Kosher Kings

[jessicayarno]

When they ship them, do they over-night them?? I just worry about them getting cold in this weather.. I have been thinking about getting the Red Meat Makers..

 

[Pineywoods Peepers]

They didn't overnight them. Mine shipped on Tuesday from PA and arrived in Texas on Thursday a.m. I had ordered 50, so I wasn't terribly worried about them getting too cold. Our temps were getting down into the low 40's at night and up into the low 80's during the day when they arrived.

 

[Bucky182]

How are your KK doing? Have you lost any? are they growing well? Oh and being from PA you have to let them watch the Steelers or they will get drepressed if they have to watch the cowboys. LOL

 

[Pineywoods Peepers]

They're doing fine. Thanks for checking on them, Bucky. We did lose one to an unfortunate incident with the waterer. My husband accidentally squished one with it. When I put in fresh water than evening I found a little flattened chick. He felt pretty awful about it.

Their growth is still a bit behind the FR's. At 3.5 wks their avg weight today was 17.5 ounces as compared to 19.06 oz for the FR's.

Trust me if they watch any football, it won't be the Cowboys. It'll be the Texas team with a winning record and a shot at the playoffs - the Texans!

 

[Bucky182]

Well that is good, the only ones I lost where to accidents, my faul, dropped heat lamp on one pulled tractor over a couple. That is not too bad in wieght, a lot of variables time of year, temp, ect. But for the differance in price you can stand to average an ounce or two less. You never know the next batch could be just the opposite. Good luck and post some more pictures.

 

[Pineywoods Peepers]

I was afraid that a couple of ounces was going to translate into them needing an extra couple of weeks to grow out. If that is the case the $.49 in savings per chick won't be worth the cost of feed during that extra time.

They must be more active than the FR's. I'm having trouble keeping shavings out of the feeders. I feed/water two times daily, and every time I go out they've only eaten about half their feed, and the rest is covered in shavings. I probably need to get a hanging feeder, but when I transition them to the bottom coop next week, I'll have a PVC pipe feeder they can eat out of, so I shouldn't have to worry about shavings in the food any more.

Pictures as requested:

Two weeks old

Two weeks

Three and a half weeks old

Waterers set up on roost to prevent shavings/soiling in water

4X8 coop. I'll move them down to the bottom of the coop next week which has a 10 X 20 run attached to it.

I should probably need to move them down now, but I have 3 younger chicks in there that are too young to put in with the rest of the flock just yet. I have to figure out what I'm going to do with them before I can move the meaties.

 

[Bucky182]

I had the same problem with shaving, they scratch like crazy! Which is good once you get them on pasture. I put my water on a couple of bricks till I hung it up so it would stay some cleaner and did the same with feeder. I also put a couple of feeders in so that at any given time some where clean. Have you noticed how aggressive they are. I use to set and laugh and watch them run around and then act like they was going to fight with each other. Or chase a fly around the pen. I found them more active but very hardy and still dressed out nice. They will have huge thighs and legs and a very good flavor. They are a true pasture chicken. I do believe they could fend for themselves if just turned loose when big enough. Although they would not grow out then but most broilers could not do that.

The savings for 50 chicks would be about 24.50 cents so if you have to keep them a week longer it is still a wash. How long did you keep your freedom rangers? What did they dress out at? How many extra did they send you? I know Nolls usually puts 4-5 exta in you have to figure that in also. Plus how many FR did you loose? Only one KK so far and it was not birds fault. LOL Same with me so don't feel bad. LOL

I am going to try the Red Meat maker Nolls says it is thier biggest bird. If so and if it grows like or better than FR that is a real deal. They also have a white one but not sure how it grows. I know Mr. Noll told me the new ones will grow even better than the ones I had. Also, I did not have any runts like I did with FR. There I always got one or two sometimes three that never grew bigger than a normal hen. Did you get all roosters or a mix run? I always get roosters cause they are so much cheaper and grow faster.

You also may want to try MT-DI hatchery, they have a FR bird and a Rosambro. I raised the Rosambro and they grow somewhere between a CX and a FR or KK. They are all white too. They have a breast alot like a CX but seems alot more healthy than the CX. They dressed out in 10-11 weeks and looked just like little turkeys. My clients where very pleased with them and they make a great roasting chicken.

 

[EggsForIHOP]

After the most recent pics you posted - I am even more intrigued and keeping an eye on this! Don't get me wrong, I'm still having a blast with my cornishX I have...but I would love to try a batch of something else...if for no other reason than "just because" but also because I would like to find something that handles the hotter months here pretty well...that way I wouldn't have to TOTALLY stop ALL summer - maybe just July/August...please do keep us posted and all! They look really good so far and I love your set up...upstairs and downstairs...I like that idea!

 

[naillikwj82]

Presently doing a mixed batch of CX and RIR roos. Intend to capon the RIR's for slow grow roasters. Have you caponed any of the FR's, KK's for roasters?

 

[Bucky182]

IHOP, I raised mine in KS and it was anywhere from 90 to 100 degrees some days and had no problem. I did them in the fall and towards the end it was getting pretty cold and as usual very windy. LOL They seemed to chug right along no matter what.

I have never caponed any never saw the reason when mine dressed out at 5+ pounds in 11 weeks. But I guess you could. I know MT-DI sells capons not sure what they use though.

What is the advantage of a capon?