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

[UncleHoot]

Just wanted to post that they finished the first 250 lbs of feed right around the 3 week old mark.

They are still eating a ton of grass, but they also seem to be devouring the feed even more quickly now. Part of the problem may be the dry weather we've been having here (everyone else in the state gets rain, but not us), which means less green and more brown.

 

[UncleHoot]

I'm not sure anyone else is still following this other than me (Harp's thread is great!), but I'll update it every week or so, and hopefully provide information that others haven't...

Anyway, at 4 weeks, the 147 of them went through 500 lbs of feed hitting a new milestone. So, that was 250 lbs in the last week.

They seem less interested in foraging, but we went through quite a dry spell for a couple weeks. We got a bunch of rain this weekend, so we'll see if the newly sprouting greens will change their appetites.

Almost all of them are covered in new feathers now. We have (at least) one little runt that is still partially in fluff, with no tail feathers, either. It seems perfectly healthy, though.

Also worth noting is that one of them looks nearly EXACTLY like my Ameraucanas. The feathering is identical and it has green legs.

But it's a big bird, possibly one of my largest, so I doubt that an actual Ameraucana slipped in there. Maybe they had some accidental cross breeding at the hatchery, though. The rest range from buff to red (like a RIR), with only about 5 or so that appear to be the tri-color variety (including the Ameraucana-like chicken).

 

[barrybro]

I am following with great interest. I am fairly new to all of this but I have 30 broilers from S&G Poultry. They are about 1.5 weeks old. I use a 8X8 chicken tractor. Would like to have a small side business much like you. Would love to be up to 1,000 chickens in a couple of years.

Barry

 

[tnchicken]

I'm following. This is great data to have and I appreciate you putting the time into it. I am also very interested in how J&M birds compare to the S&G so the more we know, the better.

Thanks again!

 

[bearfretworks]

I'm following this as well, please keep the updates coming!

This is my first year raising true meaties, and my CRB's are approaching 10 weeks old. Their freezer camp is scheduled for week 12. I appecciate all the info and idea's I can glean from this and other threads. So....thanks!

Another Barry.

 

[faykokoWV]

I'm following as well, trying to decide if this is something I'd want to try.

 

[Buster52]

I'm not sure I want to do Rangers since I found out they were hybrids, but I don't really know. I do enjoy reading these progress reports, as I always learn something no matter the breed.

Besides, I might try them one of these days. So, please continue to keep us up do date with your progress. Even if someone else is doing it, this gives us a chance to compare experiences.

 

[Baybrio]

I'm also following.

My colored rangers are at about four weeks now. Unfortunately I'm not doing a good job of keeping records.

I also have a large one with those very green legs! I was wondering just yesterday what the parent stock must look like.

 

[UncleHoot]

6 weeks old today, and it looks like they've gone through just about 1,000 lbs of feed. This last week, it got pretty hot, and they seemed to eat less for a couple days. So, it's still right around 250 lbs per week that they are eating. Maybe 260-270 now, but not a huge change.

Crowing. As of either Sunday or Monday morning (about 40 days old), we started noticing a couple of them crowing, or at least trying to, in a pitiful kind of way. Nothing very loud yet, and I hope it stays that way, since they still have 6-7 weeks to go.

Fighting. These guys spar off with each other quite a bit, especially when I let them out of the pen for awhile. Nothing has ever been bloody, but they are definitely a bit more feisty than the Cornish X.

I've taken some pictures and videos over the last couple weeks, which I'll post later this week.

 

[nicalandia]

Quote:
you know they have to be..right?