R. I. REDS AS EXHIBITION FOWLS 



flock uniform in color, whether the birds are intended for 

 exhibition or for utility purposes. To accomplish this it is 

 necessary to discard breeders that vary in shade of color, 

 birds that are too light or too dark. Get them as near 

 standard color as possible. Judges and fanciers understand 

 color better every year. While there is still a difference of 

 opinion as to what constitutes standard color, this difference 

 will adjust itself in time. It is not improbable that in the 

 future a color that is a shade darker than that considered 

 right in the past, will be adopted. Experience shows that 

 a rich, deep red color is not so liable to be lost by fading as 

 are the lighter shades. An extreme dark color, however, 

 such as is now fancied in certain places, will never gain 

 universal favor, because of its damaging results in breeding, 

 and because it lacks the most significant quality of red color. 

 It is dull. It lacks brightness, richness, brilliancy. These 

 attributes red color must have. And, excepting the tail 

 which is black, the color must be so even, or uniform, from 

 hackle to saddle, that when the various sections are com- 

 pared, the effect is harmonious. The undercolor needs less 

 attention, and will in most cases be good, where the surface 

 color is bred as above described. Poultrymen, with prac- 

 tically not a single exception, have very decided views on 

 the matter of undercolor. All demand that it be a clean, 

 rich red, and that is as it should be. 



When it comes to body shape, it is necessary to point 



25 



out the horizontal back, and the length and depth of the 

 body. Like under standing red color, it is only after care- 

 ful reading of the Standard with wide experience in observ- 

 ing good specimens in the show room, that a clear concep- 

 tion of Rhode Island Red shape can be acquired. The 

 matter of shape is by no means merely a fancier's hobby, or 

 a breeder's talking point. It is a characteristic of the breed 

 that must be bred and maintained if we expect the Red 

 hen to hold her enviable record as a great egg producer. It 

 takes a certain shaped body, in a cow, to make a good milker. 

 A hen, to produce lots of eggs, must have a frame- work 

 adapted for that purpose. It requires a body that is long 

 and deep to produce eggs, and such a body we find in the 

 Red hen. So while to the laying Red hen this peculiarity of 

 the body means great egg producing capacity, to the exhibi- 

 tion Red it means rare physical grace and beauty. 



As a show fowl the Rhode Island Reds are yet in their 

 infancy. Handsome as they now are, they are susceptible 

 of great improvement and progress. The lines of advance- 

 ment for sometime will be, not a change from, but rather an 

 attainment of, the present Standard. With imperfect 

 specimens to work with, the producer of exhibition Rhode 

 Island Reds will not attain the desired improvement in a 

 single season; but if he loves his work and understands the 

 art of breeding, with a perfect Standard as a guide, he will 

 in due time perfect what promises to become the most 

 popular breed of fowls in the world. 



BREEDING FOR TYPE AND COLOR 



BEST TYPE OF A GENERAL PURPOSE FOWL EXISTS IN THE R. I. RED-IT IS IDENTICAL 

 WITH THE SHOW ROOM TYPE OF THE BREED— HOW TO SECURE IT IN THE FLOCK- 

 HOW TO SELECT AND CONDITION THE BIRDS FOR THE SHOW ROOM-BREEDING -HATCH- 

 ING AND BROODING— FEEDING AND VENTILATION— R. I. RED TYPE— R. L RED COLOR- 

 SINGLE. MATING PREFERRED— EXHIBITING— MARKET FOR GOOd' SPECIMENS— PRICES 



IRA M. CROWTHER 



THE BREEDING of the Rhode Island Red fowl for 

 the past seven or eight years has been extremely 

 interesting to me. The difficulties in breeding to 

 overcome experimental matings, studying them, 

 in fact, practically living with the subject all this time has 

 given me valuable experience and also some strong pointers 

 on many of the vital points of the breed. The principal 

 reasons for my taking up the breeding of the Reds were the 

 beautiful, rich, red coloring and that grand utility type 

 described by the Standard. I believe they have one of the 

 best types, if not the best, for general purposes in existence 

 today. 



The showroom demands a type in the Red identical to 

 that demanded of a fowl for ideal general utility purposes. 

 It is certainly a great pleasure when trying to produce ex- 

 hibition quality to put together in one's breeding yards. 

 Standard color and Standard type knowing that the very 

 highest utility or general purpose qualities will be attained 

 under this same Standard mating. For what other of the 

 American breeds can we say as much? 



Important Considerations 



I will now take up the subject of breeding first-class 

 exhibition and utility Reds, commencing with the egg before 

 incubation. First, I never overload a male with females. 

 I find a much higher per cent of fertility and better hatches 

 of stronger chicks when a male is mated to five or six females 

 than when mated with twelve or fifteen. I see that the 



breeders have lots of fresh air and clean quarters, not neces- 

 sarily polished floors, but good clean houses free from damp 

 dirt and bad odors. 



I select eggs of medium size<, not small or over large. 

 My experience is that over large eggs hatch no better than 

 very small ones. I prefer hens for hatching, for if set intel- 

 ligently they hatch a higher per cent of chicks and we find 

 fewer weaklings. However, the incubator is indispensable 

 for early hatching and when thirty-five to forty chicks are 

 placed in the brooders, instead of seventy-five to one hundred, 

 the results will be gratifying. I believe one of the principal 

 reasons for better brooding with hens is the fact that rarely 

 more than twenty-five chicks are placed together and these 

 are in no danger of crowding and thus they get a much better 

 supply of fresh air. 



When chicks are to be hatched with a hen, I prepare 

 good, roomy nests, (close, small nests will seldom give good 

 hatches) then dust my hens thoroughly with Dalmation 

 powder.- I always set hens on the floor and isolate them 

 from other birds. When the chicks are hatched, or a day 

 or so before, we dust the hens again. This will not hurt 

 little chicks at all and we rarely see any lice or mites of any 

 kind. 



After thirty-six hours we feed hard boiled eggs using 

 the tested out or infertile eggs; for about four to six weeks 

 "chick feed" (dry grain) then for six weeks more "growing 

 feed." After this I use No. 3 or "scratch feed" composed of 

 mixed grains. Spratts Patent crissel mixed with coarse 



