Crossing my Red Ranger Hens.

[Compost King]

Here are my Four potential Meaties for my breeding experiment and their new boy, all at 23 1/2 weeks and large.
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The missing tail feathers seems to be a hen pecking issue in the other persons flock, because my Barnvelder Boy I sold there had the same problem. He arrived and within a month was missing all his tail feathers, so I imagine that Roostie Roo’s will grow back just fine!

WOW! huge rooster. Are the white ones CX?

 

[Morrigan]

I recently put my Red Ranger Hen (down to just 1 now) in with a Rhode Island White Rooster who is short and stocky, he got to size fast but didn't get too incredibly big however he feels a bit heavy and has a wide stance. I haven't weighed in a while but he put on weight fast back when I weighed him. I was curious if he had Recessive White or Dominant white and figured the best way to tell is to breed him to the Red Ranger and its his turn to produce meaty offspring. I had her in with her half Naked Neck son but she wouldn't let him mount her. So he moved on to another breeding project. He has such a pleasant temperament that he was spared from the dinner table.

I hope my NN is going to be able to muster the gumption to mate with the RR as well. Right now, he is very intimidated by her. He is mating other fully mature (but low status) hens in my flock, but runs from her if she so much as looks at him sidewise. I'm assuming when she is one of 4 hens to choose from and he gets bigger, he'll get the job done. At least that's what I'm hoping.

 

[Compost King]

I hope my NN is going to be able to muster the gumption to mate with the RR as well. Right now, he is very intimidated by her. He is mating other fully mature (but low status) hens in my flock, but runs from her if she so much as looks at him sidewise. I'm assuming when she is one of 4 hens to choose from and he gets bigger, he'll get the job done. At least that's what I'm hoping.

My Red Rangers were very Dominant and if a Rooster is still young they wouldn't let him mate. Eventually a every rooster reaches that point where they let him. I have seen them chase away some of the younger rooster. In a way I am glad they are not very agile because they can be mean. if they get someone cornered they are relentless and so are some of their daughters. Their sons can get aggressive but lose every fight with a smaller rooster because they are not built to fight but it never stops them from trying. One day my Dorking x Red Ranger rooster than I kept for breeding escaped his pen and so did my Ayam Cemani Rooster. They used to fight through a pallet fence every day but there was too much distance to do damage to more than the tops of their combs... when they finally met face to face I never saw it but I saw the results. The Dorking x Ranger rooster was a bloody mess hiding behind my water storage totes and the Ayam Cemani Rooster was just wandering around scratching and pecking like nothing happened. The Cemani was even calm as I picked him and put him back in his pen. The Dorking x Ranger was a bit shook up and slightly less aggressive after that. His feathers turned blood red. I thought maybe he had serious injuries but in reality he just bled a lot from the comb and healed just fine.

 

[Kris5902]

WOW! huge rooster. Are the white ones CX?

Yes, 3 CX and a Ranger gal that is basically just as huge... the CX runt is still a semi decent size, the Ranger is the most active, and Goose (the girl to the left of the pictures laying down) had a leg problem and can’t walk normally anymore. I’m still trying to work with her though, because she seems happy for the most part, and is learning to get around ok.

It’s complicating my winter Housing plans though... I need to get them off the ground, but roosting is clearly not an option, and goose can’t even manage the low ramp of the hospital tractor... I’m thinking Sammy and his girls will need evicted from the Barn and they will need to overwinter in there. No one has been doing firewood here this year, so I’m also short on wood shavings and may need to buy some in. At least I won’t have to worry about the meat girls roosting on the chest feeder or dog crate and pooping everywhere!

 

[Compost King]

Yes, 3 CX and a Ranger gal that is basically just as huge... the CX runt is still a semi decent size, the Ranger is the most active, and Goose (the girl to the left of the pictures laying down) had a leg problem and can’t walk normally anymore. I’m still trying to work with her though, because she seems happy for the most part, and is learning to get around ok.

