Content
Rhode Island is a breed of chicken that is the pride of American breeders. This meat-egg breed of chickens was initially bred as productive, but later the main focus was taken on exhibition breeding of plumage. In recent years, the belief has even spread that this is not a productive, but an ornamental breed, since the egg production of Rhode Island chickens has dropped significantly. But it is still possible to find “working” lines of these chickens.
Story
Breeding of the breed began in 1830 in the village of Adamsville, located near the town of Little Compton. Adamsville is located right on the border with another state, Massachusetts, where some of the breeders lived. Red Malayan roosters, fawn Cochins, brown Leghorns, Cornishes and Wyandots were used for breeding. The breed's main sire was a black and red Malayan rooster imported from the UK.
From the Malayan rooster, the future Rhode Islanders received their rich feather color, strong constitution and dense plumage. The invention of the name "Rhode Island Red" is credited to Isaac Wilbur of Little Compton. This name was proposed either in 1879 or 1880. In 1890, poultry expert Nathaniel Aldrich of Fall River, Massachusetts proposed the name "Gold Buff" for the new breed. But in 1895, the chickens were presented at an exhibition under the name “Rhode Island Red”.Previously, their name was "John Macomber's chickens" or "Tripp's chickens."
Rhode Islanders were recognized as a breed in 1905. Quite quickly they came to Europe and spread throughout it. At that time it was one of the best all-around breeds. In 1926, chickens were brought to Russia and have remained there ever since.
Description
Thanks to their Red Malay ancestors, many chickens of this breed have dark red-brown plumage. But although the description of the Rhode Island chicken breed indicates precisely this desired feather color, lighter individuals are often found in the population, which are easily confused with industrial egg crosses.
The head is medium-sized, with a single crest. Normally, the comb should be red, but sometimes you come across pinkish ones. The eyes are red-brown. The beak is yellow-brown, medium length. The earlobes, face and earrings are red. The neck is of medium length. The body is rectangular with a straight, wide back and loin. The tail of roosters is short and bushy. Directed at an angle to the horizontal. The braids are very short, barely covering the tail feathers. Chickens have a tail that is set almost horizontally.
The chest is convex. The belly of chickens is well developed. The wings are small, tightly pressed to the body. The legs are long. The metatarsus and toes are yellow. The skin is yellow. The plumage is very dense.
According to English-language sources, the weight of an adult rooster is almost 4 kg, and a laying hen is almost 3, but reviews from owners of Rhode Island chickens show that in fact an adult chicken weighs a little more than 2 kg, and a rooster about 2.5 kg. The egg production of laying hens is 160-170 eggs per year. The weight of the egg ranges from 50 to 65 g. The shell is brown. Chickens have tender, tasty meat. When bred at home, the breed can provide the owner with both.
Defects leading to exclusion of birds from breeding:
- not a rectangular body;
- massive bones;
- curvature of the top line (hunchback or concave back):
- deviations in plumage color;
- white plaque on the metatarsus, lobes, earrings, comb or face;
- feathers, down or eyes that are too light;
- loose plumage.
Chickens with similar signs are most likely not purebred.
White version
The photo shows the Rhode Island white chicken breed. This breed comes from the same area as Red, but its breeding began in 1888.
They are actually different breeds, but are sometimes crossed to produce highly productive hybrids.
The white variant was developed by crossing Cochins, white Wyandots and white Leghorns. It was registered as a breed by the American Poultry Association in 1922. The white version enjoyed moderate popularity until the 1960s, but then began to disappear. In 2003, only 3,000 birds of this population were recorded.
According to the photo and description, Rhode Island White chickens differ from red ones only in the color of the feather. It is also a meat-egging breed with similar weight and productivity. The white version has a slightly larger comb, which has a more saturated red color.
Dwarf forms
Like Red, White Rhode Island exists in a variant bantam. The Rhode Island Red mini chicken breed was developed in Germany and has almost the same characteristics as the large variety. But the weight of birds is much lower. A laying hen weighs no more than 1 kg, a cockerel no more than 1.2 kg. And according to one of the owners of the dwarf version of the breed, the chickens weigh barely 800 g.
The descriptions indicate that the productivity of mini-forms is lower than that of large ones: 120 eggs per year weighing 40 g. But from reviews of the owners of Rhode Island mini-chickens it follows that the productivity of the small form is even slightly higher than that of the large one, especially taking into account the consumption stern. Dwarfs lay eggs weighing from 40 to 45 g.
Other differences between the dwarf and the large form: lighter plumage and lighter coloring of the egg shells.
Conditions of detention
The breed is considered not adapted to cage keeping, but in fact these chickens are often kept in cages, without being able to provide free range for the entire population of poultry. All varieties of Rhode Island are quite resistant to cold: they can walk at temperatures down to -10°C, and are able to obtain their own food. When walking in a limited area, chickens will quickly destroy all the available greenery.
To provide free-range chickens with a complete diet, additional greens will have to be given. If you try to let the chickens free range, they will destroy the plants in the garden. A good option for walking with simultaneous protection from weed: mesh tunnel around the beds.
For wintering and egg-laying, the chicken coop is equipped with perches, nesting boxes and additional lighting. A bedding is laid on the floor, which is only added in winter, and completely cleaned out in summer. Additional lighting is only necessary in winter so that chickens do not reduce egg production.
Breeding
For one rooster, a group of 10-12 hens is selected. In chickens of this breed, the brooding instinct is relatively poorly developed. Only half of the laying hens express a desire to become brood hens.Therefore, to breed this breed you will need an incubator.
Eggs without external defects and cracks are taken into the incubator.
The temperature in the incubator is set to 37.6°C. This temperature is optimal for chicken eggs. Embryos do not overheat and do not hatch prematurely underdeveloped. The hatchability of chickens of this breed is 75%. Pedigree chickens have a reddish feather color. The breed is autosex. Already at one day of age, you can determine the sex of a chicken by a characteristic spot on its head, which only hens have.
The cockerels are seeded and fattened for meat with higher-calorie feed. Laying hens are raised so that they do not become fat. At the beginning of autumn, the flock is sorted and only highly productive birds are left for the next year.
The chickens begin to be fed either with starter feed or, in the old fashioned way, millet porridge with eggs. The second can lead to intestinal diseases.
Reviews
Conclusion
The elegant coloring of the plumage and the calm disposition of these chickens attract owners of private farmsteads. Considering that birds are quite economical and require less feed than other versatile chicken breeds, it is profitable to breed them for eggs and meat. This breed is not profitable on an industrial scale, so it is quite difficult to find purebred livestock. But these chickens are often used to produce industrial hybrids and inquiries can be made at breeding nurseries.
