We had a small flock of Rhode Island reds back when I was a teenager. Beautiful, lively animals, and prolific layers at that. Their coop was right outside my bedroom window, and I loved waking up to the sound of them clucking, or that yelling sound they make when they lay an egg.
Welcome from an arkansas fellow RIR supporter. I don't care about showing but it's interesting to hear. I like them because they make good egg layers, meat, and the roos are very protective of their flocks.
I have 20 Rhode Island Reds and 10 Barnevalders and it’s hard to decide which I like the best. Both breeds are great layers but the Barnevalder lays about 10% more eggs and larger ones but they start laying about a month after the RIR’s. The RIR’s are quieter but the BV are a lot more protective from the hawks, they will attack a hawk in a heartbeat. I rotate my birds every 12 months by hatching new birds and put the one year olds in the freezer and the BV are about a pound heavier at the same age. I just bought 10 Barbed Rocks which don’t lay as many eggs (200-250) as the RIR’s (250-300) the BV (300-350) but the BR Hens top 7.5lbs. I train my birds to the coop so at dusk they all head for home but they free range over a 10 acre area from sunup to sundown, I do provide light for them until midnight so they lay year round and I put them in the freezer before they start their first molt. I hatch all my own chicks and they are all hatched in midwinter so if I miss the slaughter time at 12 months I have an extra 6 months before they molt. I use BV roosters because they are a lot healthier rooster then the RIR roosters.
This is a amazing video please make more thank you so much people need to see more stuff like this rather it be chickens rabbits or something like goats these things are very important
I have a RIR cross australorp and what an ugly duckling she was when a chick. Now she's gorgeous with a black cone and criss-cross feathers in front of the cone. Her cone is red just at the base, and she's black with two-tone green and black and copper underneath. She is much larger than the other girls but has no idea as she's a peace lover. She prefers to hang with the smallest birds. She lays long thin eggs at the moment as just starting laying. 0:39 0:39 0:39
I have a Rhode Island rooster. He’s a bit of a bully, and a loudmouth. He chases my dogs. Typical Rhode Islander behavior. We were going to get rid of him until a hawk attacked the chicken run… That rooster had more fight in him than the hawk had desire to eat. The hawk dived into the cage and the rooster immediately jumped and attacked the spot where the hawk was trying to get in. The hawk didn’t want none of that and never came back
