I've raised maybe 6 batches of Freedom Rangers. They are my favorite type of meat bird. That said, I always seem to loose a few from each batch during the first 4 weeks and every once in awhile need to dispatch one early because it doesn't seem to be thriving. I have read that Freedom Rangers are prone to "Flip Over Disease", although not nearly as prone to it as the really fast growing Cornish X type broilers. Here's a description from a webpage I found:
Signs
Birds that succumb to flip-over disease are often found dead on their stomachs with their legs stretched out behind them and their necks extended forward. Occasionally, a dead bird is fount on its back. There is rarely any sign of sickness prior to such deaths, but some people have observed a bird, which appeared to be perfectly normal, suddenly squawk, and make a small jump into the air and land on its back. The wings flutter, there are some convulsive movements and the bird is dead.
It is thought to be related to their fast growth and probably has something to do with heart failure, although this article states that the cause hasn't been proven. Here's the link I was refering too:
http://www.millerhatcheries.com/informationfactsheets/disease_info/flip_over_disease.htm
I always order a few more than I actually want/need figuring I'll have a few losses. It always makes me sad to find a dead chicken and I always wonder if there is something I could have done better to save it, but having had it happen almost every time with one or two, but not a massive die-off that would suggest a disease or problem with my brooder or grow-out facilities, I am just starting to think that perhaps the odds just mean that en every batch there is a chick or two that has some genetic flaw.
I had much higher mortality rates in the CX I tried so I'm sticking with Freedom Rangers.
