Freedom Rangers

[TimG]

No signs of eggs, but I've seen at least one cockerel mounting hens. He's just 12 weeks old.

 

[TimG]

I weighed two cockerels this morning. They are about 12 1/2 weeks and weigh 9 lbs and 8 1/2 pounds. I did not keep the biggest of the cockerels figuring that the "fat" ones might have more trouble mating and be rougher on the females.

 

[sparky134]

I have 26 at 7 weeks and I too am thinking about keeping a few of the smaller pullets for replacement layers. How are the FR's for laying?

 

[Mrs. Mucket]

I am planning to keep some FRs back for breeding, too. Those of you who are doing the same--what are you all looking for in roos and hens? TimG you brought up a good point about roo size--bigger may not be better with FRs. My 25 are five weeks old and we're watching a few in particular.

 

[TimG]

Mrs. Mucket :

I am planning to keep some FRs back for breeding, too. Those of you who are doing the same--what are you all looking for in roos and hens? TimG you brought up a good point about roo size--bigger may not be better with FRs. My 25 are five weeks old and we're watching a few in particular.

I have no selection experience to draw upon, but here is what I did.

For the cockerels, I looked for a bird with some space between the legs thinking this would indicate a wide chest. I eliminated a couple of waddlers because I figured they would be less successful in the breeding department (these were also the larger ones weight wise and the easiest to catch!). And, I looked for a somewhat uniform coloring, I like the red color with black/green limited to the tail -- something like a New Hampshire -- so the more dark color/speckling they had in their wings and body the less likely I was to keep them.

For pullets, there really wasn't much to the selection because they were more similar to each other in size and coloring. I tried to select the shorter, rounder, ones along with the ones that were more red than buff. None of my females were waddlers, so this sort of selection didn't mean keeping anything that didn't look chicken.​

 

[Mrs. Mucket]

This weekend we marked some potential breeders to keep after butchering. For those considering Freedom Rangers, here's how friendly and curious they can be! Most of them came running to get those cool ID bracelets. Here's my daughter putting zipties on. The FRs are 6 weeks old.

Here's a closeup of some of the birds in their range shelter--resting, heading for a drink of water, or just nosing around. These are busy birds--they run in and out throughout the day but they always run IN if they see a person coming, just in case there might be food involved!

 

[Chickanmanfromarkansas]

I'd like to have some of these freedom rangers, but I've heard you mostly get red ones in an order. I don't care for red that much, too many Red chickens out there already. I want the Yellow ones mostly and a few of the tricolored ones, wished you could order specific colors. Might gert some when you can.

 

[eKo_birdies]

Quote:
i got MOSTLY barred, speckled, yellow, and tricolor birds. i did get some red as well, but by no means were they anything close to the majority. in the second batch almost all of them have barring in some way. those that don't are yellow for the most part. in short... they are colorful and beautiful! and will definitely be tasty

 

[koonaone]

Freedom Rangers. These birds sound interesting.

It sounds like they are a hybrid vigor cross that wouldn't breed true

but that might do well with a cornish hen which would be only

remotely related geneticaly?

I'm aiming at a 3-4 breed, at home, rotation to keep plump birds on the table and

my money in my pocket.

Does anyone know of a canadian supplier? The borders nutso these days.

 

[noahsark]

Okay, so with a hatch date of 8/11 we will be two weeks old tommorow..Im assuming weve got mostly FR becasue of the postal mix up, they all seem about the same size and color..
Im leaving them in my husbands care , as I am leaving tues and will be back fri..Ive switched some things around and have some questions for you all.
1) Is it okay to use this big feeder for 24 , rather then the long ones with holes?
2) also switched waterer from plastic one to big metal one
3) Do any of you see any problems with this set up?
I have water on far left, little bowl of greens on far left, big feeder with turkey crumbles(21%) in middle,
Flourescent light that stays on during day in middle, and heat light (250) at far right..
4) Can they have a bowl of wheat or cracked corn at this early of an age? the corn looks so big!
Im worried about leaving them, so any tips would be welcome, thanks all
Also Ive included pictures of day 2 , compared to day 13, as well as their set up in the garage..
Seems like the other ladyslooked so much bigger at 2 weeks, do they look about right size?

Day 3

day 13

set up