Crossing my Red Ranger Hens.

[Compost King]

And I’m all caught up here... looks like there was a lot going on while I was a bit distracted by goings on here on the farm for the last several weeks!

I’m sad to say I lost my Red Ranger Hen a few days ago, at about 6 month of age. So my Red Ranger crosses will have to wait until I’ve grown out the next batch of chicks. I still have 2 CX girls the same age in with Roostie, and have moved them into the 4x8 brooder in the barn for their own safety. “Big Red” appeared to have been jostled onto her back during the night or early morning and unable to get turned right side up.

I was pleasantly surprised at the results of crossing my AmeraucanaXMarans Rooster over Hyline production red Layers. The cockerels weighed in at 3.5-4lbs at 17 weeks dressed and overall the only real disappointment was the very small breasts, something I was hoping to improve be crossing with the Rangers. There were quite a few large and fast growing boys in this batch.

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Due to some “housekeeping” my notebook has been temporarily mislocated, so I can’t really give a good cost analysis/profit margin on the feed, but I’m now considering crossing their Sisters to the Random “Red Meat Breed” “heritage” rooster I was planning on breeding Big Red and the CX with.

In the Background of the second picture is “Goose” my third CX girl we culled due to a leg problem. One Bone in Breast on her priced out at $18 and feeds three people with enough leftovers to keep my two cats very happy for the next 2-3 days. At about 5 months old she was actually quite tough and required moist cooking (baked covered with a little water in the pan) comparable in texture to my 19-20 week old layer cockerels.

Thanks for sharing this with us. I love seeing what others managed to have created with their meat bird crossings.
My lone surviving Red Ranger Hen isn't laying so well. I am guessing they only lay well for a year then poof I just get one egg every other day between egg laying strikes that happen often and for longer periods of time than they did the first year. My CX girls are 12 or 13 weeks old now and I need to get them a laying nest since their 2 girl coop is kinda small and probably not the best place for them to start laying. I am wondering if I need to increase their feed rations when they start laying since producing eggs will require a bit more protein than they are currently getting. Maybe I need 2 pens for them so I can cross 2 different roosters with them at the same time and get some good comparisons. I have 2 different Half Red Ranger roosters (naked neck and dorking for the other halves) I can put over them. that's if the Pullets make to egg laying age. The last one I had was healthy and active before she just keeled over and died one hot summer day. The good news is that hot days are a thing of the past for this year.

 

[Morrigan]

Did you have any issues with the chicks trying to eat the foam board?

Yes! They were reaching through the cage bars and pecking away. I moved it far enough back using nails as spacers so they reach it anymore, but it's not to want of trying.

My lone surviving Red Ranger Hen isn't laying so well.

My Red Ranger has only layed 4 eggs so far. As a new layer, I know it can sometime take them awhile to get going, but I'm a bit concerned. She is just so big, I'm wondering if it is causing problems. I'm hoping with the cooler Fall weather, she'll get more comfortable and active. Aside from hoping to get some eggs to set from her by February, I've kind of gotten attached to Miss Meatie as I call her.

 

[Kris5902]

Yes! They were reaching through the cage bars and pecking away. I moved it far enough back using nails as spacers so they reach it anymore, but it's not to want of trying.



My Red Ranger has only layed 4 eggs so far. As a new layer, I know it can sometime take them awhile to get going, but I'm a bit concerned. She is just so big, I'm wondering if it is causing problems. I'm hoping with the cooler Fall weather, she'll get more comfortable and active. Aside from hoping to get some eggs to set from her by February, I've kind of gotten attached to Miss Meatie as I call her.

Even rationing feed my girl got huge. Now I’m regretting not trying to hatch or hanging on to any of her eggs because of winter and how small they were... if this had happened two weeks ago I would’ve been able to put some eggs in the incubator as a last ditch effort (sure they might have been older and not rotated during storage, but any chance is better than none!) but I cooked them all off for small deviled eggs to bring to the Thanksgiving (Canadian) Potluck. Her eggs were just sizing up, but I didn’t want to push my luck with winter hatches and our power situation.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Even rationing feed my girl got huge. Now I’m regretting not trying to hatch or hanging on to any of her eggs because of winter and how small they were... if this had happened two weeks ago I would’ve been able to put some eggs in the incubator as a last ditch effort (sure they might have been older and not rotated during storage, but any chance is better than none!) but I cooked them all off for small deviled eggs to bring to the Thanksgiving (Canadian) Potluck. Her eggs were just sizing up, but I didn’t want to push my luck with winter hatches and our power situation.

I sympathize. I find that often the best time to do something is when I can instead of waiting for the ideal time, which often never comes. I often face this when planting something in the garden. Once you miss your chance, it's gone.

