Have you had any issues with the Freedom Ranger roos being mean? To humans and/or hens. I heard from several folks that they had that issues, wondering about your experience. How do the Freedom Rangers compare to Freedom Ranger Hatchery's (FRH) White Rangers, FRH New Hampshires (bred for...
I also tried Freedom Ranger Hatchery New Hampshires, and like them a lot for a sustainable flock bred for meat that also lays eggs. Massive birds! Good livability, and the roo does his job.
Have you tried White Rangers from Freedom Ranger hatchery? I did. I really liked them. 3m broiler with final weights very similar to CX, with better livability. I had one hen who was 2+ yrs old, getting along just fine until I ate her (she laid her first spring, was waiting for her to lay...
Hahaha!!! Oh poor baby! There's a dog swimming place near me, they have ramps that go down into swimming pools, and they have classes that teach the dog to go down into the ramp and eventually swim in the water. Each dog gets its own life vest, they have bumpers to swim after, and lots of dog...
I use a large wire dog crate in my covered run. You can secure 1/2" hardware cloth all around it with metal zip ties if you want to protect from predators, and can wrap the top and some of the sides with old feed bags / house wrap or 6mil plastic or something to provide a water barrier if...
She just may be a periodic layer impacted by winter. If it's winter where you are, a lot of birds are taking a break since there is less than 10 hrs of daylight. When you get that or more in the spring, laying should start again. Give her until about June, she should lay in March/Feb I should...
You're right, they're on the charcoal side of gray. Maybe folks familiar with Ideal's offerings will have more ideas.
I still think it could just be bad breeding/off standard characteristics.
Hopefully not.
The tail feathers are often the last to come in.
They could have wry tail. It makes them look kind of rumpless. I had an ISA Brown once with wry tail - see my profile pic to the left. She eventually grew in 5, exactly 5, tail feathers in random spots. She looked kinda weird with a rounded rear end and 5 random feathers poking out from...
Have you checked that they are fully past rigor before freezing and/or cooking? I fridge age them in large metal bowls under plastic wrap and then wiggle a joint to be sure it moves freely prior to freezing because I eat as soon as it's thawed. If you plan to rest in the fridge for a week or...
Mine lost half of the whole top of her beak - the hard part came off and disappeared. Still don't know how she did it. The under part was soft and tender, but she still ate food with it from dog bowls, and got water out of our horizontal nipple waterers with it. I think she used the bottom...
That bird doesn't look good. Seriously enlarged liver, etc. Definitely up the protein for the rest of them. It might help them fight whatever's going on.
What did you try to get him to eat? Did you try moistened feed to get him to eat? Molasses water (e.g. Nutridrench)? he just may have...
If everything is super dry, I don't know where the smell could be coming from except from their poop. Could some of the lower levels of the sand be holding water? If there's no moisture, then it may just be an unpleasant smell, rather than a pending/present mold issue, which is really what you...
Ah, I'm in Alabama. Slightly warmer, but not by too much. I use a headlamp, love that thing, never run out of light that way. I've processed in the dark quite a bit, it's generally quite peaceful.
My processing setup is a foldable plastic table and two plastic foldable chairs, 3 sharp...
Since you have sand, consider using a poop tray with Zeolite to catch the poops. Then you scoop it like kitty litter. There's whole threads and articles about this on here if you want to try it. The Zeolite sucks out the moisture and reduces/eliminates the smell. If you are having a bad...
Lots of us have done that. And I think you mean dispatching instead of culling - most folks use culling to mean either eating or rehoming, but basically they're not part of your flock any more, but not necessarily dead. Dispatching means you sent their spirits to God, and processing is the...
Sorry, they weren't White Rocks. They were White Rangers from Freedom Ranger Hatchery, their version of a CX based 3m broiler. I've had a heck of a time getting heritage birds that have decent dressed weight from a hatchery. I found the NH from Freedom Ranger and haven't looked further (yet)...