CornishXs vs Freedom Rangers

[CricketYang]

I raised a few CXs last year and were not satisfied with them at all; they were stinky, pooped all over, ate too much and had leg problems, typical stuff of CXs. This year DH and I order 25 FRangers from a hatchery and are very excited for them. I understand that they are more active and consume less feed, which is amazing to hear. The only downside to FRs is that they take a little longer to raise, which I don't mind. We plan on feeding them 20%, local grain.

What I'm curious about is how they TASTE compared to the CXs. Has anyone had any experiences with these two birds and done comparisons? I'm thinking that after a week or so of having the FRs, I'll go to the feed store and get a few CXs (so they can all be butchered at the same time) to do my own little blind taste test

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[miss_thenorth]

My experience is that they both taste like chicken

Seriously though, the cxs wil have bigger breasts, but depending on what they eat, there are gonna taste like chicken. seriously.

 

[DenverBird]

My FRs are 10 weeks today. They DO stink and poop a lot but this is my first batch of meaties and I don't have another reference point other than our sweetie pie hens.

 

[ChikeeMomma]

I did a batch of Dixie Rainbows, which are supposed to be comparable to Freedom Rangers. They come from two different hatcheries, so I can't directly compare, I guess. I wasn't happy with my Dixie Rainbows and I did not like the taste as much as my free ranged Cornish Xs. I did let the Dixie Rainbows go until 17 weeks before being butchered. My Cornish X go to about 9-11 weeks and I haven't had any of the typical problems you hear about. Alot of people on here love the Freedom Ranger. I hope you have great success with them!

 

[Jamie_Dog_Trainer]

I had both and never noticed a difference in flavor, only meat texture and color.

 

[OkChickens]

With Cornish X you need to limit there feed intake! They only need food from about 7 Am to 7 Pm. Do not let them have all you can eat! I feed them 21% non medicated chick starter from day 1 to 3 weeks then I feed laying crumbles from 3 weeks to 6 weeks then transition them to 75% pellets and 25% corn until 10-11 weeks. Only 12 hours a day though!

The Cx's taste wonderful!

Nate

 

[bigredfeather]

Quote:
They may be more active, but they will not consume less feed. I would guess they eat more because the are eating over a longer period of time.

 

[EGGTASKTIC]

I will second Bigredfeathers comment. I did 50 rangers last year, they were not as hardy as the cx. I had lost 11 the first week. The remaining 42 ate my out of hose and home. I was not happy with their size at weeks at 8 weeks so I kept them to a little over 12 weeks. After the 8th week I was pouring the feed to them about 4 5 gal buckets a week. They were better foragers and more active and they were very good looking birds.

 

[Peruvian]

I've raised both (actually CX and K-22 rangers from Moyers). The rangers will actually eat more food per bird to get to the same weight, as they have a lower feed conversion ratio. As such they will poop more. The difference is that they will grow slower so you have another month to deal with it (is that good or bad??). They are much prettier birds and look & act more 'chickeny' as they scratch and forage well. I enjoyed the texture of the rangers more but they did look more old fashioned and would not sell as well as a CX as they look different from what folks see in the grocery. If I had the time, I would likely raise more rangers.

 

[chickened]

Not to repeat above posts but they do have a unique flavor compared to CX are a little tougher due to age breasts are comparable to Dark Cornish not as full as CX and yes darker meat overall. Once you get used to not eating CX they are fine. I hear alot of horror stories about CX but I have feed 24/7 with them and never have an issue of signifigance and they are freeranged, maybe it is the strain.