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duluthralphie said:
Yep, Nothing I love more than my Toads. As Kloppers says I like talking about them. Here is Bert Jr. he is the result of a rainbow CX cross. I do everything the hatcheries tell you not to do when raising CX's. I force them to free range or starve. I feed them after day 2 whatever they can eat in 15 minutes twice a day. That is all! If you put feed in front of them for 12 hours a day you will raise lazy slobbish birds. I also feed them a low protein feed, 14-15%. I had the guy at the feed mill come unglued when he found out I was feeding them such low protein. He claimed they would have weak legs and bones and be sickly. He is and was wrong. I have some CX hens nearly a year old now laying an egg a day almost everyday. My problem is the eggs are not fertile. I lost my back up rooster to an owl about 2 months ago. So I am screwed for going ahead on this. Unless I can kidnap Conrad! I am hoping it is just seasonal infertility. I also have one full sister of Bert Jr. She is doing great and a reliable layer. By breeding back to the rainbows you get a cx with a larger leg and thigh than the CX itself has without giving up much breast meat. That said, if I do not get the next generation to breed I am done with the crosses and buying from Hoover again. BTW Hoover gets their eggs from some place in Arkansas as I recall. They have great CX's as long as you do not over feed them. My first batch I raised like they said, I had heart and leg problems, I have never had that the way I raise them.. And as Kloppers says they are sweet luvable birds that want to be held and visited with.
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He looks alot better then the cornish x I had, bigger too. I was part of the birds problem, housed them with my layers, treated them like my layers too, even expected them to fly a bit like my Barr rocks. I have learned a lot from those 4, need a seperate coop, no or low roosts, no constant feed. Best mistake I have made in a long time.
 
I live in the middle of thousands of acres of woodland, just have 3 acres of cleared land here in the middle. I free ranged 52 CX chicks from age 3 wks onward here, most of their ranging was done out of the dog's boundary and reach, all over these 3 acres and even out into the woods on all sides and not a one was lost to predators. That was done in March/April/May/June of the year.

If ranging young birds in the fall, I'd say that might be different, as all chicks and half grown birds are more susceptible to aerial predation during the hawk migratory times, no matter the color....though the only time I did young birds during the hawk migration and lost stock, I lost the barred chicks and not the white ones.
 
@duluthralphie, you might have far better results by just using Plymouth White Rocks to put more breast and thigh meat on your flock. They are, after all, where the genetics for such things have derived in these CX broiler birds. They too are gentle, calm birds with great personality and they forage well, are hardier, and can breed efficiently. Here's a WR cockerel of mine....









The thing with trying to invent a new breed of meat birds that are good for the homestead is that the breed already exists in the Plymouth White Rock. They have incredibly fine textured meat, huge breasts and thighs~even in the hens~and they lay remarkably well for a meaty breed. They are extremely hardy, forage like a dream, go broody enough to reproduce their own kind, lay extra large brown eggs, live and lay a long time, are calm and social birds and they don't eat as much as the meat breeds...they don't even eat as much as most layer breeds and they stay incredibly well conditioned and fat on mostly foraged foods three seasons out of the year.
 
Beekissed said:
@duluthralphie, you might have far better results by just using Plymouth White Rocks to put more breast and thigh meat on your flock. They are, after all, where the genetics for such things have derived in these CX broiler birds. They too are gentle, calm birds with great personality and they forage well, are hardier, and can breed efficiently. Here's a WR cockerel of mine.... The thing with trying to invent a new breed of meat birds that are good for the homestead is that the breed already exists in the Plymouth White Rock. They have incredibly fine textured meat, huge breasts and thighs~even in the hens~and they lay remarkably well for a meaty breed. They are extremely hardy, forage like a dream, go broody enough to reproduce their own kind, lay extra large brown eggs, live and lay a long time, are calm and social birds and they don't eat as much as the meat breeds...they don't even eat as much as most layer breeds and they stay incredibly well conditioned and fat on mostly foraged foods three seasons out of the year.
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I would love to have some of those. I just don't know where to find quality stock around here
 
I had a white rock, that came in a colored egg layers package I got from Hoover, I loved her. However, she was never as large as yours. I am not against trying them. MY wife might be. She seems to think I have enough (read too many) feathered friends around here.

I will have to decide after this hatching season what I want for the next year. If I get no toads this year I will be making a change. To be realistic for what Hoover charges for their birds I cannot really over winter enough hens to hatch the replacements I need for each year. I will be buying around 100 again this year.
 
Murray McMurray has them and they get good reviews on size but they openly say they have selected to reduce their brooding instincts. That's not all bad if you want to use an incubator.
 
rancher hicks said:
How good y9ur BR is depends on the line.  commmercial lines are not so good. 
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I just got him from the feed store. He was handsome enough before a dog attack, and very good to his girls. He is a bit aggressive to my small children, but I have been told they can be when young. He was also down to two hens. He just turned a year. I figure if he doesn't calm down by the time I process, with the added age and a few more girls, he will be going to the stewpot. If he does not end up working as a breeder that can be fixed too.
 
KlopKlop said:
No they are colored and almost everyone will be unique in its patterns. They are barred and have reds, Browns, oranges, and blacks mixed in. I get mine from Hoovers in Iowa. They are a good middle ground between hybrids like Cornish cross or red Rangers and true heritage breeds like dark Cornish or jersey Giants. Dixie Rainbows were developed 10-12 years ago from what I have learned and the breed has been stabilizing since then.
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So thank you! I checked out Hoovers and they are very reasonably priced, so I went ahead and got 12 Red ranger and 13 Dixie Rainbows for March. (25 minimum order)
:weee
 

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