FREEDOM RANGERS VS CORNISH CROSS

[steveneggs]

I HAVE BEEN READING LATELY ABOUT FREEDON RANGERS AND HOW ACT MORE LIKE A NORMAL CHICKEN. I RAISED SOME CORNISH CROSS BUT DIDNT LIKE THE WAY THEY DIDNT ACT LIKE NORMAL CHICKEN IN THE SENCE THEY JUST EAT AND POOP AND DONT MOVE AROUND MUCH. I REALIZE THE CORNISH CROSS REACHES THEIR BUTCH WEIGHT MUCH FASTER THOUGH. SO IM NOT SURE ABOUT TRYING FREEDOM RANGER OR JUST RAISE A HERITAGE FOR MEAT.

 

[Henry&Friends]

I HAVE BEEN READING LATELY ABOUT FREEDON RANGERS AND HOW ACT MORE LIKE A NORMAL CHICKEN. I RAISED SOME CORNISH CROSS BUT DIDNT LIKE THE WAY THEY DIDNT ACT LIKE NORMAL CHICKEN IN THE SENCE THEY JUST EAT AND POOP AND DONT MOVE AROUND MUCH. I REALIZE THE CORNISH CROSS REACHES THEIR BUTCH WEIGHT MUCH FASTER THOUGH. SO IM NOT SURE ABOUT TRYING FREEDOM RANGER OR JUST RAISE A HERITAGE FOR MEAT.

Are your birds free ranged or confined to a run or coop? I’ve had many breeds, and all they do all day is walk around, eat & drink, lay eggs, raise a commotion sometimes and poop. What do you think a normal chicken acts like, and how do you want your birds to act?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I've raised about 30 breeds including Cornish Cross and Freedom Rangers.
They both have their place. It takes about 2 weeks longer to get a Freedom Ranger to the same size. They were much more active but still a bulky meat bird. I usually raised them in a free range situation but did the same a couple times with CornishX.

 

[CindyinSD]

All meat birds will be somewhat less active than “normal” chickens. This will happen no matter whether they are hybrids like Cornish cross and Freedom Rangers or other FR-type broiler chickens. That said, if you let them out to free range in the morning and do not offer feed except for a half hour in the evening when you coop them, they will respond by being more active.

When they are chicks they need a high protein chick starter available all day for the first two weeks and a normal starter/developer afterwards for, I’d say, another couple weeks. Then you can go to an all-flock feed. If there’s good range available by then, you can give them as much as they can eat of feed for half an hour in the evening. Do make sure though, that when you do this, there is ample room for EVERYONE at the feeder at the same time.

If you do this, they will grow much more slowly than “normal” meat hybrids do, but they will be more active and “chickenish.” Some folks prefer the more intense chicken flavor of the slower-grown chickens. If you grow chickens in this way, the meat will still be enjoyable but it may be less tender and require slower, lower-temperature cooking.

 

[Ridgerunner]

My suggestion is to try both and see how it goes for you. There are differences and we all have our preferences. What should be guiding you is your preferences, not mine. So have fun with it and eat your mistakes as well as what you get right. And base your decisions on what you see yourself and how they fit your goals and expectations.

I personally like dual purpose. I like playing with genetics so dual purpose fits better with that. I have to ration my freezer space, especially in summer and fall when I have a lot of fruits and veggies to process. Smaller batches of meat throughout the year suits that much better than a large group of birds that have to be processed at the same time.

It took a few years to work out a system that works well for me. I think you need to do the same thing, determine what works for you. Don't expect to get it exactly right the first time. But with a little experience, you will home in on it.