 

[jolenesdad]

Even rationing feed my girl got huge. Now I’m regretting not trying to hatch or hanging on to any of her eggs because of winter and how small they were... if this had happened two weeks ago I would’ve been able to put some eggs in the incubator as a last ditch effort (sure they might have been older and not rotated during storage, but any chance is better than none!) but I cooked them all off for small deviled eggs to bring to the Thanksgiving (Canadian) Potluck. Her eggs were just sizing up, but I didn’t want to push my luck with winter hatches and our power situation.

good to see you again @Kris5902!!!

my robust white that is laying is just getting to an okay size of egg, and BOOM she has switched to all doubles. I popped some in the incubator that I had sitting out, never rotated, and I’ve got nothing at 4 day candling. :-/

they’ve got the bullseye and I’m watching a cockerel mate her. I’m going to just keep the incubator running and throw in her eggs as they come singles and see if I can get something going and deal with the staggered hatch when it comes.

 

[Compost King]

I try to hatch eggs as soon as a Pullet starts laying if I intend to hatch her eggs and if the rooster I want to put her with is available at POL. Yeah its not the best egg of her laying life to hatch out but I once choose to wait until the eggs were bigger and less likely to be double yolkers before I hatched and a string of dog attacks tore through my neighborhood. The worst part was that the dogs seem to either kill the only rooster of a particular breed or all the females... its also why I started making Meat birds because they were the only eggs I had to hatch a year ago when I started this thread. Although all My Dorking's were unharmed by the dog attacks the Hens didn't start laying until later in the year. Alls I really had were cross breed eggs and so I put my Red Rangers in with my Dorkings. I was going to do it eventually but I was only going to hatch out 3 at a time so I had a chicken a week to eat. So I made sex links (red and black) because I had the birds to make those and my Red Ranger crosses. I had plans to raise all sorts of different breeds that never came to be because of the dogs. I also wanted to stick to bantams because they cost less to feed. Now I pay like $300 a month in feed because I hatch out so many meat birds. I caught Meat bird fever, I enjoy raising meat birds because its easy for me to know if a bird came out right or not because I was eating it. I do not have an eye or attention to detail for SOP Breeding.
OK I got to rambling, my point is that even if its not the ideal egg to hatch, its good to get the next generation started early incase something happens to the birds you have.

 

[Morrigan]

I'm convinced. If I can get a set of good enough eggs, I'm going to incubate. My problem now is that her eggs are too thin-shelled. This morning she had left a thin-shelled egg on the roost, which had cracked when it hit the poop board. She gets flock-raiser with oyster shells on the side. I'm not sure if she is not eating the oyster shells, or if something is off with her shell-gland. I'm going to try to hand feed her some calcium tablets to see if that makes a difference.

In other news, by Moyer speciality broiler are growing like weeds. They are very hardy active looking chicks. They are coming up on 2 weeks old, and in an.other 7 to 10 days are going to outgrow their rabbit hutch brooder, at which point they get moved to an unheated coop. My husband is making me a wooden huddle box and I'm going to hang strips of wool in it. Night-time temps are in the low 40s. I think they are going to be OK, but it's going to be nerve-wracking.

 

[jolenesdad]

I'm convinced. If I can get a set of good enough eggs, I'm going to incubate. My problem now is that her eggs are too thin-shelled. This morning she had left a thin-shelled egg on the roost, which had cracked when it hit the poop board. She gets flock-raiser with oyster shells on the side. I'm not sure if she is not eating the oyster shells, or if something is off with her shell-gland. I'm going to try to hand feed her some calcium tablets to see if that makes a difference.

In other news, by Moyer speciality broiler are growing like weeds. They are very hardy active looking chicks. They are coming up on 2 weeks old, and in an.other 7 to 10 days are going to outgrow their rabbit hutch brooder, at which point they get moved to an unheated coop. My husband is making me a wooden huddle box and I'm going to hang strips of wool in it. Night-time temps are in the low 40s. I think they are going to be OK, but it's going to be nerve-wracking.

I just moved all my meaties to a new pen. Weren’t you the one that mentioned roosts to me? Anyway, that way I can get them all on a lower protein layer feed.
Could you get her on a layer feed?

I still have to leave oyster shell out WITH the layer feed to not get soft shells from one of the meat layers.

 

[Compost King]

Sometimes changing grit (size or type) can turn a soft shell egg into a hard shell egg

 

[Morrigan]

Here are some pictures of the Moyer broilers. The little gray one is the same age and is the Naked Neck/Blue Orpington cross. You can really see the size difference.

I also notice a broken up fresh egg yolk on the rooster near to where I found my Red Ranger's egg this morning. I'm not sure if it was from here or one of the 20 week old pullets who should be coming into lay soon.

The other thing I noticed, is that when I cracked open the Red Ranger's egg, it had a very large bullseye -- almost like it had begun incubating. I wonder if she had been slightly egg bound and finally passed it.

I'm really hoping that she is just working the kinks out. I'd like to switch her to layer feed, but am concerned that 1) I keep the rooster with her; and 2) it tends to be so much lower in protein.

@Compost King, I'm trying to remember if its you that mixes game bird feed with layer feed. I'm thinking about doing that and wondering if the calcium levels would be ok for roosters.