Country of Origin: Britain

Base of breed: Rhode Island Red 

Rhodebar Cock & Hen:

Male Rhodebar chicks hatch yellow. My strain hatch yellow with a pale cream patch on the back of their heads. Female Rhodebar chicks hatch yellow with a brown stripe down their backs. A Rhodebar cock that has been mated with another breed of hen will also produce auto sexing chicks, well at least mine do!

Auto Sexing Chick:

 

The picture shown above is not of a pure Rhodebar day old female chick, but is an example of a day old chick from a hen crossed with a Rhodebar cock. This is my own olive egg laying 'Weirgloddau' female day old chick.

The auto sexing markings of the different breeders of Rhodebars will vary a little and are not always entirely consistent, however all breeders of Rhodebars, should be able to recognize the sexes of their own chicks.

If the thought of killing unwanted male chicks at hatching does not appeal to you, then if fattened, they make excellent eating at around 18/20 weeks old - though don't expect to feed a large family on one!

Rhodebar Cock:

I find Rhodebars very friendly and for a chicken, intelligent; I had a hen that escaped a recent daylight dog attack, by scaling an 8ft fence and finding her way into the safety of my home. I found her sitting on the back on an arm chair being 'guarded' by my Weimeraner dog!

Rhodebars are responsible for laying a good number of tinted eggs