WHY WE PREFER RHODE ISLAND REDS 



GREAT LAYERS AS WELL AS GREAT TABLE FOWLS— FLESH IS RICH AND FINE IN GRAIN— SOME OF THE 

 DIFFICULTIES MET IN BREEDING REDS-WONDERFUL GROWTH IN POPULARITY OF THE BREED PREDICTED 



IRVING A. SIBLEY 



OUR reason for breeding Rhode Island Reds is, that 

 they are great layers as well as great table fowls; 

 and to this fact we attribute their increasing 

 popularity. 



The greatest difficulty found in breeding Rhode Island 

 Reds is owing to the fact of their having been bred so short 

 a time for color, they are not yet what they should be in this 

 respect. However, regardless of color, they have invari- 

 ably proved to be great utility fowls. 



We cull closely and have selected for breeding purposes, 

 only from 33J to 50 per cent of the birds raised; and, in former 

 years not so large a percentage. 



We have never practiced double mating, and I trust it 

 will not be necessary to double mate in order to produce 

 birds which are Eafcisfaotory as to color, shape, etc. We 

 have trapnested a number of birds which have produced 

 from 200 to 235 eggs each; also have had pullets laying as 

 young as four months and twenty-three days. 



The Reds are fast gaining in popularity, in this section 

 of the country, for table purposes, because of the fact thct 





S. C. R. I, Red Hen owned by Mr. Geo. L. Andrews, Freeport L. I. 

 This hen not only won a second prize, and shape special but laid 200 eggs 

 in one year. Note the extreme length of body which is characteristic of 

 the good layer. 



their flesh is fine grained, very rich, and that they have 

 large breasts with a large amount of white meat, and they 

 mature young. 



Having been a breeder of thorough-bred chickens since 

 a boy, I have tried several kinds, including Black Spanish, 

 Games, Partridge Cochins, Wyandottes, Barred Rocks, 

 Leghorns and Silver Spangled Hamburgs. 



Some seven or eight years ago I decided to cross-breed 

 Plymouth Rock hens with a Rose Comb Brown Leghorn 

 cock with a view of getting winter layers. The result of 

 this cross was quite satisfactory, producing some beautiful 

 black pullets with rose combs, of good size and handsome 

 in appearance. About this time a friend of mine from 

 Minnesota visited me and asked regarding the breeding of 

 these pullets. I told him, and also that I was looking for a 

 thorough-bred, good size, clean, yellow-legged fowl to cross 

 with them. He asked me if I had seen the Reds. I told 

 him no. He said they were becoming popular in Minnesota 

 because they laid in cold weather and did not require artifi- 

 cial heat; they were hardy and of good size, and as he had 

 some extra cockerels would send me one to use in my flock. 



68 



When this bird arrived I was so much pleased with his ap- 

 pearance that I decided to get some full blooded Rhode 

 Island Reds, and in looking about, satisfied myself as to 

 who were the most successful breeders of these fowls. I 

 finally purchased four hens, three pullets and a cockerel. 

 From this pen, the following season, I raised about 173 

 birds. In September 1907, I decided I would like to see the 

 Rhode Island Reds in the Eastern states, so I took a trip 

 to Fall River, Mass., where I met Dr. Aldrich, with whom 

 I spent three days visiting the yards of the most prominent 

 breeders in that locality. 



I think one reason why the Rhode Island Reds are such 

 egg producers and such hardy fowls is that they are the 

 result of out-crossing instead of in-breeding. I learned that 

 these birds had been bred as far back as the 50's and that 

 they were originally bred by a gentleman who was what we 

 might term a market proprietor, i. e., a man who bought 

 chickens and eggs throughout the country and sold them to 

 the Boston market. I am told that this man's name was 

 Tripp, and that when he found an extra good hen he kept 

 her in his own yards, regardless of variety. A number of 

 sea captains (personal friends of Mr. Tripp) who sailed to the 

 . West Indies and the Malay Islands frequently purchased 

 Red Malay Games for the purpose of having cock fights on 

 the boats. On their return from abroad and, on arriving 

 at Little Compton, many of these brids were given to Mr. 

 Tripp and were turned into his yards, which accounts for 

 the prevailing red color among this class of fowls. 



These birds were, as before stated, bred to all kinds of 

 what were known as barnyard or dung-hill fowls, such as 

 were generally raised in the locality at that time; some were 

 Brahmas, some were Shanghais, some were dark and some 

 were light, some with feathers on their legs, but all were 

 healthy, vigorous specimens. Mr. Tripp bred these birds 

 in this way until it became known throughout that section 

 of the country that his birds were great table fowls as well 

 as egg producers. The neighbors in that locality got eggs 

 from Mr. Tripp until, in the course of time, there were more 

 of this class of fowls raised in the New England states than 

 of nearly all other breeds combined. 



In talking with the late Dr. Aldrich, he told me that in 

 1899 he exhibited at the Madison Square Garden poultry 

 show in New York City the first of this class of birds ever 

 shown. His friends "jollied" him regarding his dung-hills. 

 However, upon his return to Fall River, he, together with a 

 number of others who were familiar with the good qualities 

 of these birds and who were already breeding them, formed 

 a club, and from that time on the Rhode Island Red fowl 

 has gained in popularity, until today they are better known 

 and in greater demand than any other variety. 



I have yet to meet a person who has ever bred Rhode 

 Island Reds together with other breeds who has not dis- 

 carded the others for the Rhode Island Red. 



It is not an uncommon thing for me to receive letters 

 reading as follows: ""I have been breeding such and such 

 a line of birds for a number of years and have decided to 

 try a few Reds." My own experience has been so satisfactory 

 that I firmly believe that within the next ten years there 

 will be more Rhode Island Reds raised in the United States 

 than all other kinds combined. 



At first the Reds were bred entirely on account of their 

 utility qualities, but today I doubt if there is another bird 

 which is more attractive or more beautiful than the Rhode 

 Island Red. 



