Freedom Rangers

[noahsark]

I know, its really confusing...the lady who got my 26 freesdom roos on fri morning mixed them with her 26 mixed heavy breed laying pullets..We did the best wecouldto sepertae what we thought were mine..After 2 weeks she had two VERY big birds, and I had 2 VERY small birds. One of the small ones I had died, and she let me keep the second small one..So the only way it could be a freedom is if they delivered 27 ..but they said they delivered 26..I know, pretty confusing..some say she looks like a sex link?

 

[eKo_birdies]

all of my sex links have had white on them rather than black...

could the other small one have been a hen and this one a ranger, making for the 26 delivered?

lol this could give a person a headache!! either way... those birds look fantastic!!!! are you more pleased thus far w/ the progress than you were w/ the javas?

 

[noahsark]

Absolutley!! I still had the javas inside at this point..I tink I turned them out at 8 weeks..I remember I had to wait untill they couldnt fit thru the cyclone fenceing..Plus, i didnt handle these, so i didnt bond with them..They are getting so big, and outside of the one I have with the legs turned out, everyone is healthy..I was just reading on mareks, and they makeit seem so common..Do all you guys raising freedoms usually have a few with Mareks? I thought about keeping these guys penned, so theyd be ready faster, but didnt have the heart to let my hens out for the day, and keep them penned up..i love watching them run around foraging!
As far as the hen, i think your right..not sure how it happened, but she just looks identical to the others..makes me glad I did all roos, if this is the difference in size from hens to roos.At least they will all be ready at the same time now..

 

[eKo_birdies]

i'm not really sure what it is that a few of mine have gotten (like 4 out of 800 or so...so VERY few).. but they get that paralysis and just lose weight even though i isolate them to make sure they continue to eat. i've just culled the ones that this happened to, i didn't want to keep them around longer than necessary once it proved they weren't going to pull through it.

i'm glad to hear that this go around is going better for you... it'll keep getting more comfortable from here on out!

 

[ijon1]

Anyone out there have any idea what breeds are in the Freedom Ranger breed?

 

[vscampbell]

I am looking for any information from someone that has ran some FR stock on to have them produce and raise chicks. I have a small farm in the Seattle area of Washington. I have a flock of Welsummers and I have a flock of Speckled Sussex. These I raise for egg production and both have relative free range, meaning that I have to keep the area fenced from coyotes and coons, but they have a large area to range over.... enough that they never get it all pecked down. I have another place where the ground is sloped and it is hard to farm veggies on. I have 62 FR on it right now that are about 4 weeks old. They are doing well, although I did loose two during the first week and I lost two more as I transitioned them outside... we had a rain storm pass through for a couple of days and I think it was tough on them.... anyway, most of these birds are probably cocks as that is what they told me they were sending, but I'm sure a few of them are pullets... I'm thinking of running on one cockrel and several pullets to raise chicks with... so, my questions are:

How often are FRs broody?

Do they range well over mild winters. I will provide a coop for them... I have no problems with my laying hens, and I have a roo in each laying flock to protect against predators.... the hawks don't dare come out of the trees into the chicken yards... oh, a story... my friend Cindy has a huge roo that kicked the tar out of a bald eagle last year.... it lost some feathers but the eagle left without a meal..... also, my Speckled Sussex, a big boy himself, kicked it up with an adult coon earlier in the summer and came out on top... lost a lot of feathers also..... the coon ran off, probably because we showed up on the scene about 30 seconds into the fray. That same coon or it's brethren got about 20 of our hens before we helped down reincarnation road.... so I don't mind that our Sussex roo added some humilation!

How do the chicks do that hatch out on the range? I have some Sussex cross chicks right now that a hen squirreled away in the blackberries.... there are seven little peepers and they are doing great... and the other (mostly) Sussex treat them just fine, including that big roo!

Pax!

 

[TimG]

Quote:
I think you're asking questions beyond anyone here. There are a number of us that are about to breed FR, but I haven't seen any reports of results here, much less the info about broodiness and range chicks for which you are asking.

 

[vscampbell]

Well! I guess I just might have to move forward with my ideas so that we can have some experience to share! ;-)

 

[Mrs. Mucket]

Like TimG, I have just a young crew (the breeders we saved out are just 19 weeks old). I do have some observations of this group of birds, comparing to my flock of mixed laying breeds. Maybe others can say if these are common traits. We kept two nice cockerels and all six hens, who are still together till we are able to move one of the boys in with the layer flock.

We had them in the barn for the first month, then put them out on grass at four weeks (late June) and they did forage well at that age. They don't seem to work as hard or strip things bare like the laying hens do.

The six are all huge birds and have continued to grow since we processed their buddies, though these ones are eating noticeably less per bird than before we butchered the others. The boys look about the size of a turkey hen we just dressed out at 13.5#. The girls are a bit larger than our older Buff Orpington hens (our largest standards).

The FR hens started laying at 17 weeks of age. Now two weeks later, at least 5 of the 6 are laying. We still get 2-3 rubber-shell eggs and 1-2 very soft shell (break when you touch them) a day. On the other hand, two are laying XL eggs with nice hard shells. They are getting layer feed and oyster shell. The FR hens like to sit for long periods in the sun or shade a lot more than our laying hens next door, who are more likely to be out looking for bugs and such and sitting less often. One hen does sit off in a corner longer than the others, but I can't tell if she is low girl on the totem pole or what.

The cockerels have good full crows but they sound very nasal compared to other roos I've known--when they "talk" they almost sound like horns. They are busy trying to mate with the hens, sometimes being rebuffed. And these boys are already good at their guardian roostering. One of them is always near a group of the girls. When we had a tractor rototilling nearby, the boys kept the hens herded into the opposite corner of the pen. When we moved their tractor across the pen to the garden gateway and herded the birds over, one rooster was the first to go in the new pen and the other was one of the last. Neither was comfortable until the last lagging hen was in the new digs.

The FRs are fun and personable. The two roosters are beautiful--one barred/tri-color and one red. We don't plan to hatch any eggs till spring due to our winter facilities, but look forward to seeing what results we get.

 

[vscampbell]

I put my 64 chicks out at 3 weeks and they had a little spotty transition... just happened to have a couple of days of heavy rain right then and I lost two... hard to say if that was the reason... the rest are doing well but there is some difference in size.... a few of them are pretty small. I agree, these birds don't hit the grees like my other birds do... especially the Welsummers, which will peck down anything in short order and scratch up what's left.... I think the FR chicks are also much more aggressive feeders at the trough than my other breeds, mainly barred rocks, speckled sussex, and golden sex link. They do love to lay in the sun and have such odd sprawled out positions that I sometimes check on them to see if they are dead... nope, just all pretzeled out.... I have a big tricolor that I am keeping an eye on.. might be a good one to run on depending on how many pullets I end up with...