As for my "needs of modern society" statement, I was simply pointing out that the red is no longer a vital part of our culture. Mass food production has taken the place of family farms. If it wasn't for the dedication of a few red fanciers, the breed would have died out a long time ago. Modern...
I agree wholeheartedly. Just to be clear, in my previous quote, I never said darker feathers were harder... only tighter. In my experience, lighter colored reds tend to have feathers that are larger, and looser. RIR feathers should not be large, or small... they should be medium width. Reds with...
If I remember correctly, lighter feathers tend to be loose. Darker feathers tend to be tighter. Not only that, the darker color has a more aesthetic appeal to it. To achieve this, breeders push the black gene to it's limit. There is a fine line between correct black, and excess black. Finding...
If you have facebook, contact Richard Peters. Richard is in charge of setting up the Norman, OK show. He should be able to give you a list of those who will be attending. https://www.facebook.com/apa.judge?lst=1199996532:100006825125187:1509506296
They look good for their age. REALLY good! I see nice type on a couple of them (just the right angle), nice dark color, and some really long flat backs on the males. Got to watch that tail angle on the males, though. Some of them look like they're approaching 45 degrees, instead of the...
My young reds displaying their type after being spooked by one of their siblings who found herself "trapped" on the deck above and trying to go through the wire on the banisters.
A couple of videos showing my chick's progress. Still have a long way to go, but I think some of them are shaping up nicely. The chicks in the first video are 13-15 weeks old, and 8-12 weeks old in the second video.
It's good to know that there are enough people trying to preserve this wonderful breed.
Per the Livestock Consevancy List:
Since the 1940's, the Rhode Island Red has been selectively bred for more efficient egg production, becoming smaller, lighter colored, and less broody as a result. Of...
I think you've got your answer, Eugene. Broodiness isn't the end of the world, and it will only affect you if you allow the hens(s) to remain broody while you're collecting eggs for eating or selling. Yes, they will stop laying and become lethargic-like if the eggs aren't removed daily, but will...
Even if she had been broody during the breeding season, it wouldn't have affected the outcome. I'd simply collect the eggs daily, kick her out of the nest, and she'd go about her business until it was time to lay again. I had already reached my quota of "pedigreed" chicks for this year and moved...
One of my pullets went broody as soon as I shut down the breeding pens. Her sister would climb on top of her and lay her eggs, and they all ended up under the broody. There were 9 when I looked over a week ago. Her first chick hatched last night. Not much is cuter than a chick peeking out from...
Some of the older chicks were out of the coop this morning, so I took the opportunity to make this short video. The oldest (and largest) of these chicks turned 12 weeks old today.
You can successfully breed a very large flock from a pair. As I was looking over hundreds of RIR at Matt Ulrich's farm, he told me that all of those birds came from a single pair. There are line breeding charts on the web, as well as youtube videos, that show you the proper way to do it. I would...
If I'm not mistaken, Nelson and Ulrich birds are from the same line. Don no longer handles LF, only bantams, but if I knew "specifically" what it is you want to know about his line, I'd be happy to ask him.
Yes ma'am, 100% fresh off the Ulrich farm first generation. There are only 5 males in this group of 18. In the subsequent hatches, the m/f ratio was closer to normal. I'm very happy to see this many pullets. :D
I put 47 healthy chicks on the ground during this spring's breeding season. The 18 in this video are the oldest, ranging from 9 weeks old to 11 weeks old. I like what I see so far, and now I'm waiting to see how they finish out in 4-5 months.