The Heritage Rhode Island Red Site

[Robert Blosl]

I feed my birds their regular feed, throw out some scraps, let them have plenty of room to pick bugs etc and if they don't have yellow legs, maybe I'll paint them. I have quite a few different lines of reds and a few different breeds for egg production and none of them have white legs. Some are darker yellow then others, some have darker horn on them some have a brownish orange color leg.

Jimmy has many different strains or lines of R I Reds and the Rose Combs from Underwood. I wish you could go to his farm and see his birds and then compare their leg color. There will be a different. Truly, however, is this all we are going to focus on when we look at a bird. What would the point cut be for lack of the pretty yellow this Standard Calls for? one point? What about a sawed off Brest or lack of color in the secondary's . What about a bird with green in the outside of his tail but when you look into his inner tail he has two inches of red coming up from his shin to the green. Is this a lack of weakness in color on a overall male. What about a male with 100 green neck feathers coming out of his neck but has pretty yellow legs is that ok. A good judge will cut that male three points for green in his hackle he is a cull. What about a female with no ticking but she has one to two inch length stripes in her neck. A three point cut and a male maker for black in the neck feathers and she is a cull. These are things to look for in color. I am a type guy first build the barn then paint it type person. I spent 20 years shrinking down those Mohawk large fowl to a bantam and did not spend any effort on color and they color followed.

Jimmy I went to Wall Mart and bought me a can of yellow paint. Maybe latter I will spray my bantams legs yellow to make them look better.

If I show under ten judges I don't think one will bring up a issue of yellow legs. Some may want that tinge of red going down the legs another issue I pay no attention about when breeding reds.


Notice the nice yellow on this red female above. This was a best of breed Champion SCCL bird some
where a few years ago. GO FIGURE THIS OUT but she had the correct leg color and surface color.
Would you like to have twenty of these in your hen house.?

I do all this effort to build a oblong FLAT back true to Standard Breed Rhode Island Red and when I get to a show I get second or third place to a RED ROCK FEMALE. What should I do. Worry about the yellow legs or start breeding my red females with Plymouth Rock top lines.

Steve: I think I will go play in the wood shop and open up some glue and make me some show coops. Sniff Sniff. HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY.

 

[SallyinIndiana]

Well I had some leftover carrots that were too small to worry about cooking. I sliced them and tossed them out to the chickens. The carrots are still in the yard. Is there a trick to get the chickens to eat the carrots? I can't change anything else about my chickens right now so I thought why not try the carrots and see what happens.

 

[ronott1]

Well I had some leftover carrots that were too small to worry about cooking. I sliced them and tossed them out to the chickens. The carrots are still in the yard. Is there a trick to get the chickens to eat the carrots? I can't change anything else about my chickens right now so I thought why not try the carrots and see what happens.

Shred them or grate them.

Mine eat carrot pulp after juicing carrots. My girls eat everything though.

 

[Chris Herzog]

These birds, when these pics were taken, had never seen grass. They have only ever been on pine shavings and white sand....





As they have gotten older and EVERYTHING with their feed and living conditions has not changed, they have lost this yellow leg color. They still have yellow legs but nothing like this. I was told at a show by a Judge that my birds need to eat more corn to get back to this color yellow. I have tried Corn, Alfalfa, Free Ranging and Marigold. I have also tried a combination of them all and I see very little different between the birds I do this with and the brothers and sisters of those birds that I don't. So basically I don't worry about it anymore and have just been working on type.

Chris

 

[RedRidge]

A couple of pics of the 21 week old boys... a few are beginning to develop "opinions" about the other cockerels they are being housed with - nothing serious, but they aren't baby chicks any more. Gotta love teenagers...

 

[NestingHillsSC]

I feed my birds their regular feed, throw out some scraps, let them have plenty of room to pick bugs etc and if they don't have yellow legs, maybe I'll paint them. I have quite a few different lines of reds and a few different breeds for egg production and none of them have white legs. Some are darker yellow then others, some have darker horn on them some have a brownish orange color leg.

Jimmy has many different strains or lines of R I Reds and the Rose Combs from Underwood. I wish you could go to his farm and see his birds and then compare their leg color. There will be a different. Truly, however, is this all we are going to focus on when we look at a bird. What would the point cut be for lack of the pretty yellow this Standard Calls for? one point? What about a sawed off Brest or lack of color in the secondary's . What about a bird with green in the outside of his tail but when you look into his inner tail he has two inches of red coming up from his shin to the green. Is this a lack of weakness in color on a overall male. What about a male with 100 green neck feathers coming out of his neck but has pretty yellow legs is that ok. A good judge will cut that male three points for green in his hackle he is a cull. What about a female with no ticking but she has one to two inch length stripes in her neck. A three point cut and a male maker for black in the neck feathers and she is a cull. These are things to look for in color. I am a type guy first build the barn then paint it type person. I spent 20 years shrinking down those Mohawk large fowl to a bantam and did not spend any effort on color and they color followed.

