The Heritage Rhode Island Red Site

[cmom]

What seems to be the trait most difficult to keep or change? When experienced breeders say "don't cross strains", does that mean don't cross Nelson with Mohawk, or do they mean you need to stay with one breeders flock/family?
Probably a dumb question, but I'm trying to get a general idea of how to get/start a flock, and what restrictions there are on breeding. Bret

Also

 

[Fred's Hens]

Breeding is plenty hard enough. If you have spent the time, and I recommend folks do so, re-read the first 2 or 3 years of this thread from the beginning. The thread starter and it's driving force was Robert Blosl, past officer of the Reds Club and extraordinary promoter of the breed, BS'er and story spinner with few equals.

Truth is that few folks today know more about the the history of the breed than did Bob B.

Bob does a pretty decent job of explaining the pitfalls of crossing lines that have been pushed directions for decades by their previous breeders and are no longer related to one another in any meaningful way. The challenges presented by outcrossing will discourage 99.99% of those getting started with the breed.

Bob used to say there were only 5 or 6 major lines and Mohawk was basically just Bob's made up name for his Reese birds, that's all. So Reese, Nelson, Rademacher, Flanagan and maybe consider Myers and other Ohio breeders as well, like Boyles. Go to a major show where 120 Reds are cooped in for exhibition. Where else are you ever gonna see that many specimans in one place to look over?

Once you settle in on a line, just work with what you got for a start. Perhaps the greatest breeder of the last century wrote a book under that title, basically saying Start With What You Have. You gotta start somewhere. They all take work. Lot's and lots of work. There are no short cuts in this fancy. You learn, you fail, you screw up, you have to back track and un do. You feed a lot of birds, hatch a lot of chicks, clean a lot of pens, eat a lot of chicken and carry thousands of pounds of expensive feed to them. You fight off the predators who seek to kill them and sometimes the hawks or coons succeed and break your heart.

I've put maybe 6 years into an old utility line merely because they're good egglayers for homesteaders. (Kittle birds) They're still not up to the Standard, although they're a whole lot closer than the group I started with. I've just come to enjoy the Nelsons I have and am quite content in my old age to just work with that line alone and enjoy the heck out them. I've shown them and judges like them fine enough. I cannot beat Matt or Steven at this point, but that's OK, I'm right there with #3 and #2 coop cards. They're friends and we have a good time. "It's a chicken show for cryin' out loud" as Doug Akers and Joe Ulrich keep saying. LOL

Bob used to preach KISS. Keep it simple stupid. So, I'm keeping it simple as I can. Same with the bantams. I took on the bantam Reds last winter and am enjoying them to no end. Started with two lines, but after looking at them now for 6 months and evaluating the offspring, that's it. One line only for me. That's KISS. So if anyone wants a dozen juveniles from the other line? Stop by the farm and pick them up. They're yours.

Oh, and one last thing? Sometimes, which line isn't as important as the quality of your starting quad. Just some rambling thoughts on a hot, close, Sunday night in late June. Keep on promoting those Reds.

 

[Ur-ur-ur-urrr]

Breeding is plenty hard enough. If you have spent the time, and I recommend folks do so, re-read the first 2 or 3 years of this thread from the beginning. The thread starter and it's driving force was Robert Blosl, past officer of the Reds Club and extraordinary promoter of the breed, BS'er and story spinner with few equals.

Truth is that few folks today know more about the the history of the breed than did Bob B.

Bob does a pretty decent job of explaining the pitfalls of crossing lines that have been pushed directions for decades by their previous breeders and are no longer related to one another in any meaningful way. The challenges presented by outcrossing will discourage 99.99% of those getting started with the breed.

Bob used to say there were only 5 or 6 major lines and Mohawk was basically just Bob's made up name for his Reese birds, that's all. So Reese, Nelson, Rademacher, Flanagan and maybe consider Myers and other Ohio breeders as well, like Boyles. Go to a major show where 120 Reds are cooped in for exhibition. Where else are you ever gonna see that many specimans in one place to look over?

Once you settle in on a line, just work with what you got for a start. Perhaps the greatest breeder of the last century wrote a book under that title, basically saying Start With What You Have. You gotta start somewhere. They all take work. Lot's and lots of work. There are no short cuts in this fancy. You learn, you fail, you screw up, you have to back track and un do. You feed a lot of birds, hatch a lot of chicks, clean a lot of pens, eat a lot of chicken and carry thousands of pounds of expensive feed to them. You fight off the predators who seek to kill them and sometimes the hawks or coons succeed and break your heart.

I've put maybe 6 years into an old utility line merely because they're good egglayers for homesteaders. (Kittle birds) They're still not up to the Standard, although they're a whole lot closer than the group I started with. I've just come to enjoy the Nelsons I have and am quite content in my old age to just work with that line alone and enjoy the heck out them. I've shown them and judges like them fine enough. I cannot beat Matt or Steven at this point, but that's OK, I'm right there with #3 and #2 coop cards. They're friends and we have a good time. "It's a chicken show for cryin' out loud" as Doug Akers and Joe Ulrich keep saying. LOL

Bob used to preach KISS. Keep it simple stupid. So, I'm keeping it simple as I can. Same with the bantams. I took on the bantam Reds last winter and am enjoying them to no end. Started with two lines, but after looking at them now for 6 months and evaluating the offspring, that's it. One line only for me. That's KISS. So if anyone wants a dozen juveniles from the other line? Stop by the farm and pick them up. They're yours.

