Freedom Rangers

[joadgi]

My wife and I just purchased 75 Freedom Rangers from Freedom Ranger Hatchery INC and could not be more please. Not only are their birds so much more lively and healthy looking than the Cornish X but their customer service is phenomenal. Anytime I had a question Arthur and his team were there to help, anything from how much food to expect to use to care instructions. I would recommend Freedomrangerhatchery.com to anybody looking to move away of the Cornish X and into a much more healthy, active and natural bird. Due to their health these birds with shipping and on organic non GMO food are cheaper per pound than the Cornish X.

Thank you Arthur and team for all your help! We will order from you again.

 

[Life is Good!]

Ditto!

Our 25 FR last spring were phenomenal birds! I'd much rather have those than CX, but have determined that 12 or 13 birds is a lot easier for us to deal with at a time. Since I haven't found someone to split orders with, and they cannot reduce quantity, I'm stuck with CX for now....

Need a bigger coop. Then I could have 25 FR again!

 

[meganblythe]

I'll agree to all that! Very happy with this breed overall, and had great service and healthy birds from Freedom Ranger Hatchery. I'm in the same situation as Life is Good! - our yard can't handle 25 birds, so I'm in search of someone in South Carolina who wants to split an order with me later this year!

 

[mocluckin]

I have to agree with the FR chickens... have our first batch of 50 underway (just over 2 weeks into the process) and everyone is doing great! (knock on wood). We have 21 layers on pasture that are a year and a half old, the FR's will go in a separate pasture area in another week. While the FR's are active in their present enclosure, I have to say that many of them are happy to plop down on their bellies in front of the feeder and munch away. I guess that will keep them nice and tender.

I need to do some more searching, but maybe you FR veterans can answer this for me... I've been reading about separating pullets and cockrels but I had assumed that it wouldn't be an issue since their time is fairly short. Do I need to plan on sorting and separating to keep them from chasing the pullets once they get a little older???

Thanks for any advice.

 

[Life is Good!]

I've been reading about separating pullets and cockrels but I had assumed that it wouldn't be an issue since their time is fairly short. Do I need to plan on sorting and separating to keep them from chasing the pullets once they get a little older???

Nope, won't need to separate the genders. At best, you'll see some 'chest bumping' behavior starting about week 3 or 4; getting a bit more serious around 10wks or so. But usually nothing but some feathers removed by the fighting. Especially if one of the two remembers 'food!'....then the fight's done!

I did notice some of my pullets were sort of 'grouped' with certain cockerals. Not quite a harem situation, but close.

If you process yourself, remember to leave a cockerel to protect the remaining pullets. We didn't - and the girls were terrified that last week of their lives. They'd run for cover if the wind blew! I haven't made that mistake since. We always now leave one cockerel as the last one.

 

[mocluckin]

thanks for the info!

 

[Mygirlsrock]

I was glad to see your post re: freedom rangers. I have been raising Cornish X Rocks. They have done well (as well as they can do), but I am always on edge regarding their health. I have been very interested in trying a different breed of meat bird, but am not sure which one to try and how long until they are ready to butcher. How long did you wait to butcher, and were they sizable like the Cornish breed?
Thx.

 

[SunnySkies]

I am looking at FR right now trying to decide if I want ti make the leap right now. I'm considering feed costs, as I have everything else I would need (feeders, waterers, stuff to build a coop). How much feed did you go through?

 

[meganblythe]

I have to agree with the FR chickens... have our first batch of 50 underway (just over 2 weeks into the process) and everyone is doing great! (knock on wood). We have 21 layers on pasture that are a year and a half old, the FR's will go in a separate pasture area in another week. While the FR's are active in their present enclosure, I have to say that many of them are happy to plop down on their bellies in front of the feeder and munch away. I guess that will keep them nice and tender.

I need to do some more searching, but maybe you FR veterans can answer this for me... I've been reading about separating pullets and cockrels but I had assumed that it wouldn't be an issue since their time is fairly short. Do I need to plan on sorting and separating to keep them from chasing the pullets once they get a little older???

Thanks for any advice.

I didn't separate pullets and cockerels either, they got along fine. The cockerels definitely started their chest bumping, but it was more funny than anything else. I did all the cockerels in the first harvest, and the pullets were a bit jumpy the next week. But they were also in a confined chicken tractor so they couldn't really go anywhere. They were just a heck of a lot more wary of us, and a lot harder to get out the next week when we were ready to harvest them!

 

[meganblythe]

I am looking at FR right now trying to decide if I want ti make the leap right now. I'm considering feed costs, as I have everything else I would need (feeders, waterers, stuff to build a coop). How much feed did you go through?

I was glad to see your post re: freedom rangers. I have been raising Cornish X Rocks. They have done well (as well as they can do), but I am always on edge regarding their health. I have been very interested in trying a different breed of meat bird, but am not sure which one to try and how long until they are ready to butcher. How long did you wait to butcher, and were they sizable like the Cornish breed?
Thx.

I butchered around 11-12 weeks and had average carcass weights of 3.5 lbs for pullets and 4 lbs for cockerels. For 26 birds I used 350 lbs of feed during that 12 week period (but I don't think I fed them enough in the early weeks, meaning I had to give them more to get them to catch up in the later weeks). Here's a complete breakdown of my experience:https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...oilers-feed-amount-feed-conversion-and-growth.