Freedom Rangers - Laying Hens??

[knittychickadee]

I kept one of them from my summer batch. She started laying at 17wks 2days, and I've gotten 12 eggs from her in the 18 days she's been laying. I just got her first size extra large from her yesterday.
I had to put a nest box on the floor for her. She doesn't even try to use the wall nest boxes, and I'm not sure she would fit if she did try. She weighs a bit over 9lbs now. Definitely gets over-mated.

I was considering getting 25 Rangers come spring, and harvesting most of them, but keeping 6 - 10 of the pullets if they would make acceptable layers.

I definitely would not have been able to keep that many of my batch. Just too big and unsuitable. Maybe if you split the girls off early and restricted feed.​

 

[TimG]

I had one Colored Ranger pullet that escaped the butch (but not the stray dog). She did not mature to egg laying age, but she did run around the yard with my layers. She was a bit slower, but it was not as extreme as others have described.

I also had two cockerels (one that went to the dinner table and one that went to the stray dog). One I saw mating with the CR pullet. The other was bigger (we called him Jumbo), I caught him attempting to mate a hen one day, though it did not appear he completed the job.