Rhode Island Red

An American breed of domestic chicken and the state bird of Rhode Island, developed in Rhode Island and Massachusetts in the late nineteenth century by crossing birds of Oriental origin, such as the Malay, with brown Leghorns from Italy. It was originally bred as a dual purpose fowl, raised for both meat and eggs, though since about 1940 it has been selectively bred mainly for egg laying, and the modern industrial Rhode Island Red is essentially a layer breed. The traditional variety carries lustrous deep red to almost black plumage with a mostly black tail, a single or rose comb that is vivid red like the earlobes and wattles, and yellow legs and feet often marked with red. The traditional dual purpose strain lays 200 to 300 brown eggs a year and yields richly flavored meat, and the non-industrial variety is considered significant enough to have been placed in the Slow Food Foundation's Ark of Taste.