Our BRIR come from show stock. Many varieties have production blood to increase their egg laying tendencies. Our Rhode Island bantams are a deep mahogany color and have the old fashioned single comb red appearance. They are good layers of brown eggs and the eggs will hatch well. They're a ery friendly bird, and one of the farm favorites. "Pocket" (pictured) is used in many photo shoots with small children as she is a very laid back and docile bird. "Pocket" is one of our founding RIR bantams and started our love for the bird.

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They are a good miniature breed of the standard, perfect for the backyard home. Who wouldn't want a miniature version of one of the most famous breeds in the US?

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They are held in such esteem that the (standard) version was once the Rhode Island state bird! RIR Bantams tend to do well in any climate. In fact, if you're not sure what birds would do well in your climate this would be one of our recommendations to you.

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The history of these birds goes back to the 1920's, when Perrin Johnson of Rochester , New York began his new strain of Red Bantams by crossing large fowl Single Comb Rhode Island Reds with old English Game, Cochin, and Wyandotte bantams. In Mr. Johnson’s 1925 mating list, he stated that the Rhode Island Red Bantam should be true bantam in weight, size and not be a half-size Red. Mr. Johnson eagerly supplied most of the original bantams to other red breeders who began raising this popular new bantam and worked with this group to organize the Rhode Island Red Bantam Club of America.  During this time, he served as their President for over ten years then club secretary until the club merged with the Rhode Island Red Club in the mid 1940s.  The red bantam breeders had their problems during this early development period with this new breed as they where plagued with fluffy wide feathers , cushions in the top lines from the Cochins and the elevated top lines from the Wyandotte's. To make thinks even more difficult, the introduction of Old English Games gave them pinched tails and pointed down wing carriages. In the 1930s the Red Bantams started to shape up like their large fowl counterparts, however their major problems was with oversized birds. Mr. Johnson was displeased with this dilemma and began to complain to the membership of the Red Bantam Club about the judges picking the best red bantams because of under color, surface color, and bigger birds rather than correct weight and size. The members voiced back the old age reason if we do not show the bigger birds we cannot win. He fired back challenging them what is more important winning at the shows or perfecting the breed. The members began to listen to Perrin and started weighing the red bantams at the shows and before long the larger birds where no longer being exhibited and the judges where forced to pick the truly better typed birds. For a period, Mr. Johnson would weigh all the bantams at the National Meets and Regional Red Meets that he attended and place the weights on the coop tags for all to see. .

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These birds can still be found in many bantam shows and poultry swaps, still achieving the standards Mr.