Oh, and one last thing? Sometimes, which line isn't as important as the quality of your starting quad. Just some rambling thoughts on a hot, close, Sunday night in late June. Keep on promoting those Reds.

Good to hear from you again, Fred... and as always... good, sound advice. Just this afternoon I re-read Bob's article on the history of Mowhawk V and the line(s) from him. I've read every article by Bob that I can find... most of them numerous times. He had a way of putting things that made it easy to understand. Keeping it simple, I suppose...

 

[cmom]

I'm getting ready to set up the bachelor pens and coops. I think I'm going to start my downsizing a bit earlier this year. I already see some that aren't going to be in my breeding pens and my general population pen is going to be a breeding pen this year, so I must clear out some birds. Going to take them to the area swap meets for people who just want nice layers as far as the females go and I have a customer that is a butcher and he will buy males from me. I really don't want people at my place looking over my birds so I'll sell some at the swaps. Most people that do want to see the birds really don't know anything except that they are chickens.

My absolute last hatch will be in a couple of days. My RC RIR's.

 

[Ur-ur-ur-urrr]

I'm getting ready to set up the bachelor pens and coops. I think I'm going to start my downsizing a bit earlier this year. I already see some that aren't going to be in my breeding pens and my general population pen is going to be a breeding pen this year, so I must clear out some birds. Going to take them to the area swap meets for people who just want nice layers as far as the females go and I have a customer that is a butcher and he will buy males from me. I really don't want people at my place looking over my birds so I'll sell some at the swaps. Most people that do want to see the birds really don't know anything except that they are chickens.

My absolute last hatch will be in a couple of days. My RC RIR's.

I don't want people at my place looking at my birds, either. I don't want to risk my chicken's health by allowing people to bring in who-knows-what, especially if these people already have chickens. Swaps sound like a much safer alternative.

It's been awfully hot here lately, but the temp dropped about 20 degrees this afternoon after a brief thunderstorm rolled through. 76F sure felt a lot better than 97F, and the chickens, chicks, and I took advantage of it to get a little outdoor time. My older chicks will turn 9 weeks old on Wednesday, and they are still growing like weeds. Even though I realize they still have a lot of growing to do, and perhaps I'm being a little partial towards them, but most of them are starting to look really good... at least to me.

Here's one of Sonny's boys who hopped into the little pen I'd set up for the babies. I was worried that he might attack the little ones, but he didn't seem to mind them as long as they didn't crowd his space. There were a couple of light pecks, just to let them know he was in charge... and would be eating their food.

(RC chick in foreground)

Most of the pullets are filling out nicely, and have rich color with nice horn splash on shanks...






C.J. (Champ, Jr.) is looking better all the time... at least to me. He's outpacing (just barely) Sonny, Jr., who is also turning into a handsome young man. C.J. is thick and has nice girth in his back. I can't tell just yet, but I think he'll also have good length as well...





While he doesn't have a perfect comb, and the black ticking in his hackles may be a bit strong, I will definitely be using him in the breeding pen next spring. His only brother is Runt, whom I doubt will make it until spring, so he's pretty much a shoe-in...




I have to be honest... C.J. is my favorite. He's never slow about showing his attachment to me. As soon as I sit down, he's on me. I wonder if it's because he knows he's made it to the top of my list? Or... is this why he made it to the top of my list? Hmm....



Not to be outdone, his sister never misses an opportunity to say "hello"...

 

[daxigait]

Very nice! I hope to post here later this week to get input on which to keep. The rest I am going to do what others mentioned. I plan on taking cockerels to the swap meet Saturday. They don't have enough meet for my time.

 

[cmom]

Very nice! I hope to post here later this week to get input on which to keep. The rest I am going to do what others mentioned. I plan on taking cockerels to the swap meet Saturday. They don't have enough meet for my time.

I still have a dozen birds in my freezer. I can take the extras to my neighbor who has a feed store down the road and I can barter for feed, but usually I can get a few bucks more at the swaps which helps my feed bill a bit more. This is the time of the year when my feed bill is significantly higher than normal as I have a lot more mouths to feed with the growing chicks.

 

[daxigait]

I still have a dozen birds in my freezer. I can take the extras to my neighbor who has a feed store down the road and I can barter for feed, but usually I can get a few bucks more at the swaps which helps my feed bill a bit more. This is the time of the year when my feed bill is significantly higher than normal as I have a lot more mouths to feed with the growing chicks.

I have meaties I just processed. I also have to get down to three cockerels headed for two. I got 9 cockerels out of 13 chicks :/

 

[cmom]

Quote:
I take my best to the shows to sell and the rest I take to the swaps where most of the people don't care about anything but either for meat or eggs.

 

[cmom]

We have some local farm swaps. In years past we had them at our farm but have since relocated to the Dunnellon Tractor Supply Company and the Crystal River Mall across the parking lot from Rural King.
Here is the Florida list of events, http://www.poultryshowcentral.com/Florida_Swap.html This is the show schedule for the southern US, http://www.poultryshowcentral.com/Southern.html

The Dunnellon Farm and Feed and Homosassa TSC are relatively new swaps.