Heritage Rhode Island White Chicken

Heritage Rhode Island White Chicken

Sugar Feather Farm has been searching for a heritage breed of chicken that is on the conservancy list, an excellent layer and could be used for meat as well, new for Spring 2021! We settled on the Heritage Rose Comb Rhode Island White Chicken. This is a bird you can have in any situation; they don’t mind confinement, gentle, and extremely hardy birds. A heritage breed that can with the right conditions and upbringing could be used for egg production and used for meat. Why not use a heritage bird for a “meat bird” instead of a Cornish Cross? However just for eggs or to add a great bird for your flock you can’t go wrong! This is a very threatened bird on the Conservation List and needs more folks to keep and maintain.

This chicken is no joke, and has the potential to lay over 230 eggs a year! Wow! They are quite stunning with their beautiful white feathers that glisten in the sun and they are a nice heavy robust bird that is surprisingly calm and gentle. We were very surprised to see how calm and gentle these giants are. They have none of the characteristics of the Rhode Island Red – a completely different bird. The hens can go broody and raise their own young, they are friendly as well. The babies who are born are strong and robust. We have a lot of success hatching their eggs. The line we have is over 30 years old and from the mid-west. The history behind it is simply amazing, and we look forward to helping keep this endangered breed going. All Sugar Feather Farm birds are vaccinated for Marek’s Disease and are Non-GMO.

The Rose Comb Rhode Island White is a moderately-sized, large bird with the males weighing 8 1/2 lbs. and females 6 1/2 lbs.  Although some single combed offspring do often happen, the breed has been standardized solely with a rose formed comb. Our flock can have a few straight comb pop-up, we are however breeding per APA Standard and selecting rose comb. The historic laying potential of the Rhode Island White was respectable in the past, with one distinctive hen on the Mountain Grove Experiment Station in Missouri famous as laying 306 eggs in a single 12 months. Productive strains of this breed have been recognized to extra usually lay within the 240-250 eggs per 12 months vary. They’re reputed to be splendid meat and wonderful layers of winter eggs. Rose Comb Rhode Island Whites are nice, straightforward out-going chickens and would make great addition to any household farm, homestead, family flock, or really any situation. Sadly, the Heritage Rose Comb Rhode Island White hen has declined over the years (lower than 3,000 birds in The Livestock Conservancy’s 2003 poultry census, and even fewer within the 2015 census).

Sugar Feather Farm encourages you to select this bird and add it to your flock. We have partnered with the Livestock Conservancy and every purchase you make of this Threatened (conservation status) bird will be donated back to the Conservancy for preservation.

Feed Recommendations: we recommend starting baby chicks out with Sugar Feather Farm chick starter for the first 3 weeks, then switch to our Chicken Grower. Use the Grower Feed until they hit maturation (which is when they start to lay) then switch to Sugar Feather Farm Adult Feed. 

We highly recommend using the Oil of Oregano in their water daily as a supplement to aid with digestion and overall health.

History

The Rhode Island White originated in 1888 via the efforts of Mr. J. Alonzo Jocoy of Peacedale, Rhode Island. He developed the breed by crossing White Wyandottes with Partridge Cochins and Rose Comb White Leghorns. In 1903, Mr. Jocoy made the breed recognized to the general public and provided people on the market. The breed continued to be developed and improved in order that it extra intently resembled the Rhode Island Pink’s brick-like physique form. This distinctive form helped to stop the breed from wanting just like and being confused with White Wyandottes or White Plymouth Rock chickens. In 1922 the Rhode Island White was admitted to the American Poultry Affiliation’s Customary of Perfection through the nationwide convention in Knoxville, Tennessee, that 12 months. The Rhode Island White gained some reputation within the US up till the 1960’s, at which period their numbers declined. The breed by no means got the overwhelming reputation that the extra well-known Rhode Island Red hen achieved.