Mitchell Carrigan-Walsh Talks About the Rhode Island Red Bantam

The Rhode Island Red Bantam is one of Mitchell’s breeding specialities, “it’s a nice neat bird”.  It’s one of the breeds he takes to poultry shows.

 

 

They are considered a ‘Heavy breed soft feather’.  Visually they are a very broad bird – they have a broad chest, their body should be brick-like and appear to have a flat back.  They have a red single comb (other varieties will have a rose comb).  The Rhode Island Red Bantam have darker feathers, a kind of dark mahogany red.

 

 

Mitchell aims to breed his birds to achieve a dark deep rich red right to the skin.  If showing the bird, one distinctive feature is with the feathers – they need to have the black colour on the outside of the primaries and black on the secondaries.  They should also have very black tails.  Some pullets can have a shiny beetle-green colour.  Yellow legs are another important feature when being judged at a show, Mitchell likes to give them lots of green feed to make sure they have very yellow legs.

 

They are very popular, not just with poultry fanciers, but also as backyard pets.  Originally bred as both for egg laying and meat.  They can live for upwards of 7 years.  They have a great temperament; Mitchell recommends them for families as they are have a very docile nature.  They’re also inclined to get along with each other in a flock.  They are also a good layer, with typically one egg per day.

In terms of size, they generally weigh:

Male: Standard 3.8kg, Bantam 1kg

Female: Standard 2.9kg, Bantam 850g