My own variety of meat birds

[Adorae]

I originally planned to mix my Columbian Rock and Dark Cornish chickens to see if I got a decent meat bird from them, however this spring I was lucky enough to find a group of grown Freedom Rangers. A Rooster and four hens, all one year old. My new plan is to raise 3 groups of meat chicks by putting the Freedom Ranger, Dark Cornish, and Columbian Rock roosters over the Freedom Ranger hens. I then plan to record weights at 6/8/10 and 12 weeks.

I will also evaluate how the chicks behave. The freedom rangers don't really range much at all, they hang out at the feeders and would likely die if let out to free range. Both the Columbian Rock and Dark Cornish roosters have been free ranging for nearly a year. The Dark Cornish is an asshole, but he's got a great body, so I want to see what happens with his off spring, and the Columbian is a great rooster, very sweet. I also like all the white feathers for a cleaner looking carcass.

I expect that the Freedom Ranger offspring will vary greatly, but I plan to keep the best 3-5 chicks from each batch and either continue the line, or work on combining them. Since I am using the same four hens the results of each hatch will be staggered. I have the freedom ranger eggs set to hatch on March 22nd.

I'll need to get the weights of the Dark Cornish and the Columbian Rock, but the Freedom Ranger Rooster measured 13.5lbs and the biggest looking hen was 10.6lbs.

If anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask. Or if you're interested in certain results, maybe let me know so I can start tracking that also.
I plan to track hatch rate, weights at the designated ages, chicken behaviors and then carcass pictures.

 

[FunClucks]

I originally planned to mix my Columbian Rock and Dark Cornish chickens to see if I got a decent meat bird from them, however this spring I was lucky enough to find a group of grown Freedom Rangers. A Rooster and four hens, all one year old. My new plan is to raise 3 groups of meat chicks by putting the Freedom Ranger, Dark Cornish, and Columbian Rock roosters over the Freedom Ranger hens. I then plan to record weights at 6/8/10 and 12 weeks.

I will also evaluate how the chicks behave. The freedom rangers don't really range much at all, they hang out at the feeders and would likely die if let out to free range. Both the Columbian Rock and Dark Cornish roosters have been free ranging for nearly a year. The Dark Cornish is an asshole, but he's got a great body, so I want to see what happens with his off spring, and the Columbian is a great rooster, very sweet. I also like all the white feathers for a cleaner looking carcass.

I expect that the Freedom Ranger offspring will vary greatly, but I plan to keep the best 3-5 chicks from each batch and either continue the line, or work on combining them. Since I am using the same four hens the results of each hatch will be staggered. I have the freedom ranger eggs set to hatch on March 22nd.

I'll need to get the weights of the Dark Cornish and the Columbian Rock, but the Freedom Ranger Rooster measured 13.5lbs and the biggest looking hen was 10.6lbs.

If anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask. Or if you're interested in certain results, maybe let me know so I can start tracking that also.
I plan to track hatch rate, weights at the designated ages, chicken behaviors and then carcass pictures.

Good luck! Definitely let us know how things go!!!

 

[McChooky]

Any updates on the Freedom rangers due to hatch yesterday? Thank you very much!

 

[Adorae]

So 10 out of the 11 Freedom Ranger eggs hatched. The last one appeared to have been a late quit. I had 3 green eggs layer chicks that hatched as well.
I added 2 turkeys to the brooder because TSC had them on discount from being older. ONLY TSC will charge you less for a chick they have been feeding for weeks more..

The Freedom Ranger chicks are pretty hefty compared to the egg layers. At about week 1 I will probably get some weights on them just to get an idea about where they start vs their weight as they age.

I do have all of these on broiler feed. They got a dose of electrolytes and probiotics in their first gallon of water. All the freedom Ranger chicks are orangey/golden colored. The lightest chick and the 2 dark chicks are the egg layers I hatched along with them.

 

[NatJ]

ONLY TSC will charge you less for a chick they have been feeding for weeks more.

I've seen it happen other places, too. So it's not just TSC.

 

[Molpet]

I added 2 turkeys to the brooder because TSC had them on discount from being older.

Turkey poults need higher protein feed or they are prone to leg problems. Turkey or gamebird starter has the nutrition needed.

 

[Adorae]

Turkey poults need higher protein feed or they are prone to leg problems. Turkey or gamebird starter has the nutrition needed.

So 24% broiler feed won’t be enough? I’m not against getting more, I’m just trying to clarify.

 

[Molpet]

So 24% broiler feed won’t be enough? I’m not against getting more, I’m just trying to clarify.

Maybe
Compare yours to this. Lysine and Methionine
I used it last year and it was ok.

https://www.farmandfleet.com/produc...e-fresh-multi-flock-chick-n-game-starter.html

 

[Adorae]

Thank you for that list, the broiler feed was lower so I went out and got the game bird starter feed.

 

[Adorae]

This cutie is the biggest chick from my freedom ranger hatch. They aren’t even a week old now. This weekend I plan to weigh this group and the Bresse, who are about a week older and get the average weight for both groups.