The Rhode Island White is a

breed A breed is a specific group of domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist several slig ...

chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adult m ...

originating in the U.S. state of

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

. Despite their very similar names and shared place of origin, the Rhode Island White is a distinct breed from the

Rhode Island Red The Rhode Island Red is an American breed of domestic chicken. It is the state bird of Rhode Island. It was developed there and in Massachusetts in the late nineteenth century, by cross-breeding birds of Oriental origin such as the Malay with ...

. However, Rhode Island Reds and Whites can be bred together to create Red

Sex-Link Sex-links are crossbred chickens whose color at hatching is differentiated by sex, thus making chick sexing an easier process. Sex-links come in several varieties. As hybrids of laying or dual-purpose breeds infused with extra vigor via heterosi ...

hybrid chickens, such as the

ISA Brown The ISA Brown is a crossbreed of chicken, with sex-linked coloration. It is thought to have been the result of a complex series of crosses including but not limited to Rhode Island Reds and Rhode Island Whites, and contains genes from a wide ...

. In Australia, the Rhode Island White is regarded as a color variety of the Rhode Island breed according to the Australian Poultry Standards.

History

Rhode Island Whites arose from the work of J. Alonzo Jocoy of

Peacedale, Rhode Island Peace Dale (also spelled Peacedale) is a village in the town of South Kingstown, Rhode Island, South Kingstown, Rhode Island. Together with the village of Wakefield, Rhode Island, Wakefield, it is treated by the U.S. Census as a component of the ce ...

, which began in 1888. Developed through crosses of Partridge Cochins, White Wyandottes, and the rose

comb A comb is a tool consisting of a shaft that holds a row of teeth for pulling through the hair to clean, untangle, or style it. Combs have been used since prehistoric times, having been discovered in very refined forms from settlements dating ba ...

type of

White Leghorn The Leghorn (, ; it, Livorno, italic=no or Livornese) is a breed of chicken originating in Tuscany, in central Italy. Birds were first exported to North America in 1828 from the Tuscan port city of Livorno, on the western coast of Italy. The ...

, it was solidified as a breed by 1903. It was first accepted into the American Poultry Association's

Standard of Perfection The ''American Standard of Perfection'' is the official breed standard for the poultry fancy in North America. First published in 1874 by the American Poultry Association, the ''Standard of Perfection'' (commonly referred to as "the ''Standard''" ...

in 1922. Moderately popular up until the 1960s, it is now a relatively rare fowl. It is listed on the

American Livestock Breeds Conservancy The Livestock Conservancy, formerly known as the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy (ALBC) and prior to that, the American Minor Breeds Conservancy, is a nonprofit organization focused on preserving and promoting rare breeds, also known as "h ...

as a breed to watch, with less than 3,000 birds known to have existed circa 2003. Like most standard breeds, it also appears in a bantam variety.

Characteristics

Rhode Island Whites are a dual-purpose fowl suitable for both meat and egg production. Males weigh 8.5 pounds (3.9 kilos) and hens weigh 6.5 pounds (3 kilos). They have a single variety, with pure white plumage, red wattles and earlobes, and a medium size rose

References

* * * Conservation Priority Breeds of the Livestock Conservancy Chicken breeds Chicken breeds originating in the United States {{poultry-stub it:Rhode Island (pollo)#Colorazioni