pictures of my Rangers

[HillCountryMomma]

I haven't figured out how to post pictures here yet, so I posted some to my blog. My Rangers are 8 weeks 5 days today.

http://stephensfamilyfarm.blogspot.com/

I weighed a couple yesterday. One pullet that was average size for the flock weighed exactly 4 lbs. I also grabbed the biggets rooster, he weighed almost 5 lbs. Really not the weights I'd been hoping for!! Unless they grow a LOT in the next week it looks like I'll be waiting till 10-12 weeks to butcher which does NOT make me happy.

Overall I just haven't been impressed with the Rangers. *sigh* Maybe I should have started with cornishx then I'd appreciate them more. Dunno. I'm gonna try Ideals Red Broilers next before giving up on the slower growing meat birds. I was ready for it to take more than 6 weeks to grow out a nice sized meat bird... wasn't ready for it to take twice that long! Grrr!!

Liz

 

[Break an Egg]

They sure have come a long way from being fuzzy little chicks. Red and bronze rangers, I wonder what breeds they have in them. Chickens grow up fast, I would give them a few more weeks.

 

[greyfields]

They look healthy to me. Sorry you aren't getting the growth rates others have. Who knows what the deal could be. Bad batch? Bad weather? Bad feed? Too hot? It's really impossible to say, except your results aren't typical.

Regardless, they will be tastey! I've eaten 3 gold rangers in the last week. I'm OD'ing myself on chicken.

 

[willheveland]

Hi Liz, I'm sorry that your experience so far hasn't been a good one.But don't get discouraged.
I looked at the pictures of your Rangers.They almost look like Americanas.I don't know if you have raised meat birds before or not? If you decide to try another batch and I hope you do I would suggest trying a few Cornish X or even the Cornish Roaster(which is a slower grower) by MMM along with whatever you decide to get.Raise them together and see the results.Especially if you are new at this,you can't go wrong.I don't really know what you are looking for,but maybe the Ranger just isn't for you.I know in a short time they got alot of exposure here and people were ready to order by the box full on just what we had read.Most of us had never heard of them until a few months ago.Sure the red broiler has been out for a long time but the "Freedom Ranger" is what stuck in our heads.I know when you are thinking of doing something it is nice to search through some posts and get different opinons to help you make your decision easier or make you feel better about the choice you make but I think in this case you just got to try some experimenting on your own.After a few batches you'll know what works for you.
Anyways those birds look really good and either way you probably learned some stuff and had some fun to boot.The bottom line is you did raise some "home grown"chicken and that alone is something to appreciate.So, get that next batch ordered. good luck Will

 

[HillCountryMomma]

Will,

Thanks so much for your nice post. It was just what I needed to hear this morning.

I've been pondering it a bit, and what you suggested is just what I'm planning on doing. I'm not going to give up! I'm going to order more meat birds for this fall, and I'm going to try both cornishx and the red broilers. I'm real close to Ideal (can drive over and pick the birds up), so I'll try their stock first. I sure hope I get better results!! Oh, and yes, this is my first time with meat birds. I've had layers for a long time but just got brave enough to do the meaties. Bought into the Freedom Ranger hype and I'm just not thrilled with them.

Grey, I sure wish I knew what the problem is. I guess when I try another meat type I'll find out if it's my management style or the birds. I'm not above thinking it might be in the way I'm managing them, I just can't figure where I'm going wrong. I researched, I've given them the best of everything I have available. What weight did your birds dress out at? You said you butchered at 9.5 weeks, correct?

Thanks y'all! I know I've been doing a bit of grousing here lately. I'm just real frustrated with these stupid birds. I've put so dang much work and care into them, and it's just not panning out the way I'd hoped.

Liz

 

[UncleHoot]

Quote:
FR's came in a few different varieties. While I haven't raised these before, the ones in your photos do not strike me as Red Rangers. The other varieties grow a bit slower (according to their site), so you might just want to add-on yet another week before processing.

 

[greyfields]

Those are the Gold Rangers or the "Tricolor" from JM.

 

[HillCountryMomma]

Ok... so it does in fact seem like I ended up with the Goldens. I wasn't sure since I think only 2 of the birds are actually an overall golden color. The rest are mottled, tri-color is a very good description. One hen is really beautiful, the tips of each feather are a different color than the rest very much like my Ameracauna hens. I think I'm going to keep her.

I'd ordered red/bronze, got golden. Got a half hearted appology for the mix up from Barbara and no credit or fix. Can't say I'd ever order from them again even if they hadn't gone out of business.

So, I'm stuck with even slower growing slow grower birds. Nice.

I guess the silver lining is that at least this means it's probably not just me screwing up. It's the darn slow growing birds! Ha!!

I weighed on today, one of the biggest. He weighed 6 lbs 8oz. That's almost starting to get somewhere!!! They're 9 weeks today.

Liz ~ plugging away with my meat birds

 

[greyfields]

I'm sorry you're not enjoying the experience. I really think you ought try raising Cornish Crosses for awhile.

Honestly, we don't need to hear about it in every single thread do we?

 

[cjeanean]

I have cornish crosses right now, and I got them on May 19th at three weeks approx of age. They're about the same size as urs! They go through about 2 bags of feed per week, which equals exactly 26.01 with tax. So they're about 8 weeks old. They've been outside for about two weeks now (had problems getting their coop finished) and they HAVE GROWN INSANELY since. They've almost doubled in weight in just those two weeks, and I'm planning to butcher at the end of july unless they get big enough sooner. I'm not very happy with it, either, I was hoping for them to be done at 8 weeks, but it doesn't look like it's gonna happen. Their coop is gonna be used for my roosters, and I'm gonna need it really soon, but I'm just gonna have to throw my 7 juvenile roos in with my other chickens (in which there are already 4 roos) for about 3 weeks until my cornish are butchered. Good luck!! Maybe jumbo cornish would be a better option.....these are just regular cornish X......