Redcaps are poultry antiquities.  

We enjoy our Redcaps, you may also find them beneficial, however they are not for everyone. 

They are not typically the bird to select for a hug-able pet chicken. They enjoy trees and ranging about for food and dust baths. Ours come running when they see us with the "chicken bucket" - the scrap and treat can. 

Redcaps do not flourish in confinement, I'm sure this is also true for lots of other breeds.  They are a high energy bird that likes to stay busy. 

They lay an egg that some consider smaller by today's commercial standards.

If you have trees, they love to roost in them at night (at least our do in our native evergreen Junipers) and nap in them during the day.  See more info in next column.

Redcaps are often termed flighty. We find ours are jittery as juveniles, but they become tame with consistent management. 

 More info as reported in the American Poultry Journal, July 1915, by R.P. Weidenfeller of Mineral Point Wisconsin. The article was titled "The English Red Cap". Full article here.

 The above eggs are from Redcap hens, pullet eggs are smaller and somewhat more tinted (tan). They lighten as the pullet matures.

We sell hatching eggs and live birds. We ship only the eggs at this time.  Live chickens or chicks are farm pickup. All eggs, chicks and chickens listed below are subject to availability ! 

 Hatching eggs - 

Please click the re-fresh button on your browser to ensure updated pricing. We use an inexpensive website and it does not get loaded often into search engines. 

 Subject to availabilty, please check with us prior to ordering if you need eggs by a certain date. We may have a waiting list depending on egg supply. We ship only clean, fresh eggs. Email us at dautobiacres@yahoo.com with any questions.

Hatching eggs are $2.50 each, plus shipping.

$48.00 per 12 eggs, shipped

$68.00 per 20 eggs, shipped

$30.00 per 12 eggs, farm pickup

 shipping via Priority Mail - United States Postal Service. This service can be 1, 2 or 3 day postal service depending on your location. The post office supplies a tracking number that allows you to know where the package is and when it will be delivered. You may subscribe to a text or email notification option. Its important NOT to allow your eggs to sit outside in the hot sun or freezing cold for very long after delivery.

www.squareup.com/market/dautobi-acres

For credit card orders, click the above link.

  You can ask for the eggs to be held at your local post office for you to pickup. This saves them from some additional jarring and may be a better temperature than your mailbox or front porch. You must let us know to add this service, no additional fee is charged by the Post Office at this time.

   Eggs for hatching are selected for cleanliness,  shape,  shell quality and they  are candled to help see any slight cracks. Size will vary as you may receive a mix of hen and pullet eggs.  Color will vary from almost white to beige. Eggs that are the darkest beige are from pullets and lighter (almost white) eggs are from mature hens (typically).  

 We cannot guarantee the hatch rate as we have no control over the shipping or incubation of the eggs. 

Tips on hatching shipped eggs - 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Up1_60DpeT4

We do everything we can to ensure that we ship only fertile eggs. The shipping process is disruptive on the egg! For best results, allow the eggs to sit (at least) overnight prior to starting incubation. There is a lot of constantly updated info on the web regarding shipped eggs and egg incubation in general. If you are new to hatching eggs, please do your research prior to ordering.

Damaged shipments - 

We insure shipments against damage by the Post Office.  The Post Office makes the decision whether to pay or not.  We can only reimburse you if the Post Office decides the claim is legitimate and pays us.

Claim information needed -

Photograph of the damaged box before it is opened. Photograph of the cracked and/or broken eggs.  If you pickup at the Post Office, name of postal employee. 

Using FRAGILE, HANDLE WITH CARE, NO X-RAYS etc

No special treatment is given by the Post Office to packages, REGARDLESS OF MARKINGS, unless you purchase the "Special Handling" optionoffered by the Post Office. It costs about $11.00 per package in postage and more time for the shipper (as you can't print the label from home). You may want to call your local Post Office and ask about the option before buying it. This option does not guarantee safe delivery, you still use the same insurance claim process if the shipment is damaged.  Marking packages "Fragile, Eggs, etc." seems to mark the box as a special challenge for some postal employees to destroy. 

The following prices are based on farm pickup and subject to availability. We may offer shipping at a future date.  Email us for more information. 

Juvenile birds 

$25.00 each, sexed - pullets or cockerals, should start laying within 12 to 14 weeks.

Chicks (not sexed)

$8.00 to $10.00 each, depending on age,  straight run (gender unknown)

   For credit card payment on egg orders visit

www.squareup.com/market/dautobi-acres

Email us at:

dautobiacres@yahoo.com

  Pullorum-Typhoid test certificate provided with each sale. If your State requires further testing of eggs or live poultry, additional fees apply. 

