Freedom Ranger Grow Report.

[speedy2782]

I purchased 31 Freedom Rangers from A&J Farms - http://thepoultryhatchery.com

I couldn't have them mailed so I decided to pick up and after tax and holding/feeding fee/taxes they were $90 total.

I spent $20 in gas to pick them up on March 29. Slaughter was at week 12, June 15.

The birds were kept in a 70sf open bottom chicken tractor and moved 2 or 3 times per day from weeks 4-12.

They ate 650# of feed, (a lot was wasted in the brooder at the start)

After slaughter the total weight was 136.4 lbs. (62kg)

Average Weight per bird 4.4 lbs. (2kg)

Feed Conversion 4.62 lbs feed per lb of chicken.

or 20.3 lbs of feed per bird

I spent $190 on feed.

Cost $300

Cost Per Bird $10

Cost Per Pound $2.20

Notes:
Find a way to have less waste in the brooder.
Feed no more than 0.5 lb per bird per day. Maybe less.
Keep the grass at a medium length to prevent impacted crop

 

[CoopDeViIIe]

Interesting. I am doing a similar batch now. I have 25 Red Broilers from Moyers that are 7 weeks old today in a yard tractor. How I eliminated most of the waste is by fermenting the feed in buckets. They spill pretty much nothing. I used a piece of house gutter as a feed trough in the tractor, and they haven't been able to spill anything. I have to process right around the 11 week period because I am going out of town and I'm hoping I can get 4.5# dressed weights by then.

 

[speedy2782]

The majority of my loss was when they were in the brooder. I had pine chips down and the food would get knocked out of the feeder and lost in the bedding.

I used a gutter as well in the tractor and they didn't lose a spec of food.

 

[CoopDeViIIe]

These Reds really seem to love foraging. I wish I could get more land, because I think they would do excellent out on pasture with feed as only a supplement.

 

[meganblythe]

Your numbers are a bit different than mine were (https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...oilers-feed-amount-feed-conversion-and-growth). I did harvest a little earlier by a week and my birds were a little smaller, but I used a lot less food than you did. I may have had less lost food in the brooder (was using a small trough with a cover with head holes, and also hung it so it was right at their back level as they grew). One big difference though, the max I ever fed my birds was 0.35 lbs per day per bird (9 lbs per day for 26 birds), and that was only during their last week. In retrospect I do think I was giving them too little food early on, but I think I had it right near the end. They were healthy birds with a nice amount of fat on them, but not too much. Incidentally, I still have four of the largest hens (as egg layers) and I am feeding them an average of 0.3 lbs per hen per day. They are kept in a coop that I move around a specific part of my yard (no grass left) and do not have a lot of foraging opportunities.