46 



RHODE ISLAND REDS 



R. C. Rhode Island Red 

 Fair, owned by J. F. Burleigh. 



of those birds have a very de- 

 cided effect upon the offspring. 



For example, I will mention 

 a case where I mated a moder- 

 ately strong black point pullet to 

 a cockerel that was weak in black 

 points. The pullet's paternal 

 and maternal male lines were all 

 very strong in black points, 

 whereas on both female lines the 

 females were all weak to moder- 

 ate in black points. The cock- 

 erel's paternal and maternal 

 male lines as well as his mother 

 were all strong black point birds, 

 yet he was weak in black points. 



The offspring of this pair of 

 birds were strong to excessively 

 strong in black points in cock- 

 erels and weak to moderately 

 strong in black points in pullets. 

 This pair of birds were not 

 closer than one-sixteenth in rela- 

 tionship. 



In mating up a pen of Reds, 

 the best male at your disposal 

 should be taken, his strong and 

 weak points noted; and I may 

 add that shape, size and vigor 

 must be among his strong points. 



He should be even in color, good in under-color, the 

 darker red the better, and free from any traces of white. 

 Birds with very light under-color in any section should be 

 avoided, as even medium surface color with strong urider- 

 color is preferable to dark surface color with light under-color. 

 Dark red under-color with a tendency to dark smokiness is 

 far preferable to light under-color. Light slatiness in under- 

 color should be avoided. 



The females should be selected for their balancing quali- 

 ties. They should be strong where the male bird is weak, 

 but Hke him they should have shape, size and vigor as their 

 strong points, for an undersized or unshapely bird or one 

 lacking vigor has no place in a first-class pen. Should the 

 male bird be weak in black points, the females must be 

 strong in this respect, whereas should he be overstrong, the 

 females must not be more than moderately so. The females 

 should be even in surface color as dark red as procurable 

 with deep red under-color e.ven tending towards dark smoki- 

 ness. Anything tending towards light slate or white should 

 not be used. 



Rhode Island Reds should be as red as possible, but the 

 darker that red is, as long as it retains its lustre, the better. 

 To obtain and retain this the breeding birds must be strong 

 in pigment value, and birds with light under-color have not 

 this strength. 



It is easy to produce medium colored birds with strong 

 black in wing and tails, but very hard to obtain these points 

 in a very dark red bird. 



In describing the requirements of these birds, I have 

 taken them as individuals, but if the parents of these birds 

 are known, their qualities should be considered in making 

 the mating, for a bird that is the result of a correction or 

 compensation mating, although strong in points that were 

 weak in either of its parents, should not be mated to balance 

 similar weak points, for that would only be undoing what 

 had just been accomplished. 



Among the hardest things to accomplish in breeding 

 Reds is to get black in the hackle of the females and still re- 

 tain clean hackles in the males, and to procure strong black 



pullet, winner at New York State 

 From unretouched photograph. 



in the wings of females without 

 black peppering on the outside 

 of the wing-bows. 



The Rhode Island Reds are 

 very valuable as egg producers 

 and market fowl, and while every 

 breeder is anxious to produce 

 finer birds in color and shape, he 

 must do it along the lines of pro- 

 ducing better fowl from the com- 

 mercial or utility standpoint. By 

 keeping up their size and shape 

 we maintain their market value, 

 and by keeping egg records of 

 all females and breeding only from 

 those that are satisfactorily pro- 

 lific we can maintain this good 

 quality of the Reds, their egg 

 laying ability. 



From year to year, it is oc- 

 casionally found that a few birds 

 will run off on some point, but 

 otherwise are fine specimens, 

 yet it is hard to find other birds of 

 the same strain to mate with them 

 to compensate for their weak- 

 nesses; then is the time to look 

 for a bird_from some other breed- 

 er, preferably a male bird which 

 is overstrong in the points desired, and mate him to cor- 

 rect this weakness. It is rarely the case that the first year's 

 results from such a mating is productive of first-class birds, 

 it being necessary to blend the new blood into your flock 

 by degrees through successive selections and remating. 



The quickest and probably the best way to accomplish 

 results, is to select the best pullets most nearly approaching 

 the father and mate them back to him the next season. Take 

 a cockerel from this second mating that is nearest to the 

 Standard or a little strong towards the father and mate him 

 to some of your strain while the pullets may be mated with 

 males of your strain, mating them, of course, to balance 

 defects. 



This inbreeding will not prove harmful to vitality or 

 prolific qualities if size, shape and vigor are always main- 

 tained, and they will be outbred again when mated up with 

 your original strain. 



There always has been and probably always will be con- 

 siderable difference of opinion as to the value or detriment 

 of inbreeding, but it certainly has value in fixing desirable 

 points in a strain, when properly handled and care is used 

 not to overdo it. 



My main aims in mating Reds are to produce shapely 

 birds of large size and over-standard weight, even surface 

 color as dark as possible and still retain redness and lustre 

 with dark under-color; strong black in wing and tail in all 

 birds, the tail to have green sheen in males, and the hackles 

 to have black ticking in females. 



Traces of black in the hackle of very dark males is 

 neither unsightly nor objectionable and from a breeding 

 standpoint valuable for its effect upon the pullet offspring. 

 The things I find most objectionable from a breeding 

 standpoint are light hackled males or females, light under- 

 color, white in any section, undersize or unshapeliness or any 

 disqualifying defect. 



There is a tendency in females that are persistent layers- 

 to moult in light. Every bird that lays while she is moult- 

 ing is sure to do it, and while from a color standpoint it is. 

 best to breed from females that are able to retain their dark 

 color, do not discard a bird that was fine as a pullet just be- 



