Freedom Ranger

I had 4 Red Rangers/Freedom Rangers that I bought at TSC just to check them out. They were too active with too much personality to kill. I gave away 2 males to a neighbor who will dress his own roosters from time to time. He told me the meat was great compared to the Heritage roosters he usually eats. The Females I kept to see how they lay. They just started laying and the eggs are a bit small compared to how much they eat. I rationed their diet and put them in the composting pile pen where there is plenty to scratch through. I also rationed their feed to keep them fit and trim for breeding. Next I added an Ayam Cemani rooster cull and will be hatching out some of their eggs that will hatch next month. The goal there is to get a larger black meat bird. I plan to cross them with a Dorking Rooster when my Cockerel matures. Maybe I will end up making my own meat birds. Their eggs are a big small considering how big they were when they were day old chicks. Maybe he eggs get bigger as they fully Mature. These girls started laying very early, none of their brooders mates are laying as of yet. I bought them in late February and they started laying in Late June. I believe they started laying about a week sooner than the leghorns I had bought in the past.

These birds are great because of their size and friendliness. They look funny when they walk because its different from the majority of chickens. The bottom line is they can get to where they want to, especially if there is food there. I like them better than cross cornish because they walk for the most part and actually forage somewhat. They are extremely lazy, because they move to their food and lay down in place to eat. They rarely stand in one place and just go to their belly and sleep. I got them from the Amish who got them from Townline Hatchery in Michigan. These are the only birds that I will buy next year. We have one hen left. Her name is Jumbo. She's 4.5 months old and I don't think she's laying yet. If she is they are the small ones that we just started getting. Rooster were not mean. Their size and clumsy feet keeps them from effectively fornicating.

I have raised Cornish Cross meat chickens for the past 10 years, and one day I went to take my batch of 75 to process and some guy suggested I raise some Freedom Rangers or commonly called Red Rangers.
So the next year I raised a batch of 25 of the FR/RR and was not impressed.
Let's take a step back to that fateful day when I went to the butcher...
That man's FR/RR chickens had a much larger body cavity than my CC, but I would safely say that they had % less meat and were raised for 4 weeks longer than my CC.
When I raised the FR/RR, I have found that they don't range any better than the CC, took more feed and time to raise than the CC.
When I took mine to process, I was not impressed with the amount of internal fat that they had, compared to the CC.
Will not be raising the FR/RR again, nor recommending them.

I got some of these last year to fill my chick quota, but now I plan on getting them consistently. I haven't butchered any of mine because they are just so friendly! (I will cull on 2nd or 3rd birthday.) I currently have three that are amazing. I am training one as a therapy chicken and she is doing great. I take mine to schools and day-cares and they are super tolerable. I have never had an aggression problem with any of the roos or hens. I love this breed.

I purchased ten Freedom Rangers from the TSC during Chick Days. Some of the chicks were questionably labeled, but I have since confirmed that Freedom Rangers are a recognized breed. I intended to eat them all, since they were listed as meat birds, but the three hens were so friendly that I ended up keeping them. At only three months, the roosters were enormous and had to be processed, yielding huge carcasses with lots of tender dark meat. A few of them had issues with their feet, presumably from growing so quickly. The hens have not had any lasting foot problems but they are nowhere near as big as the roos. The roosters were nasty to the hens, but sweet with me, and all are excellent foragers. The hens don't lay as well as some of my other girls, usually 3-4 eggs a week, but they have continued to lay into the winter without artificial light.

These are great birds, and I would happily buy more in the spring.