28 



RHODE ISLAND REDS 



Use Trap Nests 



Trap nest your birds. Keep an accurate record of them 

 and you will soon discover what is needful in the production 

 of high class Rhode Island Reds. There is no breed that I 

 know of that is so interesting to handle, or that responds to 

 intelligent mating more quickly than does this grand breed. 



Rhode Island Bed Shape 



While much has been said of the color of the Reds, we 



must not forget that it is the shape that has as much to do 



with the making of the Reds as their color. The shape is as 



f oblong— not circular f horizontal back 



[ size (full up to Standard) 1 long, straight keel 



To Judges 



Be careful how high you score a male with striped 

 hackles. This is as hard to breed out as is white in sickle 

 and wing flights. These are serious objections in breeding 

 and should not be tolerated in the show room. In looking 

 over a bird, examine every section and do not throw a bird 

 out because he is weak in some one section. Some time ago 

 I saw a most beautiful pullet thrown out because she had 

 not enough black in wing. Don't have a whim. Remember 

 that the bird has other sections besides wing. Do not be a 

 crank on any one point, but be critical on all points. When 



r Shape.. 



Type. 



Carriage . 



Color. 



Brilliant red, full of luster 



Harmonious blending of every 

 section 



oblong effect when in natural pose 

 bright, wide-awake, vigor 



no discolored or dead color 



distinctly their own as is their color and if you destroy that, 

 you destroy the breed. Too often in the show room we see 

 the blue ribbon placed on a Rhode Island Red that has a 

 Wyandotte shape. The judges and the breeders should 

 remember that the Rhode Island Reds are an oblong fowl 

 and no judge that knows his business should allow any such 

 mistake to occur. Where shape is half, a bird of reasonable 

 good color and good oblong Rhode Island Red shape, should 

 win over the one with the poor shape. A little diagram 

 might help to illustrate. 



you have considered all the points, look at the bird as a 

 whole and see if there is that harmonious blending of color 

 in all sections, and remember brother judges, that the best 

 birds ever produced will not score 100, and you do the ex- 

 hibitor great harm to score the birds high unless they should 

 be strictly entitled to the score. It shows lack of judgment 

 on your part. The young exhibitor wants a score card in 

 order to learn something of his fowls, so give him an honest 

 card, not one to make him feel good, simply because it is a 

 little show and his bird happened to win. His score card is 

 worthless unless the bird is honestly and intelligently scored. 



HOW TO PRODUCE NON-FADING RHODE ISLAND REDS 



IT IS THE WRITER'S OPINION THAT EXTREME MATINGS HAVE DONE MUCH TO CAUSE WEAKNESS IN 

 UNDER COLOR OF FEMALES-ADVISES THE USE OF GOOD LAYERS WHICH HOLD THEIR COLOR WELL 



C. L. BUSCHMANN 



THE ONLY objection that we have ever had to 

 the Rhode Island Red was the fading of the color 

 of the female after it had passed the pullet age. 

 There is apparently no reason for this and it is 

 diflScult to account for. Brown Leghorns do not fade nor 

 do black hens; why should Reds? When we stop to con- 

 sider that a red cow or a bay horse holds its color why should 

 not a Rhode Island Red hen hold hers? Any live stock 

 turned out in the hot sun during the summer months will 

 get sunburnt, which slightly changes the color, but they 

 always shed this coat and their natural color returns In 

 winter. 



When we first discovered that several hens two years 

 old in our flock of Reds had held their color, the thought 

 came to us that it was possible to build a strain of non- 

 fading Rhode Island Reds, so we began to experiment and 

 observe. The second observation was that some of the 

 chicks from these hens held their color also, so we com- 

 menced to breed for this particular feature and have built 

 up our non-fading strain practically from a few hens, but it 

 has taken much time and careful study. The males usually 

 held their color and by introducing the new blood through a 

 female bred to our best male and then using the young 

 cockerels of fifty per cent original stock, we kept the strong 

 male line intact and continued breeding from the same hens 

 and pullets. 



Size, shape, color and laying qualities are always con- 



siderations of the first importance. We now have a hundred 

 or more birds that have held their color, only changing a 

 little during the burning summer days and under the heavy 

 laying strain of our breeding season. They always return 

 to their natural color after moulting and we believe in a few 

 more years that we shall be able to raise practically all of 

 our birds so that they will be non-fading. 



We are careful at all times not to breed females which 

 show signs of not holding their color and which are not lay- 

 ing properly. These hens are sold for market purposes and 

 not sent to some other breeder. 



Right here we might mention that a five or ten dollar 

 bird is often eaten rather than sold at a fair price, because 

 she would make a poor advertisement when pointed out, in 

 some ones' yards as a "Buschmann Non-Fader." 



After the Chicago show, December 1909, we had the 

 pleasure of traveling to New York with the late Mr. Tuttle 

 and Mr. CoflSn, secretary of the R. I. Red Club of America. 

 Mr. CoflBn told us he had a hen several years old that looked 

 like a pullet and that other breeders also had a few but they 

 apparently never thought of building up a non-fading strain. 



This is one of the side-lights on the Non-Fading Rhode 

 Island Reds, never before published. While we do not claim 

 that every bird of the twenty-five hundred we are raising 

 this season will be non-fading, we know a large per cent of 

 them will be. We are satisfied that we are on the right road 

 and in a few more years will be able to accomplish that 



