. I insist the standard's tail angle is present on my birds. At least I respect that angle and breed toward it.

The standard also calls for yellow or dusty yellow legs with horn. Again, I dislike seeing Reds without at least dusty yellow legs and prefer Reds with YELLOW legs like Mr Anderson's bird above.

Now, look at your birds and tell us what you see. Hope this helps you in terms of gaining the "eye" one needs.

 

[pathornton]

The legs are there. They just didnt show up for some reason. My birds tail angle is definitely low. Do they come up with age? He is between 8 and 9 months

 

[pathornton]

Here is a photo of the same k from a couple of months ago. Out in the sun the color was more true

 

[pathornton]

But of course the tail is still of concern.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Yellow legs sometimes don't photograph, but my poor photography skills and my cheapo camera DOES pick them up, thankfully.

I like how the front end on this male is coming along. I like that a lot. I dislike "notched" or "chopped" front ends greatly. Ick!!!
Your color looks rich and quite even. Nice. Tails look very furnished on that male as well. Watch out for heavy, thick cushion on females, especially after they've laid for 3 months. That is a bad look for any of the American class birds in my view. I dislike seeing Cochin-like cushions on either my Rocks or my Reds. I breed for tighter feathering on both Rocks and Reds than most folks, perhaps, just a personal preference. I am also highly critical of my bird's feathering and insist on progress to a good feather.

I like the comb on your male here. Don't care for a comb that follows the head downward too tightly in back.
Honestly, the birds you're showing are very nice and you'll enjoy working them. Hope this kind of stuff helps. About the best i can do without actually seeing and handling the birds.

 

[pathornton]

Yellow legs sometimes don't photograph, but my poor photography skills and my cheapo camera DOES pick them up, thankfully. I like how the front end on this male is coming along. I like that a lot. I dislike "notched" or "chopped" front ends greatly. Ick!!! Your color looks rich and quite even. Nice. Tails look very furnished on that male as well. Watch out for heavy, thick cushion on females, especially after they've laid for 3 months. That is a bad look for any of the American class birds in my view. I dislike seeing Cochin-like cushions on either my Rocks or my Reds. I breed for tighter feathering on both Rocks and Reds than most folks, perhaps, just a personal preference. I am also highly critical of my bird's feathering and insist on progress to a good feather. I like the comb on your male here. Don't care for a comb that follows the head downward too tightly in back. Honestly, the birds you're showing are very nice and you'll enjoy working them. Hope this kind of stuff helps. About the best i can do without actually seeing and handling the birds.

It helps very much, and is greatly appreciated

 

[pathornton]

Can a bird's tail carriage improve with age? As i said, he is still relatively young and has improved a lot over the past several weeks. Even if it doesn't it will just be something i will have to work towards from him since he is all i have to get started with. Ha

 

[RedRidge]

Fred's comment about the standard not always being upheld is very true and very important. That is not a criticism of those who won at shows. It is just important to remember that the results from a show are simply one person's opinion on a given day.
This is a common problem (although problem seems a harsh word), in all livestock shows. You must remember that with your entry fee you are simply paying for one person's opinion on that given day. Comments, comparisons and constructive criticism from a group in person is ideal. Even though we can't be in person with the internet, we can at least get multiple viewpoints about how the standard is interpreted. It's better than nothing and frequently pictures give us more time to analyze. While I like hands on and seeing the animals in person, I still take lots of pics of my own animals - especially during culling season. It seems to take some of the bias and human emotion away from the analysis.

 

[Rancher3535]

Because my ability to get a bird to hold a good pose and my skills at taking photos I have found the best way to really give an idea of what a bird is like is a video clip. This site does not support them unfortunately unless you put them like on UTUBE. When I have a couple of birds I really want top quality comments on, I take 2 or 3 clips of the bird/s and select the best one. I post them on my Face Book page/album. Then I invite those who are interested in them to look and comment. This really allows one to view the bird walking and moving around. You can read their written comments on the site and learn from them. Some of my friends when I post pictures or videos get a lot more knowledge about chickens than they ever want. What they have to remember is that I do not do it for them, I do it to get concrete advice when I cannot find someone to come out to the ranch and look at them in person.

If my new reds will ever fill out and finish up I will post some pictures and videos. These new birds came from Warren Carlow in RI. Very fast feathering, long in body, in comparison to my Underwood birds. Love my Underwoods but hope I will love these as much. I see pros and cons in both lines. It will be great to see what some of you think of them when I get good pictures of them taken.

Rob
In Idaho