Sheri I agree. A Rhodebar cock is double barred. A single barred cock is one step away from being a true Rhodebar. I also believe that you can use high quality Reds to bring those traits into your Rhodebar line without giving up the utility benefits by simply breeding both your Reds and your Rhodebars to emphasize the original reasons both breeds were bred.
Many of the show quality lines have had the focus moved from the original purpose of the breed to the actual physical appearance of the bird with little regard to their egg laying ability, table hardiness, or even things like broodiness. I want these qualities in my lines so I will be breeding to those goals along with type and color. I personally think that you can have all the qualities if that is what you want simply by breeding for those qualities. I see traits lost when people focus on a few things and the other traits ignored.
Reds were specifically bred to fill certain needs by those on the farm before Reds were ever put in the show ring and those are the traits that are important to me. Rhodebars were bred to be an auto-sexing Red which would maintain the Reds traits with the added benefit of being auto-sexing at hatch. That is what is important to me.
So when I look at my Rhodebar cockerel with his tail pointing up in the air I know that is something I want to breed out of my line and bring in a lower tail like the Reds. When I look at him, at nearly to the same age as my Red cockerels, and I see how much narrower his back is then my Reds, I know that is a flaw I want to fix in my Rhodebar line. I believe that you can breed towards the standard and still have good utility traits in both the Reds and the Rhodebars.
Penny
Many of the show quality lines have had the focus moved from the original purpose of the breed to the actual physical appearance of the bird with little regard to their egg laying ability, table hardiness, or even things like broodiness. I want these qualities in my lines so I will be breeding to those goals along with type and color. I personally think that you can have all the qualities if that is what you want simply by breeding for those qualities. I see traits lost when people focus on a few things and the other traits ignored.
Reds were specifically bred to fill certain needs by those on the farm before Reds were ever put in the show ring and those are the traits that are important to me. Rhodebars were bred to be an auto-sexing Red which would maintain the Reds traits with the added benefit of being auto-sexing at hatch. That is what is important to me.
So when I look at my Rhodebar cockerel with his tail pointing up in the air I know that is something I want to breed out of my line and bring in a lower tail like the Reds. When I look at him, at nearly to the same age as my Red cockerels, and I see how much narrower his back is then my Reds, I know that is a flaw I want to fix in my Rhodebar line. I believe that you can breed towards the standard and still have good utility traits in both the Reds and the Rhodebars.
Penny
