WWII poster Great Britain
The Rhode Islands
All three of these breeds should have the exact same body conformation. All these breeds should have a horizontal oblong brick shaped body. The tail should be at a 45 degree angle and their head held high. Medium sized wattles and earlobes. Reddish Bay Eyes. Yellow skin and shanks. Feathers should be tight and compact.
The Rhode Island Red
This breed is an excellent dual purpose breed, capable of laying a large amount eggs, and still large enough to make a decent meal out of. The breed gradually developed in the state of Rhode Island as various breeds of chickens were imported. I consider it an American Landrace developed by people who needed a well rounded useful chicken. The breed actually faced some resistance in being admitted to the APA because of it’s humble beginnings of utility chicken bred and kept by families, it was assumed it would not breed true. Eventually it was accepted. Ultimately the Rhode Island Red would be exported world wide, prove very popular, go on to be a foundation breed for many other popular breeds from around the world and prove very important in the development of sex-linked hybrid lines of chickens.
Finding Rose Comb Rhode Island Reds from major hatcheries in the modern area may prove difficult as most hatcheries are only breeding Single Combs. Private breeders are most likely the only source from what I could tell. In addition finding quality RIRs as far as plumage goes can be difficult. Most hatchery RIR are not as red as they should be, this does not mean you can not improve the stock with careful breeding or luck out and get pretty birds from them. Often people call the hatchery lines Production Reds (which actually can be applied to New Hampshires, RIRxNH and Sex Linked Reds just to confuse us all more). If a hatchery offers a Show Quality line this is your best bet at getting beautiful Bing Cherry Red birds from a hatchery, they will be a bit more expensive then their other lines of RIR offered. Private breeders are your best bet for correct feather colouring and Rose Comb.
Probable breeds that contributed to the Rhode Island Red
Red Malay
Brown Leghorn
Cochin
Brahma
Java
Cornish
- Poultry Show Class: American Class
- Weights: Hen—–6 1/2 lbs
Rooster——8 1/2 lbs
Pullet–5 1/2 lbs
Cockerel—–7 1/2 lbs - Purpose and Type: Exhibition/Show Type
- Egg Shell Color: Brown
- Egg Production: 200-250 eggs per year (estimates only)
- Egg Size: Large
- Comb: Single and Rose
- Earlobe: Red
- Eye Colour: Red Bay
- Beak: Reddish Horn
- Leg: Clean
- Shank: Yellow
- Skin: Yellow
- Feather Type; Soft
- Temperament: Active
- Gender Accuracy: 80-85%
- Fertility Percentage: 65-80%
- Broody: Variable
- Mating Ratio: 6 Females to 1 Male
- Roost Height: 2 to 4 feet
- Country of Origin: United States, Rhode Island
- APA: Yes, Recognized by the American Standard of Perfection
- TLC: Yes, Watch Status, Considered a sustainable heritage chicken breed
The Rhode Island White
This breed was not developed out of the Rhode Island Red. This breed was purposely created by breeders to conform to the body characteristics of the Rhode Island Red in all ways except feather color. The Rose Comb variety is the one that can be shown. Unfortunately it is very hard to find a hatchery breeding or selling Rose Combs, most only offer Single Comb lines which are probably part of their Sex Link breeding programs.
Breeds used to develop the Rhode Island Whites
Partridge Cochin
Rose Comb White Leghorns
White Wyandotte
- Poultry Show Class: American Class
- Weights: Hen—–6 1/2 lbs
Rooster——8 1/2 lbs
Pullet—5 1/2 lbs
Cockerel—–7 1/2 lbs - Purpose and Type: Primary production, Egg Laying & Pet/Secondary meat source
- Egg Shell Color: Brown
- Egg Production: 220-280 eggs per year (estimates only)
- Egg Size: Large
- Comb: Single or Rose (Only Rose accepted for showing)
- Earlobe: Red
- Eye Colour: Red Bay
- Beak: Yellow Horn
- Leg: Clean
- Shank: Yellow
- Skin: Yellow
- Feather Type: Soft
- Temperament: Active
- Gender Accuracy: 80-85%
- Fertility Percentage: 65-80%
- Broody: Variable
- Mating Ratio: 10 Females to 1 Male
- Roost Height: 2 to 4 feet
- Country of Origin: United States, Rhode Island
- APA: Yes, Rosecomb recognized by the American Standard of Perfection in 1922.
- TLC: Yes, Threatened Status, Considered a sustainable heritage chicken breed
The Gold Sex Link: The RIR x The RIW
The original Golden Sex Link was a hybrid cross between a Rhode Island Red Cock and a Rhode Island White Hen. This cross was first done in the Netherlands in the 1950s, and the hybrid was imported back to the United States of America. Eventually hatcheries in the United States and in other countries developed their own sex linked breeding programs creating their own proprietary lines and marketing names. This development of multiple names means a lot of confusion has been created and sometimes these birds are are also called Red Sex Links or Brown Sex Links creating even more confusion. In addition the Gold Sex Link may not even be Rhode Island Red Rhode Island White hybrids as other breeds can be used to create the same sex link colour result. These birds are marketed using a variety of names and the internet’s information on which name equals which cross of breeds is confused and often contradictory. The best way to determine what the Red, Gold or Brown Sex Link is genetically is to contact the hatchery and read their website. Some hatcheries will tell you what they are breeding to what to produce their sex link crosses so you know what you are purchasing. If you buy chicks from a feed store simply enquire whom they order from, you can then contact that company.
