Crossing my Red Ranger Hens.

[Compost King]

My Red Ranger stopped laying again, Maybe they aren't such great layers after a year of laying very strong. However I am still producing Half Red Rangers by Crossing 2 different sets of half Red Rangers. My gentleman NN x RR is penned with my Dorking X RR . They actually have different Red Ranger Mothers. I label their eggs **MNN** so I can tell them apart from the reverse crossing. (added through edit, this crossing is likely going to produce Red Sex Links, I will find out in October when I hatch them for the first time)

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The Reverse, Dorking x RR rooster with NN x RR females. I will label their eggs **FNN**

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I am already hatching eggs from this pen, He is in with his daughters (Half Red Ranger) and he is recessive white so I am getting some really decent all white chicks and I sell the red ones. I just label their eggs **NN** . The male offspring from this pairing are going to be bred to my CX as well as some of my CX Crossings. Eventually I want to make a Recessive White Naked Neck meat bird.

 

[Compost King]

I am about to process the last male CX (pictured above in a photo taken this morning). at 8 weeks he weighed 6.8 pounds. BBIAB if I remember to take pictures of the skinless processed body. Often I get so into processing them that I remember I have a camera after I fillet the breasts.

 

[Compost King]

6.8 pounds live weight. The last of my CX males. May my feed bill go down now!

 

[123RedBeard]

What's the "undressed" (skinned) weight?

 

[Compost King]

What's the "undressed" (skinned) weight?

I do not have a scale suitable for dressed weights but since I have it bagged whole I am going to see if I can do it right now.

 

[Compost King]

4.8 pounds. I rarely have a whole bird bagged after I process it so this time I was able to do the dressed weight

 

[123RedBeard]

That's pretty good ratio, more than 2/3's

 

[Compost King]

That's pretty good ratio, more than 2/3's

My weighing system is subject to errors but to be honest he didn't have much guts for his size and a very small chest cavity. I am rethinking my Initial reaction to the weight not being high enough to justify keeping them alive beyond 5 weeks. 5.5 pounds at 5 weeks 3 days, 6 pounds at 7 weeks and now 6.8 pounds at 8 weeks. Those numbers make it look more cost effective at 5 weeks than 8 weeks however I believe I would need dressed weights to be sure because the meat was getting bigger and not the organs.

 

[Compost King]

a couple of Videos from my MNN pen. The male is half Red Ranger and the females are half Red Ranger with the exception of one which is 1/4 Red Ranger But her eggs look different so I can keep the hatching eggs separate.

Possible Sex Links when mated to the mostly white (columbian pattern) half Dorking Hens.

 

[Compost King]

Dork O's ! Keep in mind that I do have 2 (1 in the video) Ayam Cemani x Red Rangers in these flocks too. This is my Post Buddy Bird rehabilitation program. Half of them were with the free fed males in very tight quarters, the other half were with the females who were receiving rationed feed. The over fed ones turned to be more aggressive than the rationed fed ones. I think it was due to being in very tight quarters. I go in the pen 3 times a day and make sure that the formerly rationed fed birds get feeder time. I would just let them free range the nursery (technically yarding but I say free range) but I need to keep them separate from the Dork X. I may tag their feet in a few weeks when their legs get close to adult size . I do not like tagging them young because I may forget to remove the tags.

Here is an example of the aggression, its not relentless or overly cruel, more territorial. I will keep an eye on and learn a thing or 2 about aggression.