Day old Redcap chicks hatched on our farm. Redcap chicks are hatched with pink shanks that gradually turn to slate blue after a few weeks. 

Redcap chicks at about 2 weeks of age.

Redcap pullet eggs with golfballs used as nest eggs.  Redcap pullet eggs (first year eggs) are darker (and smaller, of course) than eggs from a mature hen. The color starts off as a beige and matures into an almost white, but not quite chalk white egg. The eggs at the top if this column, with the ruler, are hen eggs. 

Redcaps are listed as Critical on the Conservation Priority List by the Livestock Breeds Conservancy 

from their website..........

Origins: The Redcap originates from England although the precise area is unknown. It is however, closely connected with Derbyshire and is sometimes called the Derbyshire Redcap. It is not known when this breed showed up, but it is thought to be one of the older English breeds. The Redcap came to the United States in the 1800’s and was spread largely across the country by 1870.Redcap chickens were recognized by the American Poultry Association as a standard breed in 1888.

 "The English Red Cap".

Full article here.

 Email -

dautobiacres@yahoo.com 

One of our foundation roosters.  While shipping does reduce hatchability, here at the farm our incubated eggs average + 90% fertility.

Redcaps happily spend the day on a routine that includes foraging, sunning, preening, dust baths and laying.

Redcaps have slate colored shanks. Each time they molt, feather coloring changes slightly.

Redcaps and Derbyshire Redcaps are related but not exactly the same bird.  A different standard is applied to each breed.  Redcaps are an American version of the Derbyshire Redcap or "Coral".  The Derbyshire Redcap was thought to have been brought to the USA in the 1800's.  Its path has developed separately from the birds in the United Kingdom and Australia.  The  American Poultry Association recognized the Redcap as a breed in 1888 and created the "standard of perfection" for it.  The Derbyshire Redcap's breed standard is defined British Poultry Standards with the Poultry Club of Great Britian (PCGB).  The APA and the PCGB standards differ for these birds in several instances - weight, color of ear(lobe) and more. 

 More about our Redcaps and improving them

  Our improvement goals are to make the American version of the Redcap a reliable farm bird and closer to the APA breed standard.  We have only raised these birds since 2015. It's difficult to find any  birds with which to start, let alone refined stock. After growing out chicks from two major hatcheries, we culled the flock by half. 

The current priorities are:

1) the essential traits are always first - fertility, egg production, survival in the real world - we take good care of our birds, but they are not caged. They are free to roam about the farm.

 2) Size/weight that is closer to APA standards. This bird was reported as being underweight in the early 1900's, not long after the breed standard was issued. Reported in the American Poultry Journal, July 1915, by R.P. Weidenfeller of Mineral Point Wisconsin. The article was titled "The English Red Cap". Full article here.

3) Combs and earlobes. Breeders have reported single combs appearing since at least 1915. So its not a trait that was from a recent crossing, but we would cull these birds. While we have not seen any single combs, others have reported them appearing in birds from all of the three major hatcheries that sold Redcaps recently. We will select for more red in the earlobes but not over weight. Up to 50% white in the lobe is acceptable by APA standards.  

As a benefactor for these heritage chickens, we will push them forward to the best of our ability and hope others will take up the task with us. If Redcaps are not for you, research the other poultry and farm animals in need of preservation at

www.livestockconservancy.org

We are always accepting advice and anecdotal information on Redcaps.  There are so few lines in the country from which to start birds and fewer and fewer folks that can endure a heritage chicken. We don't have all the answers but do offer our own experiences as a tool in your decision making process.  

Feed and forage

We offer free-choice scratch grains, lay crumble and black oil sunflower seeds to our adult Redcaps.  Since they free range, much time is spent scratching through hay, clipping grass and other green plants and catching insects.  

 Trees and predators - Our birds love the native Junipers that are close to the barns. These are evergreen natives call "Eastern Red Cedar" that are excellent trees for wild birds and our chickens.  We have many other trees, but they prefer these.  The chickens still have the hen house and several barns and sheds with roosts available. They love foraging under all the trees and always keep a close eye on the sky. 

Pullets about 90 days of age.

Redcap pullet about 8 months of age.

Email -

dautobiacres@yahoo.com 

All the photographs on our website are from Redcaps on our farm.  We do not use "stock" internet photos - these are actual birds that we have raised.