A Rhode Island Red Rhode Island White cross should have a Rhode Island body conformation in all ways, only it’s feather colour should be different. Since most folks buy their sex link chicks I listed Single Comb as their comb type, as hatcheries do not seem to be using Rose Comb lines, however you could certainly breed Rose Combed Sex Links. The eye color may vary greatly from hatchery stock because the parent stock of either breed may not have been selected to produce chicks with red bay eyes and is more likely selected from high egg production lines of the two breeds. Again if you decide to breed your own you will be able to select your breeding stock and have a better chance of producing Golds that have the proper traits of the Rhode Island breeds.
Male chicks will be light yellow without any red down, female chicks will have varying shades and amount of red down.
- Poultry Show Class: Other Breed Class
- Weights: Hen——6-7bs
Rooster——8-9 lbs
Pullet—-6 lbs
Cockerel——8 lbs - Purpose and Type: Egg laying; Production
- Egg Shell Color: Light Brown
- Egg Production: 250-320 eggs per year (estimates only)
- Egg Size: Large
- Comb: Single
- Earlobe: Red
- Eye Colour: Red Bay (ranges from red, orange, red bay)
- Beak: Yellow Horn
- Leg: Yellow
- Shank: Yellow
- Skin: Yellow
- Feather Type: Soft
- Temperament: Active
- Gender Accuracy: 95-100%
- Fertility Percentage: 60-75%
- Broody: Variable
- Mating Ratio: 10 Female to 1 Male
- Roost Height: 2 to 4 feet
- Country of Origin: United States
- APA: No
- TLC: No
The Black Sex Link
A Black Sex Link can be achieved using a cross of a Rhode Island Red Cock with a Barred Rock Hen a Dominique Hen or a Barred Wyandotte Hen. Barred Rocks are Single Comb and Dominiques and Wyandotte are Rose Combed. If you purchase Black Sex Linked chicks or hatching eggs and want to know exactly which breeds the producer uses you will need to ask. More than likely the hen will be a Barred Rock, but New Hampshire Cocks are also commonly used to breed Black Sex Links.
The Search For Rose Combs In The USA
If you are looking to have or raise the Rose Comb varieties of these breeds you will most likely need to find a breeder who can either sell you live birds or hatching eggs. It is very disappointing that the major hatcheries have chosen not only to not offer RIRs with Rose Combs, but are only breeding Single Comb RIW even though the comb type is incorrect for the breed. Rose Comb birds are usually a bit more cold hardy in that they are less likely to get frostbite compared to the Single Comb birds. Unfortunately Rose Comb birds are linked with fertility issues in several studies. I am unsure the fertility issues apply equally to all breeds as several people on the internet who have kept both SC and RC RIR have stated they did not experience this difference. In addition there are several other breeds that comb type has the Rose Comb gene to create the correct comb type such as Walnut, Cushion or Strawberry for example. However the studies I have found do support a lower hatch rate connected to the comb type. I suspect the major hatcheries which also breed the Sex Link hybrids are no longer interested in breeding either RIR or RIW with Rose Combs. Hatcheries are continuing to offer breeds that are Rose Comb and dual purpose so it is disappointing these varieties in the Rhode Islands have become so rare.
Have I Kept Any Of These Breeds
I have kept Rhode Island Reds in the past along with both Gold, Red and Black Sex Links. They were all excellent layers. My birds were hatchery stock so not necessarily show quality, all single comb, and pretty good sized. Our first Rhode Island Red was my daughter’s showmanship bird for 4H as we had no bantams. It is very unusual for small children or even teenagers to use Standard sized chickens for showmanship competition. However the hen she trained was excellently suited to be handled, learning verbal commands and seemed to really enjoy the attention. My child won consistently with the big RIR hen. If you child really loves a specific breed there is absolutely no reason that breed can not be their show bird simply because it is not a bantam.
Do I Currently Have These Breeds?
My current flock as of writing this does not have these breeds. However they are being added back this year. I am attempting to find some quality hatching eggs, but I will pick up a few chicks from the local feed store of RIR and possibly a few Sex Links. I have ordered RIW chicks from a hatchery as they are never offered in feed stores locally. Sadly my only comb choice will be Single Comb from the feed store hatchery sources and the hatchery I ordered from.
As the chicks arrive and grow I will post on their progress. I plan to post more detailed information on RIRs and RIWs.
Most of the data on these breeds such as egg laying numbers, breed weights and so on comes from Cackle Hatchery, I did however include information from several other hatcheries as well, notes I have taken over the years from internet articles, forums or boards. I am hunting down historic books on RIRs and looking for more on the RIWs as well.
All photos are from Wikipedia.
Comments
Post a Comment