Freedom Ranger Outside Temperatures

[chickandrudder]

Hello! I’m currently raising Cornish Cross chickens and would like to try out Freedom Rangers for my Fall chickens. I am located in NJ, and I pasture-raise my birds in chicken tractors. My question is, what temperatures can the Freedom Rangers withstand? These would be ready for processing in November, and it can get pretty chilly here in the Fall. I know they need to be fully feathered to be outside/off their heat source. I would love to hear your experiences or advice on the subject!

 

[Compost King]

I have kept Red Rangers (similar bird) as egg layers through winters here. They thrived during the nights that got down into the teens which is as cold as it gets where I live. Not sure how cold Jersey gets in November but I imagine it doesn't get bitter cold there before thanksgiving. I lived near Buffalo and the bitter cold if it came did not come until Christmas and often it took January to bring them in. Large birds thrive in the cold. The only issue would be frostbite on the combs of the males... and does that matter on a meat bird?

 

[iwltfum]

I raise several batches of freedom rangers a year in pasture pens (aka chicken tractors). My last butcher date is usually around the end of August or beginning of September, but only because the turkeys take up most of my time after that. Temperature-wise, I would feel comfortable raising them into early or mid November on the coast of Maine so I think you could do at least that in NJ.

The birds themselves can survive pretty cold temps as far as I know, but your issue might be with growth rate if it happens to be a season where an early cold snap happens. There is also less light that time of year. By the time November rolls around, there are only 10 hours of daylight (less toward the end of the month) and a significant portion of that is low angle. The amount of light = the amount of time they are eating = the amount of food they eat. So compared to the middle of the summer with 15 hours of daylight, they could take 30% longer to grow out based solely on feed consumption. So just keep that in mind when you're scheduling when the chicks will arrive.