Freedom Ranger Black Broiler

keesmom

Free Ranging
12 Years
Jul 28, 2008
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4,681
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MA
Has anyone tried these yet? I would be interested in hearing people's opinion of them and how they compare to CXs and the Red Rangers.
 
I ordered 25 of them this year, along with the red ones. I'll know in a couple of months one so how they compare to one another. This is my first attempt at raising either of them.
 
Well, I got my Freedom Rangers yesterday. 25 red, 25 black. They all arrived alive, and appeared vigorous, healthy and active. At my last check before I went to bed, it was 1 am (I'm a night owl, what can I say? ;) ) and 36 degrees out. I have two heat lamps on them, none were directly under the lamps. and they were not crowded together at all. This morning when I checked on them at 10 am, I had 3 dead black ones. They were not stiff like they would have been if they'd been dead for several hours, they were not directly under the lamps, and the were not even near each other, so I ruled out piling as a cause. The rest of the chicks were still acting happy and healthy. At 1:30 pm, I had another dead black one. Since the 4 that I've lost so far have all been black, I was wondering of maybe they're not as hardy as the reds. I called the hatchery, and he's just as baffled as I am. He thought the black ones would be hardier than the red ones. I would think if it were a general problem, I'd be losing chicks of both varieties.
 
Hmmm, that is odd. Have you lost any more? I tried the reds for the first time last fall and I only lost one, and that was only because one decided to try a swim in the duck pool.

Please keep us updated!
 
I have one more black one that I'm sure will be dead by morning. He's very weak, and not growing. He's noticeably smaller than the others. I know I should have just put him down, but he was still able to get around, so I wanted to give him a chance. That's 5 total of the black ones. Not a good average when I only started out with 25. The guy at the hatchery was very decent, though, and offered to refund me for however many I lost over the weekend. He didn't have to do that, since he has no idea how I care for my chicks.
 
Well, as of this afternoon, I've lost 6 of 25 black Freedom Ranger broilers. The one I figured would be dead by morning was, everyone else looked healthy. When I got home from work this afternoon, there was another dead one. No apparent injury, can't find any sign of parasites, and it's just been the black ones. It's a mystery. On a possibly unrelated note, something ran off with one of the mouse traps that was in that coop (not where the chicks could get near it.)
 
Well, as of this afternoon, I've lost 6 of 25 black Freedom Ranger broilers. The one I figured would be dead by morning was, everyone else looked healthy. When I got home from work this afternoon, there was another dead one. No apparent injury, can't find any sign of parasites, and it's just been the black ones. It's a mystery. On a possibly unrelated note, something ran off with one of the mouse traps that was in that coop (not where the chicks could get near it.)
I am really surprised. The reds did so well.
 

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