Freedom Ranger update @ 7 weeks Lots & Lots of PICTURES!!!!

[moenmitz]

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Seriously? He hypnotized it? Or are you just joking... (I feel stupid either way for asking! But I have never seena chicken willingly do that....) Your birds look great!

 

[Sunny Side Up]

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Oh boy oh boy! I'm going to show these to my butchering buddy! We're planning to get some meat birds to start raising after our South Florida Fair closes at the beginning of Feb (we work the poultry tent there, it keeps us busy). We've done both standard & mixed breeds, but loved best the taste & quantity of meat from the Xs. However, they aren't pleasant birds to tend.

I was patting one a few days before butchering, feeling pity I said "oh you poor old cow" and it turned & BIT me! I didn't feel so sorry for it after that.

So with Colored Broilers can you spread out the butchering chore over a span of several weeks? That's what I liked about doing the standard breeds, and dreaded about getting a large batch of Xs.

 

[PurpleChicken]

No seriously. I didn't believe a chicken could be hypnotized either. My friend
taught me how to do it.

Check out this post:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=86779



I love the pics of your rangers too. Me and 2 other members here split
an order. Mine hung out in my barn and ate 26% feed while the others
actually ranged like chickens. Mine are fat because of it. I let them out
for an hour or two every afternoon. They run into the woods and hang out.

We bought the Muscovy meat ducks from Joel @ JM too. They are equally
amazing.

 

[PurpleChicken]

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Yes, that is one of the biggest advantages. You can cull from 5 weeks to 15 weeks
or longer. My understanding is they hit 8 pounds at 12 weeks but I expect that
to vary.

As for taste I brined a 3 pounder in the fridge for two days and baked it tonight.
The meat was tender and awesome. I've also culled, processed, and then deep fried
immediately. The meat that way was tough but still good.

I have 20 1 week old Cornish X in the barn right now and I'm almost considering selling
them and getting more Range Broilers.

 

[moenmitz]

That is just...wild. I am going to have to hypnotize my chickens now, just for fun....maybe I will start with the ones that never want to go in the barn at night....

Mine are getting 28% turkey starter...and they have been doing alot of ranging since they got out of the barn for the first time a few weeks ago. They are all outside now from about 7 am until about 7 PM. The more ambitious ones are naturally, smaller. Some are definitely more the couch potato variety...

Oh, and in answer to the other question asked, yes, you can spread the butchering out as you wish. We are taking 60 in to be processed as they are the ones we are selling- the remaining 30 we will do ourselves as they reach the size we want them to be...though I will be keeping a few back to experiment with breeding them...I realize they dont breed true, but seriously...not like you could get a SKINNY chicken out of these porkchops I wouldn't think....

 

[PurpleChicken]

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Keep us posted on how breeding them works. I bet some interesting genetic
characteristics will show up.

 

[moenmitz]

I most definitely will!

 

[AnthonyT]

I have 100 of the color rangers going at 10 weeks right now. From the looks of things some will be well on their way to 8 pounds at 12 weeks while a few will be lucky to hit 4. I'd say they will average around 5 or 6 for the group. Thats the only thing I really don't like about them is the huge spread in size. Definately fun birds to raise but I have a few cockerals that will go out of their way to bite or peck you. They all get processed on Oct. 9th.

 

[moenmitz]

I don't mind the size difference...gives you something for everyone. Not everyone wants a big bird. Have you noticed yours vary more according to color? It seems to me the red and dark red ones are the biggest of mine...but I have some who are abit younger, and I forget who is who...

 

[AnthonyT]

My reds are probably the biggest, but I also have a few yellow cockerals that are huge. The biggest one I have is a red and white speckled cockeral. He looks nothing like all the others, has a very cornish comfimation. He doesn't even really act like the others. Most of the cockerals are big, some of the pulletss are almost as large, then quite a few smaller pullets, and a few that just don't want to get big but are proably still 3-4 pounds live weight.