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The Rhode Island Reds

These ARE your Grandmother's chickens

History

Did you know that the Rhode Island Red you're familiar with is probably not a real Rhode Island Red? Odds are pretty good you've never laid eyes on a true Rhode Island Red as the APA standards describe.

In the 1940's, production egg farms decided to take a shortcut to "improve" the Rhode Island Red by crossing it with the New Hampshire Red in an effort to create a more prolific egg layer. Instead of giving these crossbreeds a distinctly different name, the hatcheries continued to market the hybrids as Rhode Island Reds. Today's production line hybrid Rhode Island Reds have a lighter body color, smaller frames, and much different conformation. They are much less of a dual purpose bird than the Rhode Island Red that is bred to the original APA standards. The production line Rhode Island Red roosters also have a reputation for nasty dispositions.

Nostalgia Meets Beauty

Our line of Rhode Island Reds are known as the Mohawk/Reese line. The history of this specific bloodline dates back to 1928. This strain has been carefully curated by only a handful of breeders for almost 100 years. We feel honored to be entrusted with our small well-dispositioned flock and will continue to uphold the standards that have been set forth by the American Poultry Association and the breeders that have preceded us.

Pictured is Cluck, the 2 year old patriarch of our Rhode Island Red flocks.

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