Jimmy I went to Wall Mart and bought me a can of yellow paint. Maybe latter I will spray my bantams legs yellow to make them look better.

If I show under ten judges I don't think one will bring up a issue of yellow legs. Some may want that tinge of red going down the legs another issue I pay no attention about when breeding reds.


Notice the nice yellow on this red female above. This was a best of breed Champion SCCL bird some
where a few years ago. GO FIGURE THIS OUT but she had the correct leg color and surface color.
Would you like to have twenty of these in your hen house.?

I do all this effort to build a oblong FLAT back true to Standard Breed Rhode Island Red and when I get to a show I get second or third place to a RED ROCK FEMALE. What should I do. Worry about the yellow legs or start breeding my red females with Plymouth Rock top lines.

Steve: I think I will go play in the wood shop and open up some glue and make me some show coops. Sniff Sniff. HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY.

 

[WalkingWolf1]

Bob -- I admire your passion for the breed. You have held true to your original intention for this thread and the various contributions are priceless for someone (anyone) wanting to join the preservation of the lines of deep, dark, red, dual-purpose birds that were developed so many years ago. With exception to occasional "drift" this thread has managed to stay on task and has remained a learning tool for both newbs and experienced fowlers alike.

With that said, we (with 9yo daughter) are looking into making a foray into the pure-breds, albeit on a small scale, and in part due to the passionate chicken-eese spoken in this thread, we will probably be going with the HRIR. Many thanks to all the contributors.

 

[ronott1]

Bob -- I admire your passion for the breed. You have held true to your original intention for this thread and the various contributions are priceless for someone (anyone) wanting to join the preservation of the lines of deep, dark, red, dual-purpose birds that were developed so many years ago. With exception to occasional "drift" this thread has managed to stay on task and has remained a learning tool for both newbs and experienced fowlers alike.

With that said, we (with 9yo daughter) are looking into making a foray into the pure-breds, albeit on a small scale, and in part due to the passionate chicken-eese spoken in this thread, we will probably be going with the HRIR. Many thanks to all the contributors.

You will fall in love with them.



(apologies to those on this thread that do not like emoticons--an new HRIR owner is worth one though)

 

[Fred's Hens]

While I know folks mean well and know what folks mean by using the anachronism HRIR, the truth is the birds are merely Rhode Island Reds, or Reds. It would be nice if we could drop the other usage. I'd like to think we've outgrown it. There are not two different Reds as using this label might seem to imply. We know these are Reds, the real Reds. That's all we need to say. Let's just proudly identify them and call them by what they are. Reds.

Just a thought. No harm, no foul intended.

 

[Robert Blosl]

I GUESS THIS IS WHAT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT. THESE ARE RHODE ISALND REDS. CORRECT?


Just got a email from a fellow in Ohio who wants to know if I have any hatching eggs to sell. Large fowl or bantam.

I told hm most breeders are people who provide stock during this time of the year. We don't have on the whole females and males in the breeding pens I sure don't. Heck my girls for next year are going through a molt and the young bird cant even crow yet.

None the less we have to try to help these people they may be serious.

OK Starting today. I will use the term Rhode Island Reds. You know what the heck they are.

We will no longer use the term Cherry Eggers, Production Reds, Feed Store Reds or Tractor Supply Reds.
DEAL?

Ok so the way we go. Lets help these folks get what they want. I will refer them to you who have good Rhode Island Reds.

I don't have many sources of the top dogs that have been breeding for 20 years. Not much of them left. I got Gary Underwood who will share some of his good birds. Don Nelson have no clue I don't know if he has any more or the time to fool with eggs or chicks.

Radamaher has a strain from Minn. that he seems to sell chicks to people in lots of 25. There is a female in the Poultry Press right now if you have seen her top line. ??? Urch and Dick Hostman has lines they sell chicks also. Pretty good birds. Maybe others are better. Its up to what you want. I want the best brick shaped darkest colored killer Rhode Island Reds I can get. Why spend the money on so so birds when you can get better. However, if you are not picky does not matter. Not many of you plan to show them or breed them up. That's ok. Maybe one day you will maybe you wont.

That's about it for me. So lets get our orders in our interest going and try to do a good job like so many of the beginners did this year. I don't know one new person who has done a poor job with their chicks they got from you guys. The pictures have been fantastic.

Nuff Said.