Freedom Rangers

[BMaverick]

They will be seven weeks old in two days and I have moved them outside in the day and back in the cargo container at night. Most are Bigger than my smaller adults now.
BUT I have a problem!!! My freezer went out. I lost all my garden goodies and summer fruit! Made me sick! So unless I can find a way to afford a new freezer in the next 5 weeks (hahaha) looks like Im going to see how big a ranger can get in the next couple of months probably through spring.

New Pics for your viewing pleasure...

From what I had gathered, the FR hens lay some nice eggs and more frequently. So, if you have a choice, kep the hens.

As for the freezer, is it a main part or something like the auto temp circuit or relay? You would be bummed if the problem were a mere under $10 part and easy fix.

 

[coffeenutdesign]

Thank you everyone for this thread. I am planning on getting some freedom rangers this spring. It is my first venture into meat chickens and I would rather have a more chicken-like chicken than a weird CX frankenchicken. I just feel bad for them, the ones I have seen. They seem so unnatural.

I have not seen much posted on how good they actually free range. I won't be keeping mine near my laying hens. Instead, when they are big enough, they are going into our corrals where the goats and pigs are. We have 7 large corrals that once housed Ostriches and 4 of those have large 3-sided barns to get out of the weather. Since it is my understanding that they poop a lot, I would rather they be further from the house and have plenty of room to roam around and I could actually move them to the next corral if they get too messy. My corrals are actually a little overrun with dessert weeds and stuff, so another reason for putting them out there is to "clean out" the pen a little more. My 2 goats can't keep up.

So, for those of you that have had them. Do they actually forage and free range well when given the opportunity? If I just put out feed once a day and threw out some scratch to start them searching, will they act more like natural chickens and not mutant production animals? Also, how heat tolerant are they? I am in Texas and I am trying to decide when I need to purchase. It will be plenty hot by May and really hot by June.

 

[coffeenutdesign]

Maybe you could process a few at a time as you are ready to eat them in the meantime or even can some? Watch craigslist, you might find a freezer there to get you by. A freezer is on my "to get" list, too because I have a pig that will be processed soon and I am going to start raising meat rabbits in addition to the Freedom Rangers this year as well. Large deep freezers are not cheap, for sure.

 

[denasfarm]

I am feeding mine less now that they are on grass.
I give them a Large 20oz cup full of scratch in the AM under the tarp and then two 20oz scratch and one 20oz chick starter in the cargo container at dusk to make them all follow me back in, which works GREAT so long as I have on my RED boots. Change into shoes and they run from me. Go Figure. My make shift fence fell down today so when I went out I had Chicks all over an acre foraging so I guess they are pretty good at it. My problem is a hawk family is in the neighbors tree behind my fence and they have hungry babies that like chicken dinner. So I want to keep my food up under a tarp a little longer until they are too big to airlift away!

My husband worked on the freezer and has the motor running again, He said a mouse ran through the fan and was chopped in half, bent the blades and made a mess. We are going to test it with some popcycles. Im not sure I trust it with meat yet. I may do the birdies a few at a time and can them instead in case it goes out again.

 

[BMaverick]

Thank you everyone for this thread. I am planning on getting some freedom rangers this spring. It is my first venture into meat chickens and I would rather have a more chicken-like chicken than a weird CX frankenchicken. I just feel bad for them, the ones I have seen. They seem so unnatural.

I have not seen much posted on how good they actually free range. I won't be keeping mine near my laying hens. Instead, when they are big enough, they are going into our corrals where the goats and pigs are. We have 7 large corrals that once housed Ostriches and 4 of those have large 3-sided barns to get out of the weather. Since it is my understanding that they poop a lot, I would rather they be further from the house and have plenty of room to roam around and I could actually move them to the next corral if they get too messy. My corrals are actually a little overrun with dessert weeds and stuff, so another reason for putting them out there is to "clean out" the pen a little more. My 2 goats can't keep up.

So, for those of you that have had them. Do they actually forage and free range well when given the opportunity? If I just put out feed once a day and threw out some scratch to start them searching, will they act more like natural chickens and not mutant production animals? Also, how heat tolerant are they? I am in Texas and I am trying to decide when I need to purchase. It will be plenty hot by May and really hot by June.

From the information I have read up on FR, there are two bird groups mated to get on type of bird. A google search will render something about a French Rouge mixed with something else. There is also a CX variant too. Yes, there are basically two types of FRer's.

Oh yes, they POOOOOP all to much! Mainly the roos. The hens are about average poop like RI-reds.

Do a youtube search on FRs. They do forage well. Actually, it is best to let them free range with a little feed vs. mostly feed and little foraging. We are learning a bunch from them. They act and behave like any "normal" chicken does.

As for the heat, the FRs do not do well. That's why we started them in mid-October as 2 day old chics out here in Nashville. The winters are a mix of cold and warmth. For TX, you could raise them for 10wks in the early Spring like March through May.

If you get a few FRer hens and need eggs, these lay some really nice large single, double and triple yokers often.

 

[coffeenutdesign]

Thank you, BMaverick. I was thinking of late February, early March. I don't want to be outside processing while it is still too cold,but be able to get it done before it is too hot. That can sometimes be a pretty narrow window here. We have wacky weather. I am glad to see that they forage well. I'm sure I will have to feed more this year, just because I live in west Tx in a desert climate, so green grasses don't grow naturally very easy.

 

[BMaverick]

Thank you, BMaverick. I was thinking of late February, early March. I don't want to be outside processing while it is still too cold,but be able to get it done before it is too hot. That can sometimes be a pretty narrow window here. We have wacky weather. I am glad to see that they forage well. I'm sure I will have to feed more this year, just because I live in west Tx in a desert climate, so green grasses don't grow naturally very easy.

One other note, have plenty of water feeders for them. WTX can get really dry. Rain barrels and evaporation canopies can help.

 

[Mingming]

Hi! I'm also thinking about a few FRs for early spring! Nice to meet like-minded folks

I had a couple of questions also.... space? how much space do they need in their grow out area? do they need a coop like my laying hens (a solid structure), or can it be more like a lean-to as long as they're protected from weather and predators? not that I'm going to keep them outside for the first 3 weeks or so, like another earlier post suggested. And can someone suggest how much space they're going to ultimately need? If I get 25, 10' / bird so 250 sq ft or so? Thanks for any advice....

 

[BMaverick]

Hi! I'm also thinking about a few FRs for early spring! Nice to meet like-minded folks

I had a couple of questions also.... space? how much space do they need in their grow out area? do they need a coop like my laying hens (a solid structure), or can it be more like a lean-to as long as they're protected from weather and predators? not that I'm going to keep them outside for the first 3 weeks or so, like another earlier post suggested. And can someone suggest how much space they're going to ultimately need? If I get 25, 10' / bird so 250 sq ft or so? Thanks for any advice....

Our 22 layers are in a 4750sqft area and cleaned that really well. FRers do just that, range-feed often. That 250sqft would need a mobile fencing and shelter to be doable. A chicken tractor will work too if it's 8x12 moved three times a day.

If a FR is kept with little space to run, those chicken drum-stick legs will have little meat on them while the breast gets too large due to grain feed.

 

[Mingming]

Wow about 100 ft x 50 ft? For 22 layers? That seems pretty spacious! Thanks for your input,