History
The Rhode Island Red originated in Adamsville on Rhode Island in the USA. It was developed from a variety of other breeds in the 1890s
to meet the increasing demand for both meat and eggs. The breed arrived in the UK in 1903 and quickly became very popular.
The Rhode Island Red is possibly the best-known breed in the world today and, crossed with the Sussex, forms the basis of most of the present day hybrid layers.
Behaviour
Rhode Island Reds are hardy birds, well suited to free ranging, and are usually friendly and docile. Occasionally the males can be bad tempered (a friend had a very
grumpy bird called Basil but he became better tempered as he got older). The hens can lay between two and three hundred eggs a year and start laying at about twenty-four
weeks old.
Varieties
All Rhode Island Reds are reddish-brown. The plumage is dark and glossy in the male and slightly less glossy in the female. They have red earlobes and eyes and yellow legs.
Egg colour: tinted/brown
