How much to expect to pay for feed 6 weeks

[greyfields]

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Chickens do not eat grass. They eat grass seed, but it's not very nutritious compared to grain.

4 lbs will be small for broilers. I would say shoot for 6 lb live weight. But be aware, if you miss your pocessing date by only a week, you'll quickly have 8-10 lb birds.

So:

(# of Birds) x (Desired Live Weight) x (Feed Conversion Ratio) = lbs of feed needed

25 x 6 x 3.0 = 450 lbs of feed

So I would get 10 bags of broiler starter/finisher. The FCR of 3.0 is a little conservative, so this should get you what you need.

 

[Marlinchaser]

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Dont give bread to chickens, your spose to save that to feed to the ducks at the park.

 

[greyfields]

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I wanted to bring up a point here regarding Feed Conversion Ratios (FCRs). A lot of people have posted here saying that if you raise slower growing chickens (such as Freedom Rangers or Red Broilers) they will 'eat you out of house an home' because of the 2-4 extra weeks they require to reach desired weight.

That notion is entirely inaccurate. A FCR for any chicken is independent of the duration it lives. You can have a chicken with an FCR or 3.0 reaching market weight in 42 days and a chicken with an FCR of 3.0 reachign market weight in 80 days.

The two birds will eat an identical ammount of food to reach an identical weight.

The only difference is the length of time it takes you to grow the 'crop'.

I know you understand this Farmgirl, but I know some people are really confused on the subject.

 

[FarmGirl01]

Greyfields. You have informed me on something I had no idea about. Thanks for the conversion formula. (FCRs). I have read a little about the Freedom rangers. I wanted a broiler that was a little more active and with a dark plumage. My birds free range and I needed a bird that suited the environment better that the Cornish X. Thank you so much.

 

[tiki244]

well I havent eaten chicken in a long time but if decide to I think I will go with the Red Broilers. Thanks

 

[greyfields]

Some people here raise Cornish Crosses perfectly well and probably think we're a bunch of hippies for looking into alternative genetics. In my climate, we found Cornish Crosses difficult and we had high mortality.

We are not into farming to recreate industrial conditions on a smaller scale. So, we were very excited when we found Freedom Rangers which were designed for free ranging and organic markets. For us, the experience raising them was remarkably easier and more rewarding.

In the very long run, though, I want to get away from having to buy broilers at all... but to breed them myself. Then I will have animals optimized for my climate. This is obviously easier to do with laying breeds than meat crosses. But I will get there someday.

 

[blue90292]

i'm very excited about my purchase of the freedom rangers. they're coming this saturday. i spoke to a couple of ladies out in bastrop that were very sad at how the cornish X's were growing. they wanted something that would forage a little more. we ended up talking for over 30 min, i think, and the next day they emailed me to tell me they just put in an order of 160 freedom rangers. they will be growing them using organic feed.

 

[greyfields]

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I am really proud to hear that! I see no reason not to get meat birds ideally suited for organic and pastured production. My experience is just that they are all around more active, enjoyable, healthy... and are downright pretty birds to look at. We need to get Barbara on board with providing shipments of 25 though maybe for a surcharge. We backyarders need to unite!

 

[skeeter]

hey Mr. G,will those frredom rangers breed true?and when will they mature enough to lay eggs

thanks

 

[tuskajones]

Farmgirl has me thinking about ordering some Red Broilers along with the super cornish x that I have on order. i would like to see first hand how they compare in terms of taste, growth, activity, etc. i am now thinking 12 cornish x males and 12 red broiler males.

since i am a first timer with all of this, is there any reason i should not brood and raise the super cornish and the red broilers together? i plan on having a chicken tractor with some free ranging/confined ranging when i am at home and can keep an eye on them (which is most of the day). i guess i could process the cornish at 6 weeks and the reds at 8 weeks or so.

any thoughts are appreciated!

kelly