meat hens with layers???

[sargent spurs]

I am going to try to put some Freedom Rangers in the netting with my laying hens, would that work?

 

[what did I do]

 I am going to try to put some Freedom Rangers in the netting with my laying hens, would that work?

There is a post on here of someone who did this. It is a very good post. They did CX birds.

 

[redstarmama]

We have kept our seperate because of the feed difference. We also tend to go thrum more water with the CX. We also put their feed and water further away just to give them exercise. Ours are kept in a ground base coop with no roosts because they grow so fast and are prone to leg problems due to fast growth. We butcher between 6-8 weeks. We had great results. We do let them free range together if the CX wants to leave their run. Most of the time they are happy just to stay put though.

 

[Beekissed]

They are happy to stay put because that is where the food is easiest to find....if you only feed once or twice a day, I'm sure they will forage for the rest, particularly if you start them out doing it at a young age. There are fixes for any problems CX may have if folks just look for them and they aren't hard to fix...simple, cheap and easy.

I've got 50 7 wk old CX foraging all over 3 acres of cleared land and into the forest on all sides at this very moment this morning...and that's AFTER they've had their breakfast of fermented layer mash and whole grains. No leg problems, no laziness~actually, these are the least lazy birds I've ever had in my life~and just regular water usage...they may drink a gallon or two a week, if that.

 

[wingstone]

I currently have 3 freedom ranger hens in with my laying flock that are a year and a half old, they have done well, and are my best layers even with leghorns, currently have some chicks that I hatched on easter day that are a mix of leghorn roo over freedom ranger hen.....

 

[Beekissed]

I'm thinking of trying something similar here with the CX. I've noticed the same 5-6 birds are the first out of the coop, running across 3 acres and into the woods to forage. These same birds do not come back to the coop for breakfast nor for anything else but water until late in the evening. They spend the whole day with their bottoms up in the leaves getting their own food and I don't often see them resting like the rest of the flock.

I'm going to mark these birds for saving and see if they will make good breeding stock for my layer flock. They seem quite self-sufficient and thrifty while still maintaining good condition, which is exactly what I look for in my layers besides exceptional lay. If I can breed a good laying rooster over these and vice versa, no telling what kind of meaty layer I'll come up with that can forage and thrive on it.

 

[wingstone]

This was not a planned event, at the time all of my birds free ranged together but the coops are on different sides of the property approximately 4 acres apart, one night these three hens moved into the layer house and i left them there.

 

[Yukonchick]

Apparently I can keep my Cornish giants in with the layers for only a month then I should separate them. The feed changes for meat hens. the meat hens will eat everything in sight and get too heavy.

 

[Beekissed]

Apparently I can keep my Cornish giants in with the layers for only a month then I should separate them. The feed changes for meat hens. the meat hens will eat everything in sight and get too heavy.

Only if you want it that way. If you don't, then don't use continuous feeders, don't change feeds from your layer ration and feed your meat birds in a separate feeder and feed them first. It's a simple fix, really.

 

[what did I do]

Apparently I can keep my Cornish giants in with the layers for only a month then I should separate them. The feed changes for meat hens. the meat hens  will eat everything in sight and get too heavy.

Yep, but you only have a few more weeks to keep them separate.