The Heritage Rhode Island Red Site

[mississippifarmboy]

See a few of you are getting ready to cull your birds, we are still looking for a SC RIR roo, did 2 hatches this spring (one from pidgley and another from a guy in Mass that has the old breed rir's) and have 9 hens, not perfect birds but its our start and we are happy with it. However the only roo we have hatched is not even close in color or form. I would almost call him a hatchery bird if i didnt know where he came from. So if u have one that is on the borderline to the AH/broiler let us know, we are located in CT and willing to buy and ship as the weather has cooled. tks

I don't ship, but if you lived closer I'd be happy to give you a nice cockerel. It seems this years hatch ran to cockerels. They grow so slow I've really only culled so far for faults, but it looks like I'm going to have at least a half dozen great cockerels and maybe four or five good pullets to add to the breeders in the spring.

 

[Robert Blosl]

http://chickenhistorynow.blogspot.com.au/p/rhode-islands.html

I s aw this site and wanted you to look at it. Old time pictures from the Golden Years of Rhode Island Reds. Many pictures. You will not see any Strawberry or Cherry eggers on this site. This is was the old time Rhode Island Reds looked like they all were not perfect but a far cry better than most chickens that carry the name Rhode Island Reds in the USA. If you would ask many poultry experts there are between 10,


000 to 20,000 Rhode Island Reds in the USA. I say maybe triple this. But do they look like these old birds from the old days?

There is one male pictured in this I want to show you that has a slanting top line. This is a big no no so if you see this fault in your males you need to cull hard as if you are not care full you can develop a strain of Minorca type REDS. I have seen some all ready this year five males. Just wanted to show you something during the dog days of summer. bob

 

[HallFamilyFarm]

Quote:
Shipping is easy. You have the buyer ship you a shipping carton of their choice. You then place some bedding (shavings, shredded paper etc) and some fruit/vegetable (we use our own summer squash) and the bird in the carton. Deliver to the post office with a Click-N-Ship label and you are done. We ship Express Mail.

 

[melroseladi]

Are there any breeders who sell/ship hatching eggs? I have 1 month olds right now BUT I am thinking they are not a strain that I want to focus on, although a couple of them are looking decent to my novice eyes. I do know that I want to raise and breed them aiming for standard, but I have no desire to show them, at this point at least. I just want the good old-fashioned SC RIR that I remember from my youth. Any leads on who I might contact would be greatly appreciated.

 

[sgribble]

Are there any breeders who sell/ship hatching eggs? I have 1 month olds right now BUT I am thinking they are not a strain that I want to focus on, although a couple of them are looking decent to my novice eyes. I do know that I want to raise and breed them aiming for standard, but I have no desire to show them, at this point at least. I just want the good old-fashioned SC RIR that I remember from my youth. Any leads on who I might contact would be greatly appreciated.

Hello,
If you only want hatching eggs you will have to wait till late winter or spring for the true heritage birds. Sorry

 

[cmom]

Quote:
This is true. I will have eggs but as sgribble said it will be late winter / early spring.

This picture was taken awhile back. The dark girls are my Heritage RIRs. I also have Single Comb RIWs, Rose Comb RIWs, RSLs, regular RIRs, and BOs.

 

[melroseladi]

Thank you for the responses. Is it better to search for eggs, chicks, or older birds? I am open to any options, although I have to admit that I do get a thrill out of hatching,

 

[sgribble]

It is up to you how long you want to wait on getting some. I think young birds are the best bet. You could find some this fall at a show.

 

[FOGELLY]

Thank you for the responses. Is it better to search for eggs, chicks, or older birds? I am open to any options, although I have to admit that I do get a thrill out of hatching,

Live birds are always better than eggs. Eggs that you can pickup from breeder would be better than shipped. But if you understand the risk and there is a particular strain you want, shipped eggs can be a option. I have shipped eggs all over the country, with some very good results (85%) and some ok results (20%).

 

[melroseladi]

Live birds are always better than eggs. Eggs that you can pickup from breeder would be better than shipped. But if you understand the risk and there is a particular strain you want, shipped eggs can be a option. I have shipped eggs all over the country, with some very good results (85%) and some ok results (20%).

I am partial to the Mohawk line but I do like the other lines as well. I am in a situation where I can not have multiple lines and keep them separate, and since I have learned from this thread that lines should not be mixed, I have decided to get what ever TRUE line I can get as a start, concentrate on that line, and just take it from there.

The ones I have now I hatched from eggs that I got locally. The parent stock were hatched from that same line that you had started with, if memory serves me right. While there are a couple that look pretty good, after reading all of the pages on this thread, and re-reading it several times, I know this is not the line that I am so wanting to raise and breed.

In the meantime I will just keep reading everything I can so that I am as prepared as I can be when I do get my flock started.