Production RIR Question

I keep hearing referances to Production Reds and Production RIR's. I'm assuming that a production red is a hybrid but wondering if Production RIR's are the same thing. I have ordered RIR's through a local feed store and thought I was getting pure RIR's but now I'm wondering if what I got was simply a hybrid. They looked just like the ones in smokeyriver's post:

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Only place to get true RIR's is through a certified breeder , everything else is most likly a production red .I know because we used to be able to but the true reds years ago , but egg production kinda killed them off it seems and they got replaced with the production red which is a great laying machine , but not a real red in any way .......Good Luck

I would think that when someone reffered to a production red it would be a hybrid. Like I have made Red Sussex hybrids by breeding a RIR rooster on a Barred Rock Hen, the hens come out looking like a RIR with a much lighter red coloring, they tend to have a bit of white in them sometimes too, but not always. Great layers though.

A RIR you would purchase from a hatchery would be a production RIR, they would have been selected for their laying and not their body type/size.

A true RIR would be a very nice bird, great size, deep mahogany coloring, and not quite as high of production as a Production RIR.

production is just anotehr way of saying 'pure bred, but of low quality compared to the Stand Of Perfection.' about 99.9% of all birds bought from hatchersy are going to be production quality. Theyre good to lay eggs and thats it. Try to show them and they wont fit what the breed 'should' look like. There are a few hatcheries that have OK birds, but theyr ein it for the quantity, not quality. You order RIR, you get a red bird. Order a buff orp, you get a buff bird. Theyre not concerned about them being show quality. Just pet quality. Like Hidden said, only way to get a true exhibition quality bird is from a private breeder.

A production Red or RIR is a hatchery bird not a hybrid. These birds are not selectively bred to the standard for its looks. It doesn't mean that they are not going to be a good bird, but chances are they won't be as good as a breeders would be!
Most hatchery Rhode Island Red's are sold as a laying hen now. Unfortunately they have some what lost their rich colour and size. On the other side of the coin, some breeders now try to achieve that text book looking bird, but the egg production has suffered.

I'm not sure what a certified breeder is, but there are still lots of people out there that have very nice, original Rhode Island Red flocks. You'd just have to look for them.

FYI, If you cross a RIR rooster with a Barred Rock hen, you will get a hybrid bird called a Red Rock cross. Some hatcheries have different names for them as well. The crosses you'd get from the hatcheries are very good layers! Also, the chicks are sex linked. The hen will be black with a sunburst on her chest and the roo will look like a Barred Rock.

Dark Wing Duck wrote:

FYI, If you cross a RIR rooster with a Barred Rock hen, you will get a hybrid bird called a Red Rock cross. Some hatcheries have different names for them as well. The crosses you'd get from the hatcheries are very good layers!

Yes Darkwing I mixed that up. The RIR on BR makes Red Rocks (Black birds with some red in their necks), the other cross is a RIR rooster on a Columbian Rock Hen, that is what made the red birds with black tail feathers, and sometimes some black columbian markings in the necks of the hens over the red.

Hidden River wrote:

Dark Wing Duck wrote:

FYI, If you cross a RIR rooster with a Barred Rock hen, you will get a hybrid bird called a Red Rock cross. Some hatcheries have different names for them as well. The crosses you'd get from the hatcheries are very good layers!

Yes Darkwing I mixed that up. The RIR on BR makes Red Rocks (Black birds with some red in their necks), the other cross is a RIR rooster on a Columbian Rock Hen, that is what made the red birds with black tail feathers, and sometimes some black columbian markings in the necks of the hens over the red.

Yes. Those are sometimes called a Red Sussex, but...! And again, they too are very good layers.

Dark Wing Duck wrote:

Hidden River wrote:

Dark Wing Duck wrote:

FYI, If you cross a RIR rooster with a Barred Rock hen, you will get a hybrid bird called a Red Rock cross. Some hatcheries have different names for them as well. The crosses you'd get from the hatcheries are very good layers!

Yes Darkwing I mixed that up. The RIR on BR makes Red Rocks (Black birds with some red in their necks), the other cross is a RIR rooster on a Columbian Rock Hen, that is what made the red birds with black tail feathers, and sometimes some black columbian markings in the necks of the hens over the red.

Yes. Those are sometimes called a Red Sussex, but...! And again, they too are very good layers.

I had some of those Red Sussex... they are Excellent layers.

All of the so called RIR's that I have purchased in the last years have been pathetic birds ! Not sure if this is due to all the cross breeding or they just don't have a good stock for there breeding process.As ""I SAID "" , if you want true reds which are beautiful birds then find a breeder who has the true stock .I plan on getting eggs next year from a breeder in the USA , yes I'm bringing eggs in ,who's stock goes way back .The Roosters are almost black , that's how dark burgandy they are , and the hens are built the way they should be .The last RIR's I ordered here all died for no reason other then they were weak ! I even complained to the hatchery when I got them because they were yellow , not reddish like they should be , needless to say I won't ever buy from that hatchery again

Please tell me how you are getting eggs, I would like to bring in eggs from some other breeds