Well, I'm ready to formerly start unveiling my next Songbird ReMix set. It's probably the most requested bird I've been asked to do over the years.... and as some of you have already guessed... yup, it's Chickens. The soon-to-be released set (end of October) will include five breeds; Rhode Island Reds (pictured here), Orpingtons (in the last two renders), Leghorns, Australorps and Cochins with paired roosters and hens. That coop in the distance will also be available. About the Rhode Island Red breed... It was developed as a dual-purpose breed; to provide both meat and eggs. Since about 1940, it has been selectively bred predominantly for egg-laying qualities. The traditional dual-purpose "old-styled" Rhode Island Red lays 200–300 brown eggs per year, and yields rich-flavored meat. It's origins... The Rhode Island Red was bred in Rhode Island and Massachusetts in the second half of the nineteenth century. It was created by the selective breeding of Asian chicken breeds (Cochin, Java, Malay and Shanghai) with the brown Leghorn chicken from Italy. Its iconic deep red plumage is believed to be derived from the Malay breed. The name of the breed is ascribed either to Isaac Champlin Wilbour of Little Compton or to Mr. Jenny of the Southern Massachusetts Poultry Association around 1880. In 1891, Nathaniel Borden Aldrich exhibited some as "Golden Buffs" in Rhode Island, and in Philadelphia four years later, they were first exhibited under their present name. The first breed standard was drawn up in 1898, and was approved by the American Rhode Island Red Club in Boston in 1901. The single-comb variety was admitted to the Standard of Perfection of the American Poultry Association in 1904 and the rose-comb in 1906.