Dixie Rainbows Thread

[FallingSkies]

I know this might be a strange request but I am looking for the dixie rainbows that are older and don'tneed lites. I wanted to order some but here Iin NH cold came fast and day olds wouldn't have feathered enough. I have 2 roos I thought I would process but as everyone says I love their personalities. I wanted some males for meat but wanted to kept females for eggs and breeding. Would love to here from some of you who aren't keeping all yours. Thanks

 

[sarahandbray]

I actually don't know anyone personally that has these birds other than me! I have four hens and one Roo this point (though one of the hens is questionable...not sure 100% yet). Since I didn't want meat birds, only egg layers, I wouldn't have ordered these on my own, but since they were in the surprise mix I got from McMurray, I got them anyway! So glad I did--especially if the girls become good layers of big brown eggs! Still loving my Roo, but I'm afraid he's going to hurt the slight/skinny White Leghorns since he's such a beast! Really don't want to "process" him though--he's such a great Rooster at this point and the only one of the bunch that really seems to keep a watchful eye out.

 

[lazy gardener]

I also have a Pioneer pullet. She looks like a BO with a few black feathers in her tail. She's a sweet bird, and the only one who was spared a freezer camp date. She was the first of this year's pullets to lay, and has been a steady layer. Nice large brown egg.

 

[Spoof]

I can't tell the difference between the Dixie Rainbows and the Isa Browns at a week old, but out of 27 from Hoover hatchery 23 are still alive and very active.

They are all growing like weeds and quite inquisitive. I figured if they had chicks available now it meant these guys were good for laying through the winter.

 

[Spoof]

11 days old and I can now tell them apart from the Isa browns (smaller chicks). That didn't take long!

 

[matt44644]

These were developed by the French in the 1960's.The different names are due to trademarks.
https://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/summaries/summary.php?pub=224 click on the free pdf

 

[matt44644]

Quality You Can Count On
Our Freedom Ranger� chicks are hatched on our family farm in Lancaster County, PA and shipped directly to you. We maintain our own incubators on site. We do not use third-party drop shippers. Our breeding stock is imported from Burgundy and Brittany France, derived from an American and European heritage breed that was developed in the early 1960s to meet the high standards of the French Label Rouge Free Range program.
FROM http://www.freedomrangerhatchery.com/freedom-ranger-chickens.asp

http://www.jmhatchery.com/hens/freedom-ranger-chicks/prod_5.html
They were on CNN's Somebody's got to do it with Mike Rowe 11-12-2014

http://www.poultrylabelrouge.com/index.php

 

[Spoof]

8 weeks old, isa brown on the left Dixie rainbow (hen?) on the right.

She is average sized for the group of rainbows, I have a couple whitish ones that are quite a bit larger than she is and have a hard time walking.

 

[Freeholder]

I'm wondering if anyone has compared the Rainbows/Pioneers with Welp's Slow Whites? I have a friend in New York who has been raising the Slow Whites for several years -- she says they breed true and are very good layers. Sound a lot like these guys, and I would prefer a colored chicken over white, but would like to hear from someone who has compared them. (If nobody has, I may get both this year and do a comparison myself.)

Kathleen

 

[rudy6482]

second generation dixie

Did the 2nd generation have the same fast growth rate as the first? I'm curious to see what happens after breeding my pioneers.