New Hampshire Red: The brother of Rhode Island Red

New Hampshire red is a famous dual purpose chicken. It is almost similar with Rhode Island Red.  The cock is 9.5 pound in weight. The female is smaller which is 6.5 pound in weight. The cockerel weighs 7.5 pound and the pullet weighs 5.5 pound. The color of the fowl is brown to red. It often fades in the sunshine. It has blood red single comb, which the cock is bigger than the hen. There are some point at the edge of comb. The beak and the shanks are yellow in color. The skin of the chicken is red.


This chicken is developed from Rhode Island Red. Before 1935, American breeder Association did not recognize this chicken strain. People are difficult to distinguish New Hampshire to The Rhode Island. The aim of the bird development is to provide the fast meat. 

The chicken is the prolific layer. The hen can lay at six month age. The productive layer up to two years. The layer can lay up to 220  eggs in a year. Like the Rhode, They lay brown eggs, or even darker brown  ones. The female of New Hampshire is also good mother, meaning the hen can hatch its eggs. The owners do not have to provide incubator to hatch its egg. 

The male chicken has many meats. It can provide the meat fast. Some breeder company use this chicken as broiler parent. They cross New Hampshire with other best chicken.

It is characterized by the brood body then the ancestor red jungle fowl or Gallus bankiva. The tail is short relative to its body. It is black beetle in color. Once light shine the tail, the color looks green and purple. 

This chicken is aggressive so you should be careful with this chicken and the roster is also territorial. You should not raise two or more rosters in a flock.

 image by : Sr.M.Jutta by Pixabay