Content
Chickens Rhodonite is not a breed, but an industrial cross, created on the basis of two other egg crosses: Loman Brown and Rhode Island. German breeders began breeding this cross, having received two strains. In 2002, the chickens of this cross came to Russia, where specialists from the Sverdlovsk Pedigree Poultry Plant, located in the village of Kashino near Yekaterinburg, took on them. The goal of Russian breeders was to breed chicken breeds Rhodonite, more adapted to the climatic conditions of the Russian Federation. The resulting Rhodonite 3 became the main cross in Russia.
Cross description
Chickens Rhodonite by photo and description are indistinguishable from the original breeds Lohmann Brown and Rhode Island. The main differences are "internal". The first version of the Rhodonites by the Germans turned out to be unsuccessful. Laying hens' productivity dropped dramatically several times after 18 months. Chickens of the Rhodonite-2 breed do not reduce egg production with age, but were bred not for private yards, but for poultry farms. Consequently, they were not adapted to keeping in various climatic conditions. The task of the Russian breeders was to preserve the productive characteristics of the Rhodonit-2 chickens while “adding” frost resistance and the ability to adapt to the very diverse climate of Russia. The work of geneticists has been crowned with success, but this is the result of a 4-line crossing that cannot be reproduced at home. The Rhodonite-3 cross is based on the Rhodonit-2 line imported from Germany and the Loman Brown cross from the Loman Tirtzukht company.
Injection scheme
To breed chickens of the Rhodonite-3 breed, 4 lines of egg crosses are used:
- Rhode Island red line P35 (roosters);
- Rhode Island red line P36 (chickens);
- line P37;
- line P38.
Lines 37 and 38 do not have their own name, as they were obtained from the use of Rhodonite-2 chickens and Loman Brown genetic material.
Initially, intermediate offspring are obtained from four parental lines. Rhode Islands crossbreed among themselves, selecting only roosters for further work. When crossing the other two lines, hens are selected. In the photo, a description of obtaining the breed of chickens rhodonite-3. More precisely, its parental forms.
The offspring of these four lines are autosexual in feathering speed.
Get two lines:
- Rhode Island roosters of the P356 line;
- chickens of the P378 line.
In the photo, the parental lines of Rhodonit-3 chickens.
Roosters still "belong" to the red Rhode Islands and have an auburn color. Chickens are "still" crosses Rhodonit-2 and Loman Brown and have a white color.
When crossing parental forms, chickens are obtained with three color options:
- light brown;
- red;
- pale yellow.
The most common is light brown, phenotypically close to Loman Brown, Red Bro and other "red" varieties of egg commercial crosses.
The most common color of the final result of Rhodonit-3 chickens is shown in the photo.
The final result - Rhodonite-3 is also autosexual. In the end result, autosexuality is expressed not in the speed of feathering, in the color of the fluff in one-day-old chicks.
The cockerels have yellow fluff. In chickens, options are possible, but there is no yellow. The main color of the back of one-day-old hens is brown.The chest, belly and sides may be light colored. Females may have dark stripes on their backs. Another variation in color is the spots on the head, which can be light yellow or, conversely, dark brown. The photo clearly shows the difference between the hens and males of the final version of the Rhodonit-3 cross.
The productive characteristic of Rhodonit-3 chickens exceeds its maternal line, which is clearly seen from the table.
Cross standard
The final result is an egg-bearing bird that has all the hallmarks of a good laying hen. The weight of a chicken does not exceed 2 kg, a rooster - 2.5 kg. In the description of Rhodonite-3 chickens on the site it is said that the head of a hen is medium in size with a yellow beak. There is a wide brown stripe on the upper part of the beak. The crest is leaf-shaped, red, of medium size. The eyes of chickens are orange-green, protruding. Earrings are medium in size, red in color. Lobes are pale, pinkish in color with a pearlescent tint.
The backbone is light, the body is placed horizontally. The upper body line is straight. The back and loin are wide. The tail is set high, of medium splendor. Roosters have short braids. The color of the braids is black with a green tint. Although in the case of the Rhodonite-3 cross, the appearance of the roosters does not play any role. Moreover, their presence in the herd is undesirable. According to the owners of Rhodonite chickens, the rooster has little meat. It also makes no sense to let it breed. It is more profitable to buy only chickens from the factory.
The chest of chickens is wide and convex. The belly is well developed. Legs are short with poorly developed muscles. The shoulders are poorly developed. The wings are small, close to the body. Metatarsus are short, of medium thickness. The color of the metatarsus is yellow, on the front part there are light brown scales.
The plumage is dense. The color can be not only light brown, as in the photo, but also red or fawn.
Flight and tail feathers are light, often with an ash tint. The character is calm. Like all industrial layers, Rhodonite-3 does not try to run away from people, lying down when a person approaches.
The eggshells of this cross are brown. But eggs with a dark brown shell color may come across.
The video was filmed for the largest farm portal, but the appearance of pullets contradicts the description of the Rhodonite chicken breed on the official website of the Sverdlovsky breeding plant. The only possible option: when shooting, color distortion occurred and the young are actually fawn, not white.
Advantages and disadvantages
Rhodonite-3 has been selected for long-term productivity and high egg production. According to customer reviews, Rhodonit-3 chickens do not reduce egg production after the first year of life. A decrease in their productivity occurs only in the fifth year of life. In this regard, the cross is usually kept for four years and then replaced with a new livestock.
The second plus of the cross is their real, not advertising frost resistance. As part of the experiment, during the breeding of the cross, the layers were kept in a cold shed at sub-zero temperatures. There was no significant decrease in egg production. Although, of course, chickens were not bred for private farmsteads, as for poultry farms.
The third major plus of the cross is its high resilience. And here the reviews of the owners of Rhodonit-3 chickens coincide with the description on the plant's website. The hatchability of chickens in the final hybrid is 87%, the safety of young stock up to 17 weeks of age is 99%, the safety of adult layers from 17 to 80 weeks is 97%.
Rhodonite-3 also has a high feed conversion.
The disadvantages of this cross include the inability to breed chickens "in themselves" and the lack of hatching instinct in laying hens, which is why chickens can "lose" their eggs anywhere.
Possible pitfalls
What to do if Rhodonite chickens selected from the photo and praised in reviews and descriptions do not want to rush? Find out the reasons for this behavior.
First of all, you cannot buy these birds from a photo. Phenotypically, Rhodonite-3 is indistinguishable from other crosses of the egg direction. But other crosses reduce productivity much earlier than Rhodonite, and the seller can sell one-year-old Loman Brown or other similar chickens under the guise of Rhodonite. There will be no sense from such overkill. You should try to take a bird where age is clearly visible. It is better to let it be a "parasite" for a month, but then reward the owner with eggs, than it will turn out to be completely "empty".
An unbalanced diet is also one of the reasons for the decline in egg production. With a lack of vitamins and minerals, chickens not only lay fewer eggs, but they can eat or "pour" them.
The third reason may be obesity or wasting. And in fact, and in another case, the laying hen stops laying.
Moulting occurs in chickens when the egg-laying season ends. During molting, chickens, if they do, are very rare. And often they completely stop laying.
And the worst thing is parasites and infectious diseases. The latter can lead to the need to slaughter the entire livestock.
Testimonials
Conclusion
Although Rhodonit-3 chickens were created with an eye to the industrial production of eggs, today they are also gladly taken to private farmsteads. Cross Rhodonite-3 won the love of private traders with its unpretentiousness to the conditions of detention, high productivity and longevity.
