Leg problems with Freedom Rangers?

[bobbi-j]

My Freedom Rangers are now 9 weeks old, and I have two with some leg problems. They are limping and seem to be having a hard time getting around. My 6-month old pup got left unsupervised a couple of weeks ago and killed some of them (that problem has been addressed), and I noticed the limping a day or so afterward. I'm just wondering if they were injured at that time, or if FRs tend to have leg problems anyway. They're not quite as large as I was hoping they'd be by now, but I think we're going to butcher at least one of them today. I should be able to tell if there was a dislocation once we get them processed.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

If they were limping after the attack I'd blame that. I've raised them a few times. They grow slower than CornishX but still grow faster than any other breed. I've only had one go lame but I was pushing them with a 22 % starter feed. I just butchered it the day it went lame. The last time I just used 22% for the first 4 weeks, then went to 18%. I processed half at 4 weeks as Cornish game hens. The other half went 8 weeks and some of the cockerels were too big to get into the largest vacuum seal bags.

 

[bobbi-j]

I'm guessing it was the dog, but I thought I'd ask anyway. I had been gone that week, dog got the chickens on a Thurs. and I came home Fri. DH doesn't really pay much attention, so he can't say if they were limping before or not. It will be interesting to see what these weigh when we butcher them. When I picked one up the other day, the drumstick didn't feel too meaty, but the bird was fairly heavy. Looking forward to some grilled chicken!

 

[bobbi-j]

We did butcher one of the limpers today. Joints appeared to be just fine, so I don't know - maybe pulled muscles or something from trying to get away. He dressed out nicely, though. Better than I expected.

 

[keesmom]

How are the black broilers faring compared to the reds at this point?

 

[bobbi-j]

Just put one down today - found it in the coop, unable to move, no weight on it. DH just decided to put it down and feed it to the cats because we didn't know what was wrong with it. The rest seem to be doing OK. Smaller than the Reds, but I expected that since the description said they'd take longer to get to size.

 

[Hummingbird Hollow]

In the first batch of Freedom Rangers I raised I had one rooster who I butchered a week early due to leg problems. I had identified him as "Big Red" (I try not to name my meat birds but sometimes one or two stand out from the bunch and get named anyway). He was larger and more assertive about the feed dish than most of his fellows and I've wondered if he over ate himself into a problem. When I butchered him, one of his legs was sort of twisted. He supported his weight way back on his hock on one side and balanced with a wing out to the side when he was eating from the feeder. I also kept a rooster and two pullets from that first batch and my rooster became HUGE. One day I noticed he was having difficulty walking and I put him in a large dog crate in the garage for close to a week where he didn't have to move much for food or water or get up and down off a roost. That leg problem healed on its own and I'm guessing was an injury.

In my most recent batch of Freedom Rangers I also had one who seemed to be having trouble one day when I hadn't noticed anything the day before. I put that one in the dog crate in the garage for a few days and at that point it did not seem to be getting better and I was only a week away from the planned butchering date so I decided to just take it early.

I guess, based on my limited experience, I'd say that the first one was a developmental problem that came on over time. The second and third were probably injuries caused by jumping down from a roost or perhaps even paniced running around the pen/tractor. I've had one similar instance with one of my laying hens and again, the hospital ward in the dog crate seems to give them the time to recover where they don't have to compete for food or run around much.

If you still have a bunch of time before processing, you might try this with your limping Freedom Rangers.

 

[bobbi-j]

We have now butchered all of our Freedom Rangers. By the time butchering day came, I did have a few more limpers. When we cut the feet off, we noticed that in every one of those birds there was fluid in what I want to call the knee joint, but I suppose technically it would be more like an ankle since it's the joint that attaches the foot to the drumstick. None of the others had it, just the limping ones. Those were also the largest birds so that probably had something to do with it.

 

[LilyD]

Just put one down today - found it in the coop, unable to move, no weight on it. DH just decided to put it down and feed it to the cats because we didn't know what was wrong with it. The rest seem to be doing OK. Smaller than the Reds, but I expected that since the description said they'd take longer to get to size.

I am on my second batch of FR chicks and they are 9 weeks as of right now. I have noticed that some of the larger roosters in the group start getting their sex drive around this time and will gang up on some of the smaller girls and boys in the group and breed with them incessantly. Last batch I did I had 3 that were unable to walk and I had to process early. This batch I have had 2 so far and they are due to be processed the end of August.