Ordered 15 Colored Range Broilers (aka Freedom Rangers)

[UncleHoot]

I'm taking the plunge... Or, maybe I'm just getting my feet wet.

I ordered 15 (the minimum) today from JM Hatchery, for a ship date of July 16.

I also ordered 50 "regular" meat chickens from Townline Hatchery which ship (or was it hatch?) on the 14th.

So, this will be the ultimate comparison, right?

65 chickens (plus whatever extras) in my 10x12 tractor...

I'll probably thin them out at 8 weeks, then let the others grow-out to 10 weeks, and let the colored broilers grow to about 12 weeks.

 

[greyfields]

I'm getting 100 on the same ship date. He's going to mix the colors for me.

 

[urbanagrarian]

Are you going to raise them separately so you can compare feed/weight ratios? That would be really interesting as well as your thoughts on taste of course.

 

[UncleHoot]

Quote:
They will be raised along with the Cornish X broilers. From everything I've read, the FCR is about the same, they just take longer to reach the same weight.

But raising them together should provide a true comparison. They will both have the same amount of space, and will both be eating the same food. Obviously the Colored Range Broilers will develop slower, but hopefully, I can make exact comparisons.

 

[UncleHoot]

Quote:
Apparently, that's true for all orders now...

"NOTE: When you order Colored Range chicks, you will receive a random assortment of all in stock varieties mentioned above. We cannot separate by line at hatching, so please do not request specific counts of a particular line of chicks."

 

[greyfields]

Oh that's interesting. Wonder if this is a growing pain, or if that's his plan?