First Ranger Cull

[PurpleChicken]

So me, the DW & DS culled 6 of our Colored Range Broilers fro JM tonight. They were
around 10 weeks and the roos were crowing and getting crazy.

We culled 6 roos total.

We are not expert processors but we do our best. I know they don't look like store
birds.

The biggest problem is space. I'm used to 2 to 3 pound standard roos not 6 pounders.
One barely fits in my crockpot and my vacuum saver bags are to small.

 

[SterlingAcres]

They look fantastic, PC

 

[perfectly_polish]

Looks great PC! We're all gonna have to buy a huge freezer for all the birds we gotta do on Sunday. We're gonna have A LOT of chicken.

 

[Katy]

Ahhhh...all their pretty feathers are gone!

 

[Sunny Side Up]

They look great & will taste even better!

Freezer space is also at a minimum here, which is yet another reason why I want to try these Rangers, so I don't have to process & store them all at once. Previously, with standard or mixed-breed roos, I've slow-simmered them in a big stock pot until their meat melts off their bones, then I separate the dark from the light & freeze the cooked meat. It takes up so much less space. You could probably do that with roasted rangers too.

 

[dancingbear]

Is 6lbs. your average dressed weight? Nice looking batch of birds! Good job! I may have to raise a batch of those while I'm working on breeding others.

There are shrink bags available for large birds, they'll take a 6 lb bird. I'm sorry I don't have the link handy. You close the bags with a hog ring, poke a pinhole or two over the breast, and dunk in hot water. The bag shrinks, the air escapes from the pinholes, then you dry off the bag and slap a self-adhesive label (with your processing date and weight/breed of the bird on it, or any other info you want) over the pinholes to seal it back up.

They make big ones for turkeys, too.

Before I found those, I got some bags from Murry McMurray, nice bags, but overpriced, before that I used freezer paper or gallon ziplocks. the freezer paper leaks, but does a fair job protecting from freezer burn. The shrink bags are the best, IMHO.

 

[PurpleChicken]

Thanks everyone.

Katy, yup pretty feathers are gone.

Sunny_Side, I have a big freezer at my mom's house but it's 3 towns away. I used every
stock pot I had just to start brining them and to get them in the fridge. One is stuffed
into the crock pot and is slow simmering now. Another will be roasted tonight and a
3rd will be a present to my DW's friend. That leaves me with three to try and freeze.

Dancingbear, the smallest is 5lbs, 3 ozs. The largest is 6 1/2 lbs. That's dressed weight.
Thanks for the suggestion about the bigger bags.


This is our first batch of Rangers and has been a learning experience. Next time I will
start culling a little earlier and spread it out some. We have 9 more hens to do on
Sunday.

 

[Cason]

Those really look GREAT!

 

[UncleHoot]

Mine go to the processor in a couple days. They are 12 weeks old. I have a couple of cockerels with barred feathers, and those two are the largest. The pullets are fairly small. Good to know that the cockerels should be around 6 lbs. I think a couple of them may be even larger. The pullets, I'm thinking will be around 3-4. I'll know for sure in 2 days.

 

[MissPrissy]

Those look great!! Wanna come help me do ducks?