Eugenics is not a dirty word.

Intersection of Adamsville Road, Westport Harbor Road and Main Street, Adamsville, Little Compton

As those of us who have heard the advertising jingle know, "brown eggs are local eggs and local eggs are fresh." It just so happens that one of the most dependable layers of brown eggs was bred right here in Rhode Island. Adamsville's granite Rhode Island Red Monument commemorates the development of the famous dual-purpose breed that's been supplying chicken lovers with drumsticks and omelets for over a century.

The Rhode Island Red resulted from a series of poultry experiments undertaken in 1854 by Captain William Tripp of Little Compton and another fellow named John Macomber. First they crossed Malay and Java cocks with Cochina China hens. The offspring were then crossed with Light Brahmas, Plymouth Rocks and Brown Leghorns. The final breed was the Rhode Island Red, which had a high egg yield and still made a delicious meal.

The Rhode Island Red can be identified by its red-brown feathers (which can vary from a fawny-red to a deep chocolate red), red comb and yellow skin. Hens mature at six months, can lay up to 260 eggs a year, and can lay throughout the winter. They are also rarely "broody," meaning they aren't disposed to keep sitting on their eggs until they hatch. Additionally, today's mature Rhode Island Reds make decent-sized roasters, with the roosters weighing in at around eight pounds, and the hens coming in a pound or two lighter.

The Rhode Island Red was recognized as a legitimate breed at the Providence poultry show in 1895, and was first advertised in poultry journals in 1896. The single-combed and rose-combed varieties were admitted to the American Poultry Association's Standard of Perfection in 1904 and '05, respectively (the Standard of Perfection is a guide used by breeders to benchmark their chicken eugenics programs.)

Since the 1940s Rhode Island Reds have actually gotten smaller, by a half-pound to a pound, as breeders sacrificed bulk in favor of enhanced egg-laying capabilities. According to the Western North Carolina Nature Center, there are fewer than 2,500 Rhode Island Reds of original stock being registered in North America each year, and fewer than 5,000 worldwide. Their numbers are being monitored by the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy to ensure that this "heritage" breed does not die out. While the much more common "production" breed of the Rhode Island Red is in no danger of disappearing, it's important to preserve the genes of the original stock for future breeding.

In 1954, a state bird election was sponsored by the Audubon Society of Rhode Island, the Rhode Island Federation of Garden Clubs, and the Providence Journal Company. The Rhode Island Red beat out its closest competitors, the osprey and ruby-throated hummingbird, and became Rhode Island's official state bird at noon on May 3, 1954. "The Rhode Island Red," Governor Dennis J. Roberts said, upon signing the bill into law, "has become a symbol of Rhode Islanders all over the world."

As a small measure of proof of that statement, there are organized clubs of Rhode Island Red breeders and fanciers in the USA, England, and Scotland. The Rhode Island Red Commemorative Monument is also immortalized at the new Denver International Airport, where it's featured on a mural by Gary Sweeney entitled America, Why I Love Her. (A second mural spotlights New England Pest Control's mascot, Nibbles Woodaway.)

Some excellent images of various Rhode Island Reds can be found online.

Rhode Island Red Commemorative Monument Tablet Inscription

Read these words, oh ye mighty, and know that thou art at the top of the food chain!

THE RHODE ISLAND RED

TO COMMEMORATE THE BIRTHPLACE OF THE
RHODE ISLAND RED BREEDING FOWL WHICH
WAS ORIGINATED NEAR THIS LOCATION.

RED FOWLS WERE BRED EXTENSIVELY BY
THE FARMERS OF THIS DISTRICT AND LATER
NAMED 'RHODE ISLAND REDS' AND BROUGHT INTO
NATIONAL PROMINENCE BY THE POULTRY FANCIERS.

THIS TABLET IS PLACED BY THE
RHODE ISLAND RED CLUB OF AMERICA
WITH CONTRIBUTIONS OF RHODE ISLAND RED
BREEDERS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD
ON LAND DONATED BY
DEBORAH T. MANCHESTER.

1925

This article last edited July 26, 2001