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  1. meganblythe

    Freedom Ranger backyard broilers - feed amount, feed conversion and growth

    I don't see why not! Just pay attention to their behavior (although they are always hungry...) and weight gain! In the U.S. this cross-breed (or something extremely similar) is also called a red ranger.
  2. meganblythe

    Freedom Ranger backyard broilers - feed amount, feed conversion and growth

    I didn't keep any roosters, so no chance for fertilized eggs!
  3. meganblythe

    Freedom Ranger backyard broilers - feed amount, feed conversion and growth

    Sorry for the delayed response, but I actually started a new thread to talk about my experience with the freedom rangers as laying hens (didn't end up going so well...) https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/735932/freedom-rangers-as-laying-hens-impressed-so-far
  4. meganblythe

    Freedom Ranger backyard broilers - feed amount, feed conversion and growth

    Hi Katherine, No, we never had issues with tough meat around the legs. Our birds were quite tender. As for letting the meat rest or age, we did - I believe just one day. After processing the chickens we cooled them in an ice bath (ice water in a cooler) then "stood" them up on baker's...
  5. meganblythe

    Freedom Ranger backyard broilers - feed amount, feed conversion and growth

    Pasturing is probably a bit of a generous term for what I did - I moved them daily through my grassy backyard. It wasn't lush pasture by any means, but they did have access to green grass and some bugs and such. (I had about 25 birds in a 4'x8' structure.)
  6. meganblythe

    ALABAMA!!

    Anyone in the Montgomery area interested in bag of Tucker Milling layer feed? My chickens really don't like it so I've decided to go back to my previous brand of feed, but I have a full 50 lb bag of unopened feed that I want to get rid of. Free to a good home if you'll come pick it up! I'm in...
  7. meganblythe

    cannibalism of legs and feet in adult hens - advice needed

    I have four hens who have lived together for quite some time, but recently one of them (not even the dominant bird) starting pecking at the others' feet and legs incessantly, until they bleed. The pecked birds have become so wary of her that they spend a lot of time laying down, and if standing...
  8. meganblythe

    Freedom Ranger backyard broilers - feed amount, feed conversion and growth

    All vegetable feed. Weeks 1-3 were 21-24% protein. Weeks 4-6 were 20% protein. Weeks 7-12 were 16-20% protein.
  9. meganblythe

    Freedom Ranger backyard broilers - feed amount, feed conversion and growth

    The last numbers that I posted (posted again below for clarity) were what I plan to do for my next batch of 25-26 birds, based on what I learned the first time. Also note that I fed them twice per day, so I divided the pounds/day amount in half and gave them that amount once on the morning and...
  10. meganblythe

    Freedom Rangers as laying hens - impressed so far!

    My experiment with freedom rangers as laying hens did not end well. Only one of the five is still alive. Above I described the first death. The second happened about a month or so later but I did not do a necropsy. The third happened at about 13 months and was a rather large/fat bird, but...
  11. meganblythe

    Red Ranger Chickens

    I raised 26 freedom rangers last year as meat birds, but kept 5 females to try out as laying hens. They started laying eggs early, at only about 16 weeks and got going pretty well. We had a lot of double yolks eggs too, but then things started to go badly. One of them started laying mostly...
  12. meganblythe

    ALABAMA!!

    Does anyone know of any feed mills in central Alabama that sell freshly milled feed (not pelletized feed) to consumers (not commercial growers)? I'm in Montgomery but am willing to drive around an hour or so to get good quality, freshly-milled feed. Thanks!
  13. meganblythe

    necropsy photo (graphic) - is this a normal amount of body fat?

    I recently had two 1-year old hens die suddenly. Both were freedom rangers (a little experiment to see how these meat birds would do as egg layers). I did a necropsy on the second one that died and found a few things that were clearly wrong (yellow fluid in body cavity and a partially...
  14. meganblythe

    ALABAMA!!

    I'm afraid my neighbors would run me out of the neighborhood if I got roosters! Good luck finding them a new home.
  15. meganblythe

    ALABAMA!!

    Hey all, I just moved to Alabama (the Montgomery area) and am looking for a few pullets or laying hens to replenish my flock. I'm open to just about any breed, but prefer full size (not bantam). Does anyone have any for sale within an hour or so from Montgomery or have any tips for me?
  16. meganblythe

    Processed our Freedom Rangers!

    When I raised FRs I decided to not give them food free choice because I didn't want them to get fat and grow too fast and develop leg problems. They didn't get to free range but we did move them around the yard to eat grass and bugs. But I think I fed them twice as much as you (I had locally...
  17. meganblythe

    How do I stop egg breakers?

    I was having problems with that too, but I don't think my chickens were intentionally breaking eggs (though they were happy to eat the eggs that broke). I suspected that the eggs were accidentally cracking when the chickens laid the egg after I actually saw an egg get laid - the chicken stands...
  18. meganblythe

    Freedom Rangers

    I used a locally milled chicken feed with Fertrell Nutribalance mixed in at the mill. I started off with one 50 lb bag of starter feed (higher protein) and that lasted about three weeks or so. Then I switched over to a broiler feed (slightly lower protein) for the next 8 weeks. Also, I've...
  19. meganblythe

    Freedom Rangers

    I butchered around 11-12 weeks and had average carcass weights of 3.5 lbs for pullets and 4 lbs for cockerels. For 26 birds I used 350 lbs of feed during that 12 week period (but I don't think I fed them enough in the early weeks, meaning I had to give them more to get them to catch up in the...
  20. meganblythe

    Freedom Rangers

    I didn't separate pullets and cockerels either, they got along fine. The cockerels definitely started their chest bumping, but it was more funny than anything else. I did all the cockerels in the first harvest, and the pullets were a bit jumpy the next week. But they were also in a confined...
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