Jumbo Cornish X vs. Freedom Rangers

[AA Maple]

They definitely eat less than the CX

Is there anything that'll eat more? Mine are voracious!

 

[smithychick]

McMurray lists them as Pioneer chickens.

 

[KlopKlop]

McMurray lists them as Pioneer chickens.

Yes and the rep at MM told me the pioneers are considered a hybrid. The rep at hoovers says their rainbows aren't and will 'breed true' so that's why I went with hoovers.
I plan to hatch rainbow over rainbow and buckeye over rainbow in the spring to see what happens

 

[smithychick]

Noooo!! Does that mean we won't be able to breed the ones we get? I guess it'll be more meat in the freezer but I'll be bummed.

 

[KlopKlop]

Noooo!! Does that mean we won't be able to breed the ones we get? I guess it'll be more meat in the freezer but I'll be bummed.

Breeding a hybrid would just yield you unpredictable results as opposed to genetic matches to the parents (but I'm not a geneticist so this is my gatherings)

From my research on rainbows it sounds like some hatcheries consider them hybrid just because they haven't been an established breed for very long (mid-2000s I think is when they first appeared) it sounds like the genetics have equalized though so that's why I am risking trying it. That's part of the fun of chicken keeping, right?
I think you should try it, too. Then maybe we can both share our results and bring more light to this beautiful dual purpose breed. And just because I can, here are some photos of mine

This is Conrad, our surviving roo. Chosen for his large size and heavier breast. We also kept 5 pullets

 

[smithychick]

I just gave myself a quick science class, lol. We're still gonna go for it. Yours look great! I tried to attach a pictu

re but it doesn't look like it worked.

 

[smithychick]

I edited him in, lol.

 

[KlopKlop]

Isn't amazing the variety of the rooster coloring?!? I had some the same as yours, some more rusty, some like Conrad, some more black... The pullets are almost all solid brown/rusty with some specks of black but no barring

 

[blucoondawg]

If mine run their feeder empty they definitely have a mob at the feeder when I go fill it I added a trough feeder hanging from the ceiling yesterday so they could spread out some more instead I'd jumping on each other to eat from the round feeder all at the same time.
I have read that rainbows/pioneers are considered a dual purpose breed but I would think they'd be hard to keep with a layer coop where free choice feed is offered, I would think they would just eat so much that eventually you would have health problems as they aged

 

[KlopKlop]

I just spent some time doing my 'Farm Books' to catch up for the last month and a half for expenses and was able to tabulate the cost of my broilers this year. Just counting food, Chick prices, and brooder bedding I am into each bird $5.85 for 47 birds and if I average the cost over my estimated pounds of meat harvested we are right at the $1 mark.

That is actually much lower than i expected but like i said, that doesn't include any of the housing costs. Even if you added 50% to those prices I wouldn't even be close to complaining.