New to broilers/Rangers? Learn from my mistake!

[mommainpa]

Hi all,

You may have seen my thread on problems I had with my Freedom Rangers this week. I wanted to make this a different post to make sure I reached as many people as I could.

Anyway---I had four of my chicks go lame this week. Luckily, I called the hatchery right away. They were kind and supportive on the phone and suggested vitamin supplementation. Due to their advice, quick supplementation and the advice of others from the forum, all four chicks have improved. At this point, I'm very hopeful that they will fully recover.

Here was my mistake---I assumed that because I was raising Rangers instead of Cornish cross, I didn't need to give them additional vitamins at the beginning. (This was only my second time raising broilers, and my first time with Rangers. On the Ranger website, there aren't any recommendations about feeding schedules or vitamin supplementation---like you see so often with the hatchery advertisements for Cornish chicks.)

So---all I wanted to say is this---even if you think you're getting a strong, active breed of broiler (such as a Ranger), remember that they have still been bred to gain weight quickly, and that they can only benefit from vitamin supplementation when they arrive.

Thanks!
Shayne

 

[chickenofthesea]

great info!! thanks!

 

[pattgal]

Quote:
at what age did they go lame? This is my first time with meats too. Ive never heard of this

 

[TimG]

I hope people don't mistake this to mean that Rangers need supplements. They might well benefit, but plenty of people have raised healthy Rangers without adding anything special to their diet.

 

[mommainpa]

We had trouble just before they were two weeks old.

Tim---I'm glad that you mentioned that plenty of people have raised healthy Rangers without anything adding anything extra to their diet. That was my assumption all along, and the reason I ordered Rangers in the first place---because they have such a good reputation for being healthy and hardy. Hopefully, I just received an off batch and no one else will have a problem like mine.

Having said that, when I phoned J. M. Hatchery on Tuesday, I was told, "Well, anytime someone calls in with chicks that have leg problems, Joel recommends that they do a vitamin supplement." That tells me that I am not the only person ever to call them with this concern.

 

[HLAC]

That's kind of weird. I've never given my cornish x any vitamin supplements and haven't had leg problems with them.

I hope your birds recover!

 

[pattgal]

Quote:
thats good to hear because I haven't given them anything either so far, everything looks good....(so far)

 

[ChikeeMomma]

I didn't give my Dixie Rainbows any supplements last year and I haven't given my six week old Cornish Xs any this year. Too bad about you chicks, but I'm glad that it has helped them!