First Ranger Cull

[miss_jayne]

oh i am SO ordering those for next season!!! now i have to buy more freezers.


i think your processing is fine! who cares if it's 'perfect'? you're gonna EAT it!

they look great!


PC...how was the 'poop' factor on these guys, i don't remember reading on your posts. better than the cornX? same? who cares?

 

[PurpleChicken]

Unclehoot, at 12 weeks I bet you end up with exactly what you said, 6 pound roos and
4 pound hens. The hens may actually end up a little heavier than 4 though. Our roos,
while large, were a lot of feathers and taller than the hens. We shall see...


MP, I'd love to come help with some ducks. Our ducks have 4 weeks to go. I can't wait
to see the pics of yours and wanna know how you plan on plucking.


Miss_Jayne, you can see how I ripped the skin and cooked it on some of them. My
scalding water was too hot for the last few. Next time I will do 145 degrees for 60
seconds. 30 seconds just isn't enough for these large birds.

As fo the poop factor there was none. These birds lived in my barn on wood chips.
I never cleaned the chips once. They were maybe a little stinkier than a standard
breed. It was also very dry in there. PP's birds were in a tractor and smelled worse
because of moisture. I'm also convinced the food I'm giving them helped. It's a
26% P broiler feed I buy in bulk at a co-op. (works out to $11.50 per 50 lbs that way too).

 

[menageriemama]

Ok, you now have me officially excited to try out some rangers next spring... I still like my cornish crosses though

Meat meat and more meat!!

 

[greyfields]

Well done! Those look great. Remember if you believed some poeple on here, the whole colored ranger thing is a scam and Cornish Crosses are the only way to go.

 

[miss_jayne]

Quote:
i did a lower temp for longer and only got a few tiny tears when i pulled too many feathers at once. it took a couple of them to get it just right. one of those learn as i go things.

now that i know the 'poop' factor, i am on the train. i'm thinking two sets of 50 cockerels next spring and summer. oh yeah, there's gonna be more chicken!

 

[moenmitz]

Wow! Those look fantastic! I want to go "dispatch" some of mine right now! Have you eaten any of them yet? As far as plucking, did you have more/less difficulty with these compared to other birds? I have only done 3 birds EVER- the first was a White Giant, who plucked super easy- the last two were turkens, and their pin feathers were SO nasty...each one had to be "popped" out like a big zit...(sorry, gross, I know...) There was this big nasty, oily plug of goo behind each pin feather. We spent probably two hours plucking EACH turken! I am SO hoping this is something unique to turkens...or perhaps part fo teh stage of feathering they were at....most of the Rangers will be done at a processing plant, but the 25 we are keeping for oourself, I will be doing...please tell me how easy it is....

 

[UncleHoot]

Quote:
In at least one case, I'm still puzzled as to what that person expected. I don't ever remember reading anything here that made them seem like they were some type of super bird, but I also recall someone posting questions and saying that they had heard the Rangers grow larger than a cornish cross. Where he/she got that information is anyone's guess. I've been reading this board for quite awhile, and I haven't seen anyone suggest anything like that.

I really like my Rangers, but I'm still taking a cautious stance, as they have not been processed or eaten yet. They sure are pretty though.

Regardless of any of that, the chickens themselves are exactly what I expected.