Freedom Rangers

[sires6]

Dang it. They look just like my others. I'm going to have to tie string around their legs. I have Golden Comet and NH Reds and they all look just like that! Shoot! Don't want to accidentally slaughter the egg layers at 10 weeks!

 

[schellie69]

I have a couple of questions,
1. are freedom rangers better meat birds then cornish x
2. at what age can you butcher freedom rangers
3. do they eat like the cornish x I have heard a bunch about cornish x how they can go lame and they fatten up super fast how are freedom rangers different
4. can you raise some freedom rangers to laying age so you can hatch out your own meat birds each year or do you have to butcher like you do cornish x
thanks for answering these questions I am hoping by this time next year to be own my own farm and I want to raise my own meat birds and one more question do freedom ranger free range better then cornish x

 

[mike67909]

Quote:
1. They don't have the same food conversion as the X's so they don't grow as fast which means they don't have the problems cornish X's have. I think they are better but just because this is the type of bird i want to raise
2. i started my roosters at 10 weeks they were ready by 8-9 weeks though. I did one hen last night along with 3 roosters and they are smaller. I am going to grow them out another week or two so they will be around 13-14 weeks. they don't have a really deep breast like the cornish x but they still have nice breast meat good for the grill.
3. I think they eat more and poop more since the feed conversion rate is less. but that is just my experience. They eat 100% more grass than the cornish i raised did also. They are able to walk run fly around unlike cornish x.
4. yes i am planning on keeping a hen or two to breed against a white rock and a new hampshire red roosters.

I highly recommend raising them.

 

[schellie69]

Quote:
1. They don't have the same food conversion as the X's so they don't grow as fast which means they don't have the problems cornish X's have. I think they are better but just because this is the type of bird i want to raise
2. i started my roosters at 10 weeks they were ready by 8-9 weeks though. I did one hen last night along with 3 roosters and they are smaller. I am going to grow them out another week or two so they will be around 13-14 weeks. they don't have a really deep breast like the cornish x but they still have nice breast meat good for the grill.
3. I think they eat more and poop more since the feed conversion rate is less. but that is just my experience. They eat 100% more grass than the cornish i raised did also. They are able to walk run fly around unlike cornish x.
4. yes i am planning on keeping a hen or two to breed against a white rock and a new hampshire red roosters.

I highly recommend raising them.

Thank you for answering my questions one other question is there a reason to breed the hens to a different type of rooster instead of a freedom ranger rooster and 2nd what colors do freedom ranger come in. its nice to know that they will free range I think that is important for the taste of the chicken. how are freedom ranger different from like leghorns which I have seen some people raise as meat birds just a newbie trying to get a plan togeather before I start this time I am going to have my ducks in a row so to speak instead of getting my chickens then figuring out a run/coop for them thanks for the patience in answering my questions.

 

[Mrs. Mucket]

Thanks for the pics--nice looking birds!

Out of 26 we only got one dark one. That's my favorite coloring from the J&M pics and I'd hoped to get a lot of them. J&M said it is a tricolor and some others could turn out with tri-coloring too but so far they look like mostly reds and a few yellows.

Has anyone kept track of how much feed they eat? Mine seem to eat whatever is there so I'm not sure if free choice is a good idea?

We are planning to experiment by keeping out two roos and several hens (switching roos between the FR hens and our laying flock) and see what they produce.

Here is another pic of our dark FR chick. The grandkids think it looks like a colored penguin. It not only has brown on its face but a white head spot like barred rock chicks have. He/she already has a name and is not going to be on the dinner menu but will be in the breeding experiment. I don't know though--since they are all hybrids, would this one likely contribute any more coloring than the others?

Edited to add question.

 

[sires6]

It seems from the J & M site that they are similar appearance to the Golden Comet or NH Red, kind of a light red and white bird. They are supposed to dress out at 10 weeks about 5-7pounds on average. They are able to free range much better than CX's and are less prone to break downs. They are supposed to be smarter, more chicken intelligence and a decent feed conversion without the genetic monstrosity of the CX's. I like them so far and they are growing, just not quite as fast as my previous CX's.

Oh, and no pics today, it's pouring rain and thunder storming!

 

[TimG]

Quote:
They do have some resemblance to New Hampshires. In fact, I'd like to find a meatie line of new Hampshire to mix with my Rangers in hopes of creating hybrid dual purpose of sorts. Where did you get your New Hampshires?

There are three varieties of Rangers: Red, Yellow and Tri-color. That just really means that there is more color variation that there would be in a new Hampshire, some are more buff (my guess is the yellows) and some have more black mixed in (my guess the tri-colors).

 

[TimG]

Quote:
Where did your New Hampshire come from?

 

[mike67909]

Quote:
Where did your New Hampshire come from?

Well I got some a while ago from mypetchicken.com since i only wanted a few and they were really nice birds. They grew much faster than the ones I recently got. Unfortunately a coon got them 2 weeks ago. But i have a rooster form Murray Mcmurray I will try crossing along with a white rock rooster. I would try mypetchicken again if you are just going to get a few birds they ship as few as 3 chicks.

 

[mike67909]

Quote:
1. They don't have the same food conversion as the X's so they don't grow as fast which means they don't have the problems cornish X's have. I think they are better but just because this is the type of bird i want to raise
2. i started my roosters at 10 weeks they were ready by 8-9 weeks though. I did one hen last night along with 3 roosters and they are smaller. I am going to grow them out another week or two so they will be around 13-14 weeks. they don't have a really deep breast like the cornish x but they still have nice breast meat good for the grill.
3. I think they eat more and poop more since the feed conversion rate is less. but that is just my experience. They eat 100% more grass than the cornish i raised did also. They are able to walk run fly around unlike cornish x.
4. yes i am planning on keeping a hen or two to breed against a white rock and a new hampshire red roosters.

I highly recommend raising them.

Thank you for answering my questions one other question is there a reason to breed the hens to a different type of rooster instead of a freedom ranger rooster and 2nd what colors do freedom ranger come in. its nice to know that they will free range I think that is important for the taste of the chicken. how are freedom ranger different from like leghorns which I have seen some people raise as meat birds just a newbie trying to get a plan togeather before I start this time I am going to have my ducks in a row so to speak instead of getting my chickens then figuring out a run/coop for them thanks for the patience in answering my questions.

You could try using a FR rooster they are just so big though I would worry about the hens getting beat up since they are so big plus they don't breed true but you would likely get offspring with some similar traits to the parents. If you out cross to another breed then you get increased vigor or other superior qualities arising from the crossbreeding of genetically different plants or animals. Also called heterosis. So you can get different traits in the offspring. FR's are much different from leghorns they grow faster get bigger eat more poop more. I am not against raising leghorns for meat in fact i probably will try it some time. It takes them longer to reach full size (which is still much smaller than a 10 week old FR) but they don't eat alot and the hens are excellent egg layers.