Answering a couple questions.
When are they ready to butcher? I butchered three 11 week old (minus one day) cockerels this morning. They were 9 lbs 0 oz, 8-6 and 8-4. Processed weights were 6-6, 6-0 and 5-15. I ended up taking the skin off the largest -- 10 ounces of skin -- and boning it to get 3 lbs of meat (brests, thighs and legs). The dogs ate the wings/drumettes and the neck and the rest of the carcass went into the stock pot.
My Rangers averaged 6 lbs. 1 oz at 9 weeks. That's plenty big enough for some people. They seemed to get less efficient with feed conversion around 8 weeks, so that may also be a consideration for some.
Why cross rather than breed Ranger on Ranger? There are a number of considerations that might come into play. Rangers are hybrids so they will not breed true -- how much they drift is unknown for the most part. Breeding with something similar (like a New Hampshire) would likely result in more uniform offspring, though it is unknown how much meat quality (size) would be lost. While meat quality may be lost, egg production may be improved so you'd have to keep fewer breeders to produce the desired number of offspring. A turkey sized rooster might cause problems with the hens, so introducing a more normal rooster of a good dual purpose breed might make the hens happier!
What colors? They come in Red, Yellow and Tri-color. Red is similar in color to a New Hampshire, yellow is more buff, and tri-color is something of a combination with more black speckled feathers tossed in. I don't think you can order a particular strain from JM, you get whatever they want to send. I ordered 170 this spring and don't think I got a single chipmunk patterned chick (the tri-colors), certainly none of the 23 I kept have turned out to be tri-color.
When are they ready to butcher? I butchered three 11 week old (minus one day) cockerels this morning. They were 9 lbs 0 oz, 8-6 and 8-4. Processed weights were 6-6, 6-0 and 5-15. I ended up taking the skin off the largest -- 10 ounces of skin -- and boning it to get 3 lbs of meat (brests, thighs and legs). The dogs ate the wings/drumettes and the neck and the rest of the carcass went into the stock pot.
My Rangers averaged 6 lbs. 1 oz at 9 weeks. That's plenty big enough for some people. They seemed to get less efficient with feed conversion around 8 weeks, so that may also be a consideration for some.
Why cross rather than breed Ranger on Ranger? There are a number of considerations that might come into play. Rangers are hybrids so they will not breed true -- how much they drift is unknown for the most part. Breeding with something similar (like a New Hampshire) would likely result in more uniform offspring, though it is unknown how much meat quality (size) would be lost. While meat quality may be lost, egg production may be improved so you'd have to keep fewer breeders to produce the desired number of offspring. A turkey sized rooster might cause problems with the hens, so introducing a more normal rooster of a good dual purpose breed might make the hens happier!
What colors? They come in Red, Yellow and Tri-color. Red is similar in color to a New Hampshire, yellow is more buff, and tri-color is something of a combination with more black speckled feathers tossed in. I don't think you can order a particular strain from JM, you get whatever they want to send. I ordered 170 this spring and don't think I got a single chipmunk patterned chick (the tri-colors), certainly none of the 23 I kept have turned out to be tri-color.