It’s complicating my winter Housing plans though... I need to get them off the ground, but roosting is clearly not an option, and goose can’t even manage the low ramp of the hospital tractor... I’m thinking Sammy and his girls will need evicted from the Barn and they will need to overwinter in there. No one has been doing firewood here this year, so I’m also short on wood shavings and may need to buy some in. At least I won’t have to worry about the meat girls roosting on the chest feeder or dog crate and pooping everywhere!

Are you rationing feed to the CX? I have 3 females now that I am rationing feed to, and 3 males who get full feed access, they look totally different. The Males are going to be bigger so its hard to judge them that way but you can tell the females are healthier, much more active, their feathers actually look nicer and the males have worn out feathers on their breasts from laying down all day and can barely move. Every once in a while I will do comparison pictures until all the males are turned into meals. I processed one last week at 5.5 weeks, they just turned 6 weeks sunday and soon I will get the 2nd one. I have Buddy Birds with the males and females so I can compare the difference in sizes for the buddy birds and gage if whether or not feed rationing is good or bad for the buddy birds.

 

[Kris5902]

I’ve been rationing feed to them since they moved off of chick starter! They are still huge... Now they are on layer feed which is lower protein and fat than the only other non layer pellet I could find locally. They move in the morning, but don’t get their pellets until noonish to encourage foraging. Roostie Roo does seem to be encouraging foraging more, but I am too afraid to mix them in with any of my layers. I think I overfed a little bit when the last of the ranger boys went to the plant, figuring out how much to feed just the 4 girls was like going from cooking for large family holiday down to just a small family dinner.

Goose being down is a challenge because they are quite social and all bonded to each other, but she will get pecked on and overmated if I don’t isolate her... I might have to move the tractor a little more at night to get them away from the sides, because they all snuggle up together with her even through the mesh box. Simplest solution would be to send her to freezer camp, but with so few girls and how well they get along I’m hesitant. The pecking wasn’t an issue before Roostie, I think it was a little head/neck feather grab gone wrong that is now getting pecked because “it’s red, that’s different”

 

[Compost King]

I have been giving 6 birds, 3 of which are CX... a cup and a half of Feed 3 times a day and a giant compost pile to scratch through. I may be under doing it because they do not seem big at all. I couldn't find a decent feed to give them that was low Protein so I gave them the 20% Meat Bird feed. I figured since I am rationing feed anyways it won't matter. so far so good.

 

[Parront]

I have been giving 6 birds, 3 of which are CX... a cup and a half of Feed 3 times a day and a giant compost pile to scratch through. I may be under doing it because they do not seem big at all. I couldn't find a decent feed to give them that was low Protein so I gave them the 20% Meat Bird feed. I figured since I am rationing feed anyways it won't matter. so far so good.

In the photos you posted their crops looked like they are getting plenty from the compost. They looked real good.

 

[Compost King]

In the photos you posted their crops looked like they are getting plenty from the compost. They looked real good.

They have been scratching for food, which I credit to putting buddy birds in with them. The Normal sized birds are more active and they follow them. These Buddy Birds are either 1/4 or 1/2 Red Ranger so they may be a bit larger than normal sized.

 

[Morrigan]

When I've rationed food for my CX, I've done it by giving them two feedings a day -- one in the morning and one in the evening -- of all they could eat in 15 or 20 minutes. As I ferment my feed, about 1/2 of what they are eating is actually water. Around mid day, I would scatter old produce and some sprouted fodder around the yard, which would get them up and moving around the yard to find it. I've had good results with that, and generally butcher between 8 and 13 weeks, with the largest and laziest being first up. I've never tried to keep one to breeding age. By 13 weeks, even the most petite of my CX hens have been fairly large, although some were still moving fairly well.

I'm planning on keeping 1 or 2 of slow white broiler hens to breeding age, but will see how they look at the 3 month mark. At 5 weeks old now, they are still with Momma hen and so I haven't rationed food out with them at all. They are moving around the yard forage with Mom, so they are getting exercise, and hopefully learning there is more to life then camping out by the feeder.