Got 'em! 150 Colored Range Broilers (aka Freedom Rangers)

[2manychixs]

I'm looking for tor the french boiler pature feeding chixs. They are non-hybirds and breedable. I have heard them called merlin rouge but can't them on the net unless I have the wrong name. Could be misspelling the name as well. Thanks for any info.











flock-
14-araucana, 38- iza browns, 4 black australorp, 4-buff orphanton, 5-guineas, 8-speckled sussex, 6-partiage rock, 3- RIreds, 5-white rocks, 5-barred rocks!

 

[StillwaterCreek]

I've heard them referred to as Label Rouge. Supposedly the Naked Necks from S&G Poultry are very similar if not related. My batch of them will be ready for processing in the next 2-3 weeks. I'll try and remember to come back and report the results.

 

[2manychixs]

No! they are not naked necks. They can be purchased thur some company in pennslyvania. They are a pretty red type meat breed. another name I have heard is Ross cobs meat bird not same bird differ. But have hard time getting info off internet


flock-
14-araucana, 38- iza browns, 4 black australorp, 4-buff orphanton, 5-guineas, 8-speckled sussex, 6-partiage rock, 3- RIreds, 5-white rocks, 5-barred rock

 

[CHIC]

I'm so jealous, I just ordered Cornish Rocks last night not knowing the great deal you could get for these!

 

[greyfields]

There is indeed a naked neck version of the CRB's. I just don't know of anyone offering them in the US.

Catalog here:

http://www.hubbardbreeders.com/products.php?id=5

Click on Redbro and RedbroM parent stock lines.

 

[Overeasyplz]

Excellent thread, Uncle Hoot! I enjoyed reading it. Thanks for all the info. I am considering a few meat birds for next year, along with quail and rabbits.

 

[clubforgrowth]

Thanks for this thread, Uncle hoot. Very informative. Two questions that I have- how does the ranger's foraging ability compare to that of the classic egglayers? At least from observation (data would be impossible, because its apples to oranges).

2nd, does anyone have any information/theories/speculations about the effects of different confinment styles on the Ranger's FCR? Conventional wisdom is that free ranging (or day ranging) increases FCR compared to range confinement (pasture pens) due to increased use of muscles, expending calories. This conventional wisdom is based on conventional birds, right? If the freedom ranger is a strong forager, couldnt pasture pens be disadvantageous, preventing the birds from getting as much food from grass and bugs? Even if the increased food consumption was only enough to balance out the extra exercise, larger ranges would be more worthwhile because it would result in a higher percentage of feed coming from grass, weeds and bugs, yielding higher quality meat.

I just read Pastured Poultry Profits by Joel Salatin and it seemed very clear to me from it that the pasture pen was designed FOR the cornish cross in particular (also for the lack of electric poultry netting.) I also recall Joel saying that in his eggmobile system, the hens are able to get up to 70% (I might have misread) of their diet from pasture if they follow behind cows to glean bugs/parasites in their patties. I'm thinking of trying something similar with my broilers this summer.

 

[UncleHoot]

I never followed up on the weights, and unfortunately, I don't really have any more information. I intended to pull the chickens out of our freezer and record the weights. Unfortunately, many of the chickens froze in place or froze to each other, which would have made it really difficult to get them out without destroying the bags. In fact, some are still frozen to the freezer, and I'm not sure how to get them out, but one at a time is better than 50.

Anyway, the largest at 13 weeks, was about 8.5 lbs, which I've probably already mentioned. And the rest seemed to be right on target, perhaps adding a bit less than 1/2 lb during that extra week. In other words, the info at 12 weeks should be a good sampling.

I'm not sure if I'm going to do a big batch of FR's this year. A lot will depend on the interest shown by our consumers. If no one else shows interest, we still may do a small batch of perhaps less than 50.

 

[UncleHoot]

Quote:
Sorry for the extremely late reply, I don't hang around here much during winter months.

1. Foraging: They forage much more than a cornish x. They forage much less than a classic egg-layer. They would much rather eat the feed than to walk around eating other things, but that doesn't mean they are not more active than a cornish x. They definitely like to wander around. From perhaps 8 weeks on, I think it's nice to let them wander a bit outside the pen.

2. FR's are meant to "range". So, closing them up in a pen could be seen as the "wrong" way to raise these. Nevertheless, I do recall a very disappointed series of posts by someone who let hers range all of the time. She had very low weights on her FR's. I kinda like the way I did it. Keep them in the pen until they are 8-9 weeks, then give them occasional free-range access. They won't wander very far. Certainly, that's less "kind" to the chickens, but at some point, we have to realize that we're raise them for meat, and if they get too much exercise, they will be lighter, and cost more to raise.

3. PPP is my favorite chicken book. Having said that, I really question the concept that meat chickens can forage for some of their calories and result in a lower FCR (feed conversion ratio). If anything, I think having the chickens walk around foraging will result in a higher ratio. But, having FR's follow behind the cows is certainly nothing that I've ever tried, so I would really like to hear the results of this experiment. If you could lower the FCR to something close to the cornish x, that would be quite a feat. I say, give it a try, but remain cautiously optimistic.

 

[slc]

Quote:
The Rangers are a hybrid from all that I have read.

Where was that? The stuff I read says, yes, they are a developed breed from careful artificial selection (but then, all breeds are), but nothing I have seen says they are hybrids.

Jm's "freedom rangers" includes the Redbro. An industrial produced broiler hybrid bred for the French Label Rouge program. Hubbard-Isa is the company. They are one of the major cornish cross producers but they and SASSO also produce broiler versions for the European market. The label rouge program is impressive. They are required to survive outdoors on pasture, grow only slightly longer than CornishX, and can't be processed under 81 days to provide best taste and texture. The program is sort of like our pastured organic but it goes much farther in that it also must be humane so the breed must be able to reach breeding age and forage and act like a real chicken. CornishX are basically not up to par so are not allowed in the program. Producers must also get regular blind taste tests to prove the chicken texture and quality are worthy of the label rouge label. I did a search for "poulet rouge" and found that some are selling dressed birds for $19.00 each! In my opinion if any bird can sell at those prices and live up to this program it must be a pretty good choice. Hybrid or not at least these birds are fully capable of breeding naturally. With a few generations of selection and culling anyone can get a stabilized result. That is how all breeds came about in the first place. Can't do that with CornishX without making them suffer.

http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/labelrouge.html

http://www.hubbardbreeders.com/products.php?id=11