The Heritage Rhode Island Red Site

[RoseMarie1]

Was told by someone on here several weeks back these weren't hert. because their beaks wasn't dark. Now they're older and wondering because I am seeing very dark beaks. I was told by the seller they were the dark older ones.

They have JUST turned 3 months old.




this one has his fermented food on him. lol







either way I still love my RIR's!

 

[Fred's Hens]

Was told by someone on here several weeks back these weren't hert. because their beaks wasn't dark. Now they're older and wondering because I am seeing very dark beaks. I was told by the seller they were the dark older ones.

They have JUST turned 3 months old.




this one has his fermented food on him. lol







either way I still love my RIR's!

The feathering coloration is still far too light, in spite of the dark color on the beak. They look to be fairly common hatchery type stock to my eye. Did you see the seller's parent stock when you purchased these chicks?

 

[NestingHillsSC]

Bob, I am one of those who would really like to have my birds evaluated by someone more knowledgable...
I am hoping your friend just south of Chattanooga can maybe stop by some time this fall and give me his opinion, as I suspect I could learn a WHOLE lot with some hands on evaluation.
I have procrastinated talking with him because I'd like as much age on my birds as possible, but I know a lot of folks are probably coming to Knoxville this winter for the big show, so I was hoping to get someone to come to my place in the fall (or at the time of the show), to get some help.
I am more than willing to pay someone for their time to do this.
If anyone is in the Knoxville/Chattanooga area at all this fall and is interested, please contact me.
My birds are RC directly from Gary Underwood... I'd like to think there are some keepers in there... just need help determining who the keepers are.
I am developing opinions, but would like to have those opinions verified.

I have toyed with traveling to someone else rather than have someone come here(Bob is not too terribly far from me), but I have 20 birds, so that's a lot to haul.

Thanks in advance to anyone willing to help. In the meantime, I am hoping to put up some pics this fall to get some help here from this thread.

My parents live in Knoxville. Might be a good time to visit plus bring a rooster and hen to the show. But the only problem I have leaving for days is how is going to feed and water all my birds.

 

[NestingHillsSC]

Go to this site and open up a account. Take pictures of your birds you need to have us look at. Side poses. Front poses back poses ect get some leg bands with numbers on them so we know who each bird is. Then we can send you a email what birds look promising and which ones need to go. In the beginning as a rookie I don't worry about color. These birds are loaded with color. You just need to make sure you pick two males three good females and you are off. Sell the spares to beginners if you wish as they will enjoy these birds of course any birds with defect or not very vigor's don't share and eat them. So simple I have been doing this for years Photo bucket .com is another great site to post on and there just get on and most of them are free.

Hope this helps feed them good water them good let them do their thing and most of all enjoy their growth and learn from them. Don't get stressed out about going toa show and having someone help you pick the top birds. We can do it by pictures and if we are not sure we hold one extra male and two females to be on the save side. Also, I use to get videos of each bird or group of birds sent to me on a VCR tape. I could look at the tape on my TV just like if I was there. You can post the videos on tape or put them on a dvd and mail it to my house. Any other suggestions? Thanks for the pictures. bob


New York Res did you get a personnel message from me? Thanks for your comments.

http://www.picturetrail.com/members/community/homePage/homePageOwner.php

Yea, I wrote down 4 of the 8 hens I have that I am watching. The ones I think are the best. I will get some good pics of all of them to show. I only have 1 good rooster. The other one is not even up for consideration.

 

[RedRidge]

My parents live in Knoxville. Might be a good time to visit plus bring a rooster and hen to the show. But the only problem I have leaving for days is how is going to feed and water all my birds.

I'm about 30 minutes southwest of Knoxville... if you're ever this way just holler... we'd love to have you.

 

[RedRidge]

Jim,
All the wire is 1/2" x 1/2" only.

Right now all my cockerels are split up into groups of 2 per pen. I only have this gong on with 3 birds, two in one pen and one in a different pen with a different cockerel. Everyone of my other birds looks fine. All my young reds are about 6 months old and all these birds were raised together in one pen. I thought that it could be fighting but was not sure. I guess I'll just make some temp pens and desperate these birds as well.

Question concerning cockerel... at what age are you finding you have to sort cockerels off due to fighting?
My experience with other breeds is that by 3-4 of age the cockerels all start acting like jerks and I get tired of dealing with them and them starting to fight.
But I still have all my HRIR birds together... all 20 of them... and everyone gets along so nicely and they are all so very sweet.
I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop and for one of the cockerels to decide his "*&(^%" doesn't stink and start being a twit... can I hope that won't happen for a while.
I really have no patience for nasty roos. I'm just surprised how easy these guys are to deal with still.
So when should I expect that a large cockerel pen for all of them will be too much and they'll need to be separated?
How do other folks manage this?
I do not want to begin to cull until they are older, but the thought of managing more than a dozen of them separately does not thrill me either.
With the other breeds I know who my keepers are by 3 months... I'm determined to keep these for much longer, if for no other reason than learning... watching them change and grow is so fascinating and educational.

 

[Fentress]

They were 24 weeks old. These cockerels were not free ranged but they were kept in a 4x8 coop with a 20x15 run with a fenced in, uncovered area outside the run. Run is covered and has a dirt floor and surrounded by woods so they still had lots of access to bugs and worms even when weather would not allow them to be in the uncovered area.

All my birds are raised on free choice FRM game bird starter and then FRM game bird grower, with 3 way scratch as their treat. No vaccinations or medicated feed.

All of my other birds are free-ranged but since I have a dominant mixed breed rooster and a Red cockerel who is beginning to come into his own and also free-ranges, I was afraid for the safety of the Red cockerels so I didn't let them free-range.

Penny

thanks Penny! Do you think keeping them penned w/ a small run helped with their weight gain? I am going to seperate my cockerels this year and reduce their yard size and keep them longer, hopefully that, along with maybe a slightly better bird and I can have decent carcass'. I'll bet yours look good at that weight!

Mark

 

[SallyinIndiana]

Was told by someone on here several weeks back these weren't hert. because their beaks wasn't dark. Now they're older and wondering because I am seeing very dark beaks. I was told by the seller they were the dark older ones.

They have JUST turned 3 months old.


either way I still love my RIR's!

They look just like the RIR males I got in a pan fry deal from a hatchery. My Heritage RIR from Ron are very much darker. Also my heritage RIR have a great looking dark line that goes from the end of the feathers on the leg down to the toes.

 

[Chris Herzog]

Question concerning cockerel... at what age are you finding you have to sort cockerels off due to fighting?
My experience with other breeds is that by 3-4 of age the cockerels all start acting like jerks and I get tired of dealing with them and them starting to fight.
But I still have all my HRIR birds together... all 20 of them... and everyone gets along so nicely and they are all so very sweet.
I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop and for one of the cockerels to decide his "*&(^%" doesn't stink and start being a twit... can I hope that won't happen for a while.
I really have no patience for nasty roos. I'm just surprised how easy these guys are to deal with still.
So when should I expect that a large cockerel pen for all of them will be too much and they'll need to be separated?
How do other folks manage this?
I do not want to begin to cull until they are older, but the thought of managing more than a dozen of them separately does not thrill me either.
With the other breeds I know who my keepers are by 3 months... I'm determined to keep these for much longer, if for no other reason than learning... watching them change and grow is so fascinating and educational.

I have found that I don't have problems with them as long as they are kept together. If I separate them then try and put them back together they will then fight.

Matt,
I was hoping that it was just an early molt maybe caused by the heat but was not sure. I just wanted to see what others might have thought!

Thanks,
Chris

 

[cmom]

Here is what the legs should look like.